Thoughts on electric combi-boilers?

chubsta

I have had my current gas boiler for over 20 years and I know at some point I will have to replace it - the issue is that it is floor mounted in the middle of the property ground floor and vents through the chimney, which is no longer allowed. Therefore any replacement will have to be put somewhere else which will be a pain and I am sure very expensive in terms of laying new pipework etc.
So I am looking at alternatives just so I can make a good decision, one option I have seen is electric combi boilers.
I am well aware that electricity is far more expensive than gas so there are increased running costs per kWh from that point of view, but a new electric boiler would be massively more efficient than my existing one, and also probably a few percentages better than any new gas one. I am assuming there would be hugely reduced installation costs to take into account to as it could go where the existing one is I guess? I presume servicing costs may be reduced too.
The house is a 4 bedroom detached chalet bungalow with one bathroom with a seperate bath and shower, I am the only occupant and do not currently have huge utility bills as only fill the hot water tank once a day, rarely have the heating on in winter as I like a cold house, and spend most of my time off work at another property - I currently pay £27 a month for gas and £60 a month for electricity although the electricity is higher because I am paying off extra from when I was foolish enough to have one of those inflatable hot tubs a couple of years ago!

Any thought, particularly from people who have such a boiler, would be much appreciated!

Doozergirl

You must be joking. 

My bills are doubling between my fixed tariff ending in Feb and the new price cap in April. 

Doing basic maths, electricity for me was 6 times more expensive than gas, it will now be four times more expensive, but both prices doubled.  

If I had been paying your gas bill until recently, it would double to £54 a month in April.  If I was replacing gas and heating your house and water solely with electricity, it would be going up to £216 a month in April just to replace the gas being used. 

In October, that's predicted to be £278 vs £69.66 in gas a month. 

No brainer.  Gas is still the cheaper option by far, the efficiency comparison is minimal.  I don't know how old your current boiler is to know what savings you'd make on a new gas boiler, but the difference per month would still be huge if it was 50% more efficient than the old one.  

If you thought heating a hot tub was expensive, you're going to get a big shock if you try to heat your house the same way.  

The way to save money at the moment is to concentrate on building fabric and insulation.  

Rodders53

My thoughts: Electric boilers:  Spawn of the Devil.  100% efficient but energy is 300% more expensive than gas...  Direct panel heaters would be cheaper to install and use!

ASHP if/when you need to replace the gas boiler in the future.  After you've done all you can to improve insulation, glazing and draughtproofing.

Go read the Energy forum/sub forums for real user experience (= tales of woe).  Or search for the term 'electric boilers' to find recent and older threads on the same question.

Bendy_House

Chubsta barely uses any heating, tho' - (not sure if their username is why?).

Electric combis will only use what's demanded of them.

No-one can look reliably into the future, but I wonder how long gas will continue to be so much cheaper than electricity?

Leccy combis are small and compact, cost less, are easy to install, need no real servicing.

We looked at a house in t'country a few years back - where there was no mains gas - and it had been recently refurbished with PV panels, a battery and a leccy combi. It was signed up to 'Smart Electricty', where they were paid for surplus energy, and could buy it cheap overnight to charge the battery. It was hard to get exact costings, but it appeared to be similar to oil. In which case - a few years on - it could even be cheaper than oil now?

Will electricity prices continue to go up like gas and oil almost certainly will?

ComicGeek

Rodders53 said:

My thoughts: Electric boilers:  Spawn of the Devil.  100% efficient but energy is 300% more expensive than gas...  Direct panel heaters would be cheaper to install and use!

Exactly my words to any client that raises the idea of electric boilers. Literally the worst things ever invented, as they have absolutely no place in the current market.

If I could click my fingers and eliminate only 1 thing from the heating market it would be electric boilers.

Doozergirl

Bendy_House said:

Chubsta barely uses any heating, tho' - (not sure if their username is why?).

Electric combis will only use what's demanded of them.

No-one can look reliably into the future, but I wonder how long gas will continue to be so much cheaper than electricity?

Leccy combis are small and compact, cost less, are easy to install, need no real servicing.

We looked at a house in t'country a few years back - where there was no mains gas - and it had been recently refurbished with PV panels, a battery and a leccy combi. It was signed up to 'Smart Electricty', where they were paid for surplus energy, and could buy it cheap overnight to charge the battery. It was hard to get exact costings, but it appeared to be similar to oil. In which case - a few years on - it could even be cheaper than oil now?

Will electricity prices continue to go up like gas and oil almost certainly will?

An air source heat pump can have 3-400% efficiency.  You need to produce energy to save money as well as save energy improving the building fabric.   Otherwise It's a waste.  

Ben1989

It's like buying a brand new Audi E-tron from a Ford Fiesta. Incredibly more efficient but costs you a bomb