Buying a house with no gas supply

dannychapman1984

Good Evening All,  I am after a bit of advice!

We are looking a buying a detached house, however there is no gas supply, we have been informed that the gas supply is upto the front of the house and would just need re-instating (all other houses on the street are GCH) so have no reason not to believe this)!

However all the heating is currently electric radiators in each room.

My questions are:

1: Is electric heating that much more expensive that gas heating (especially with the changes in energy costs)

2: I have read somewhere and a little aware that by 2050 we (as a country) want to be net-zero and from 2025, new houses are not allowed to have gas boilers! So would transferomg back to gas be worthwhile?

3: If we were to switch back to gas, anyone any rough ideas how much ot would cost? And what we would need, eg re-instating charge/ new boiler/ new radiators etc...

Thanks in advance! 

ProDave

How old is the house?  What is the EPC rating?  That will go a long way to suggesting heating options.

I have never owned a house with mains gas, oil LPG or now electric (ASHP) have always been adequate.

dannychapman1984

The house was built in 2001 no EPC rating, cant even find it on the gov website, but next door is C rating, most of the houses on the street are C/ D with a couple of B ratings! 

p00hsticks

dannychapman1984 said:

The house was built in 2001 no EPC rating, cant even find it on the gov website, but next door is C rating, most of the houses on the street are C/ D with a couple of B ratings! 

How are you buying it ?

I thought in England at least it was compulsory to provide an EPC report when selling a house if there wasn't a current one already available (I think they last ten years - I seem to recall we had to get a new one when selling ours last year), so if buying through an estate agent I suggest you raise it with them.

user1977

dannychapman1984 said:

2: I have read somewhere and a little aware that by 2050 we (as a country) want to be net-zero and from 2025, new houses are not allowed to have gas boilers! So would transferomg back to gas be worthwhile?

I don't think that's confirmed, but it's going to happen at some point (some other countries have already stopped installing them in new homes), so I'd share your concerns about how worthwhile it is to install a new system if you can foresee having to rip it out and replace with something else (though I'd guess replacing gas boiler with an electric wet heating system might not be too expensive?).

Not sure about short term costs but I'd guess the difference between gas and electric prices is going to get smaller.

dannychapman1984

p00hsticks said:

dannychapman1984 said:

The house was built in 2001 no EPC rating, cant even find it on the gov website, but next door is C rating, most of the houses on the street are C/ D with a couple of B ratings! 

How are you buying it ?

I thought in England at least it was compulsory to provide an EPC report when selling a house if there wasn't a current one already available (I think they last ten years - I seem to recall we had to get a new one when selling ours last year), so if buying through an estate agent I suggest you raise it with them.

I thought that too will be asking when we go an see it again next week. We are first time buyers and getting a mortgage!

dannychapman1984

Thank you for the comments so far! 

sheramber

You will not have to remove your gas boiler installed before the ban.

You can use it until it needs replaced.

My last two boilers have still worked at 20 years old.

Section62

dannychapman1984 said:

My questions are:

1: Is electric heating that much more expensive that gas heating (especially with the changes in energy costs)

2: I have read somewhere and a little aware that by 2050 we (as a country) want to be net-zero and from 2025, new houses are not allowed to have gas boilers! So would transferomg back to gas be worthwhile?

3: If we were to switch back to gas, anyone any rough ideas how much ot would cost? And what we would need, eg re-instating charge/ new boiler/ new radiators etc...

If you are otherwise sure about the house then I would wait until next summer before making any decisions about the heating - run the current system through the winter and find out how much it costs to run, and if excessive look at either a heat pump or gas once you've got a better idea of costs.

The future for gas is not great, and the cost differential has started to close.  If you had a gas system installed on completion of the purchase you'd have to pay the cost of getting gas connected, plus installation of the boiler, plus a wet CH heating system, plus pay the ongoing daily gas standing charge.  Whilst there would be some advantage to getting a wet CH system installed before you occupy the property (if that were possible), you would be spending a lot on the gas system without much of an idea whether it will work out cheaper over the life of the boiler (typically 10 years or less these days).

So if it were me I'd put together a heating replacement fund, run the current system this winter to get a feel for the house, then make decisions next year.

Alderbank

Electric room radiators cost 3-4 times as much to run as mains gas central heating. That difference is becoming much more significant as energy prices rise.
Replacing them with modern storage heaters might reduce that a bit, depending on your lifestyle and the level of insulation.

Even if we build nuclear plants as fast as we can we will not have anything like enough electricity to heat all homes for a great many years yet. No-one is suggesting that gas boilers can't be used after 2025, and I suspect the target for phasing them out will be allowed to slide.

Here in Scotland you can't sell a house without an EPC as well as a Home Buyers Report. Don't read too much into the EPC though, it is not a measurement so much as a rough and ready estimate.

eddddy

dannychapman1984 said:

2: I have read somewhere and a little aware that by 2050 we (as a country) want to be net-zero and from 2025, new houses are not allowed to have gas boilers! So would transferomg back to gas be worthwhile?

It depends which of the alternative technologies wins the race.

For example, some people are investing/betting on hydrogen replacing natural gas. i.e. Hydrogen being pumped down the existing gas pipe infrastructure. Hydrogen doesn't produce any greenhouse gases when it burns, only water.


I believe Worcester Bosch (and maybe others) are already producing 100% hydrogen ready boilers - i.e. for the moment they'll burn natural gas, but they'll also burn hydrogen if/when it replaces gas.


Apparently, almost any existing boilers and gas appliances can burn an 80/20 gas/hydrogen blend - so blending hydrogen with gas might be a starting point in reducing greenhouse gases. And it might even be possible to convert existing boilers to run on 100% hydrogen.

The big downside is that, currently, hydrogen is expensive and energy intensive to produce - but maybe it will get cheaper.

The big upside is that the existing gas infrastructure can be used, and existing boilers might not need to be scrapped.


See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/760508/hydrogen-logistics.pdf