Moving to ex-council house that needs new heating system

Mark_GG

Hello,

New guy here, looking for advice on heating systems after the reports in the news recently that gas prices are about to go through the roof.

We're about to move into an ex-council house in a village, that currently has old storage heaters (the previous owner switched to them after coal many years ago!). I have lined up gas connection and plumbers to install gas central heating from moving day (no date confirmed yet). With the recent news I'm wondering if the alternative systems out there are worth it for a house of this standard. I've kind of gone full circle in knowing that the house isn't efficient enough to go with a eco heating system and electric heaters, no matter how modern, will never be cheaper than gas, even with the price increase.

Does anyone have any experience with this specific scenario that could give me some guidance?

FreeBear

Depends on how old the house is and the type of construction as to how easy it is to get up to a modern "standard".

Insulate and plug the draughts will go a long way in reducing energy consumption. Intelligent use of heating will cut costs further.

Even with the current increase in energy prices, gas is still much cheaper than electricity for heating. That isn't likely to change for a few years yet. But as gas prices increase, installing GSHP/ASHP is starting to look more affordable. If you are not on gas yet, have a look at GSHP/ASHP and compare the total cost against that of a gas CH install.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

In my opinion you appear to have accurately assessed the situation.

There are hundreds of posts on this forum, and elsewhere, on the merits/demerits of Gas CH v heat pumps. Whilst gas will clearly be much more expensive in the future, so will electricity.

The cash savings from fitting gas CH over a heat pump would be well spent on more insulation.

It might be a good idea to 'future proof' your house by fitting  larger radiators(e.g triple panel - particularly in living rooms) than normally required for gas CH

Mark_GG

That is super helpful, thank you. The property does need the cavity walls filling and potentially new loft insulation (survey to confirm this) but windows are fairly modern. 

It seems like sticking with gas might be the way to go for our budget. I would love to be more eco and future proof, but it's a shame the price is out of reach at the moment.

Having a boiler that is Hydrogen-ready might help for when the gas board switch over in years to come.

Reed_Richards

Cardew said:

...It might be a good idea to 'future proof' your house by fitting  larger radiators(e.g triple panel - particularly in living rooms) than normally required for gas CH

My ASHP system uses a multiplier of 2.4, that is that the rated heat output of each radiator is chosen to be 2.4 times what the required heat output would be if the radiator were operated at the standard delta T = 50 C.  So, for example a smallish room that would need a 500 W output to keep it warm would be fitted with a radiator that had a rated output of 1200 W at delta T = 50 so that it gives the correct output with my much lower water temperature and delta T around 28 C.

FreeBear

Mark_GG said: That is super helpful, thank you. The property does need the cavity walls filling and potentially new loft insulation (survey to confirm this) but windows are fairly modern.

Had my cavity walls insulated quite a few years back (cavity ground floor, solid brick on the upper half) - To be honest, have not noticed any improvement and on reflection, I should have refused it.. Fitting internal wall insulation has made a big difference to the one room I've done so far, so will be doing other rooms as time & budget allows.

Cardew

Just as a reminder, with storage heaters the house will(should!) be on an Economy 7 electricity tariff. You presumably are aware that most(all?) Economy 7 tariffs charge more for the daytime - 17 hours - electricity.?? so check tariffs after you get gas CH.

Are there schemes for free/subsidised cavity wall insulation in your area?

The EST and every source I have seen would not agree with the post above on the effectiveness of cavity insulation. See:

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/cavity-wall-insulation/