Heating Oil or Mains Gas?

VetDad

We are currently renovating a property and are in the position of having the choice of either a mains gas or kerosene boiler.  Mains gas is obviously much more convenient but is there a way of comparing the cost of the different fuels?  I have seen various figures for the energy content of kerosene in kilowatt hours but are gas boilers more efficient than oil boilers?

lohr500

A litre of kerosene equates to 10.35kWh.
Modern condensing oil boilers can achieve efficiencies of 90% to 93%, which is comparable to a good gas boiler. 

A litre of oil in my area today costs about 75 pence + 5%VAT based on buying a quantity of 1500 litres.

So 7.25 pence per kWh + 5% VAT at 100% efficiency. Call it 8.05 pence plus 5% VAT per kWh at 90% efficiency.

The EDF deemed tariff for gas in my area is 10.24 pence plus VAT per kWh. At a similar 90% efficiency that works out at 11.38 pence plus 5% VAT per kWh.

So right now on a kWh basis, gas is 41% more expensive than oil.

No standing charges for oil, but there is the cost of planned replacement for the oil tank. Most tanks have a 10 year guarantee and whilst the may last much longer, they also may not!

Boiler servicing costs are probably not dissimilar. I think our last oil boiler service was £80.

Our Grant boiler comes with a 10 year parts and labour guarantee subject to installation and annual service by one of their G1 accredited businesses. We opted for an external boiler to free up space in the kitchen previously taken up by our old boiler.

Not sure if you would have a cost to instal the mains gas to your property or if gas is already laid on.
If gas is laid on, then I would imagine an oil boiler cost and installation is going to be higher as you will need an oil tank and pipework to the boiler as well as the boiler itself.

Of course the elephant in the room is knowing what might happen to gas and kerosene pricing going forward.

If I was in your situation, I'm honestly not sure which route I would take!

Ebe_Scrooge

That's pretty comprehensive reply from lohr500

And I have to agree - all in all, there's little to choose between the two purely on a "running cost" basis.  What may sway it for you is the initial capital investment (getting a gas supply installed vs getting an oil tank installed).

Arguably you could say that gas is slightly more "convenient" in terms of not having to monitor your fuel level, and having to remember to fill up the tank.  The flip side is that you're free to shop around every time you order, effectively giving you the freedom to switch suppliers more often than if you're in a 1 year contract (or whatever) with a gas supplier.

The one thing none of us can predict is how the relative costs of oil vs gas may change in the future.  Could you argue that oil is more freely available than gas, so we're not just reliant on Russia for our supplies?  Dunno.  (I know that we don't only get gas from Russia, but hopefully you get the gist of my thinking).

It's a tough call.  Right now, all other things being equal, I'd say it's six and two threes.

Would ground-source or air-source heat pump be a viable alternative?  I know it can be tricky to retro-fit these systems and it needs changes in the way the system is designed, but if you're doing a renovation then it may be an option?  I don't know much about those systems, but it's something to perhaps look into?

NedS

I would add that although oil may be cheaper than gas right now, it's not always been that way - gas is obviously way more expensive than previously at the moment due to the war in Ukraine.

The other consideration would be ease of sale of the property. Although we have oil, and purchasing a property with oil would now not phase us, I can imagine it may put off some buyers, especially in an area that has mains gas ([rhetorical] why would you not be on gas?). Although maybe the current plans to phase out gas boilers may actually make oil more attractive if the alternatives are not so appealing.

Apodemus

NedS said:

 Although maybe the current plans to phase out gas boilers may actually make oil more attractive if the alternatives are not so appealing.

The legislation is almost certainly going to apply equally to new gas and oil boilers.

Apodemus

PhilHornby said:

Apodemus said:

The legislation is almost certainly going to apply equally to new gas and oil boilers.

Apparently, us oil users will be switching to Hydrotreated Vegetable oil ...

That's a slightly different point/question.  Oil boilers may be able to run on HVO if/when it becomes widely available, almost in the same way that future gas boilers may be able to run on Hydrogen, if/when that becomes available.

New legislation is a completely different matter, and the legislation that went out to consultation, would ban the installation of both gas and oil boilers, except for specific properties where there was reason for a specifc exemption to be applied.  From memory, I believe it also indicated an end-point after which existing installations would no longer be permitted.

Apodemus

[Deleted User] said:

Apodemus said:

That's a slightly different point/question.  Oil boilers may be able to run on HVO if/when it becomes widely available, almost in the same way that future gas boilers may be able to run on Hydrogen, if/when that becomes available.

I don't think there's much to do a boiler to convert from Kerosene to HVO, though draining and refilling the tank would be a bit of nuisance!

Would one even need to?  I would have thought that HVO would be completely soluble in kerosene and that there would simply be a period where the mix in the tank changes from 100% kerosene to 100% HVO? 

lohr500

As far as I can gather from the Grant oil boiler technical website, for their boilers that will work with HVO, switching involves the need for a new nozzle and adjustments to the high pressure oil pump setting.

So I'm not sure how they would perform with a changing kerosene/HVO mix in the main tank.

I suspect it will be a case of running the tank as low as possible on kero, then filling completely with HVO to minimise the mix.

But I am no expert.

MattMattMattUK

VetDad said:

We are currently renovating a property and are in the position of having the choice of either a mains gas or kerosene boiler.  Mains gas is obviously much more convenient but is there a way of comparing the cost of the different fuels?  I have seen various figures for the energy content of kerosene in kilowatt hours but are gas boilers more efficient than oil boilers?

Depending on your location as well as accounting for the install costs of various systems, have you looked at a heat pump, solar and batteries, if you did that a lot of your energy usage for most of the year would be free going forward and during the winter you could draw power on cheap night rates and use that to run the heat pump as required, if you are doing a lot of work on the property depending on external works a ground source heat pump would be the best option as you will get a higher COP and so more energy output for input.

Apodemus

Phil, that is interesting, but I wonder if we are getting into confusing territory on fuel nomenclature.  Riello may be using the term bio fuel to mean "traditional" first-generation biodiesel, which is an entirely different beastie to HVO.  My understanding is that Biodiesel is much more prone to problems of water absorption and microbial growth than HVO, which is why the specification is normally at 7% maximum for biodiesel, while HVO can be used at 100%.  

Apodemus

Yes, the standards seem to be a real nightmare to make sense of.  In practical terms, I have always understood kerosene and diesel to be almost completely interchangeable, with the exception of lubricating ability (and taxation!). 

Since I already put an additive into my CH Kerosene to improve the lubrication on the fuel pump and have once (in extremis) resorted to using diesel in place of kerosene, I'm pretty sure that I could use HVO in my Rayburn with minimum changes.   Since the viscocity is slightly different, then for efficient combustion it makes sense that for longer term use, the fuel pressure might need to be corrected and the nozzle(s) changed to ensure the correct spray pattern, but these are easy routine service tasks.