Gas install and cost of electricity for hot water.

ArbitraryRandom

I'd recommend you do some more reading around heat pumps - there's several people on here who have had them for a number of years and they are a viable option if you can afford the initial outlay for the install... people used to say the same thing about solar and the grants available (some of whom are now kicking themselves they didn't take advantage at the time). 

Solar would only really work if you also invested in a large well insulated water storage tank and a fair amount of battery capacity - which significantly adds to the cost/return on investment time (and if you accepted that you would have to have fewer showers in winter/boiling the kettle to do the washing up). But if you would also consider switching to night storage heaters (the modern versions are vastly superior to the old 'bricks in boxes') then the system could be run effectively to take advantage of a time of use tariff (storing heat and power at off-peak rates for use at peak times). It would still work out more expensive than gas per day, but less expensive than your current arrangement. 

It really depends on what your realistic budget is - personally I'd install a heat pump now (while the grants are available), then add solar and storage as funds permitted. If that's not for you then I'd go for storage heaters plus solar on a TOU tariff. 

The only other thing I can think is have you spoken to your neighbours re sharing the cost of bringing gas to your area? You would be gambling that the Gov push forward with hydrogen... but it could be a sensible investment if it pays off. 

QrizB

flusterbluster said:

What our road really needs is gas, or electricity reduced to the price of gas.

A heat pump with a COP of 3 will give you electric heat at the same price as gas.

Spoonie_Turtle

QrizB said:

flusterbluster said:

What our road really needs is gas, or electricity reduced to the price of gas.

A heat pump with a COP of 3 will give you electric heat at the same price as gas.

November last year to April this year our heating COP was above 3.  I don't have data for previous years but the annual COP of 2021 was just under 3 for heating, before we knew anything about it or touched any of the settings.
This is a retrofitted air-to-water heat pump in a 1940s house that has had damp problems since before my parents viewed it nearly 30yrs so, just for some context of how suboptimal the property is and how much it was not designed for a heat pump!  In the warmer months it is less efficient than that but we also have a vampire model that leeches power even when there's no heating (which messes up the efficiency), and most models don't do that.
^ the point of all that being, if you're someone who chooses to have a heat pump, rather than it being foisted on you when you know nothing about it, a COP of 3 should certainly be achievable.  Air-to-air is even higher efficiency.

wrf12345

Sounds like you are in the wrong house for the lifestyle you want to live, I would be happy in non-gas property but then I like cold showers and mucking around with the simpler heat pumps (air to air rather than air to water) and solar panels, etc., and don't mind layering up in winter to avoid turning the heating on until the last moment. I realise that in the modern world such deprivations would be cause for divorce and teenage rebellion but there you go...

Gerry1

QrizB said:

flusterbluster said:

What our road really needs is gas, or electricity reduced to the price of gas.

A heat pump with a COP of 3 will give you electric heat at the same price as gas.

Debatable.  A gas kWh costs about 3.86 times as much as an electricity kWh.  Not an exact comparison because the standing charge and boiler efficiency need to be considered, but it seems a bit unwise to rely on running costs not increasing.

matt_drummer

Gerry1 said:

QrizB said:

flusterbluster said:

What our road really needs is gas, or electricity reduced to the price of gas.

A heat pump with a COP of 3 will give you electric heat at the same price as gas.

Debatable.  A gas kWh costs about 3.86 times as much as an electricity kWh.  Not an exact comparison because the standing charge and boiler efficiency need to be considered, but it seems a bit unwise to rely on running costs not increasing.

It depends what you pay for your electricity?

Tracker will be OK at the moment, less than three times the cost of gas.

Maybe we'll see some costs lumped on electricity shifted to gas at some point?

Gerry1

matt_drummer said:

Gerry1 said:

QrizB said:

flusterbluster said:

What our road really needs is gas, or electricity reduced to the price of gas.

A heat pump with a COP of 3 will give you electric heat at the same price as gas.

Debatable.  A gas kWh costs about 3.86 times as much as an electricity kWh.  Not an exact comparison because the standing charge and boiler efficiency need to be considered, but it seems a bit unwise to rely on running costs not increasing.

It depends what you pay for your electricity?

Tracker will be OK at the moment, less than three times the cost of gas.

Maybe we'll see some costs lumped on electricity shifted to gas at some point?

I wouldn't be brave enough to take the long term risk of being tied to one tariff from one supplier (albeit a very good one).  Nor would Time of Use tariffs be suitable because heat pumps need to run most of the time.

mmmmikey

There doesn't seem to be much value in comparing alternatives to the cost of mains gas if mains gas in unvailable. I can't help thinking the best thing to do is to start with a simple list of the options and then compare the cost of each of them over different timescales, taking into account the upfront costs, life expectancy of the system and impact on the value of your property as well as the running costs.

Those options include:

• Heat pump
• LPG central heating
• Oil fired central heating
• Biomass central heating
• Electric storage heaters combined with some form of supplementary heating
• Log burner
• Bottled gas cabinet heaters
• Some form of instant electric heating (the "do-nothing" option)
• Some combination of the above

They all have their own pros and cons and depending on the type of house and where you live some may be non-starters.

Other have found that a heat pump works well for them so this is certainly a viable option worth considering. I would also have a look at the electric storage heater option, combined with either a smart TOU tariff or legacy TOU tariff like eceonomy 7. If you combine modern, high-heat retention electric storage heaters with a solar panel and battery system, you can also use "free" and/or cheap night rate electrcity during the day to avoid paying the peak TOU rates which can bring the cost per kWh down dramatically.

There are certainly options that offer the possibility of significant savings over your oil filled radiators. How they compare to the cost of gas is of academic interest only.

matt_drummer

Gerry1 said:

I wouldn't be brave enough to take the long term risk of being tied to one tariff from one supplier (albeit a very good one).  Nor would Time of Use tariffs be suitable because heat pumps need to run most of the time.

It depends on who you are. I have enough battery storage to run my heat pump all day even on the coldest of days.

Gas is also a long term risk, there is no guarantee that it will be as cheap compared to electricity as it has historically been.

Cosy Octopus tariff is actually not too bad.

There is also the grant towards heat pumps which won't last forever.

Not much in life is guaranteed and there's always a risk