Energy options

habahero

Hi, I am hoping to complete shortly on a 1 bedroom bungalow built around 1970. It needs work to modernise throughout, and currently has an warm air heating ducted system present (Johnson & Starley M31 High Spec System ET) which is gas fuelled. Water heating is done via a small separate water heater. There is also a single electric shower. The heating system is at least 18 years old from what I can tell, possibly older still. It does work, but as part of the modernising work (which will include full rewiring anyway) I am weighing up the options around the heating. I am planning to stay in the property long term and have no plans to sell it on when work is done etc.

I did make a few enquiries as to the worth/cost of modernising the existing system first since J&S are still going and make new warm air systems today, however the local installer quotes came back as a seemingly very expensive option quoting me anywhere from around £5.5K to £8k to do water as well. 

The bungalow is only a small 1 bedroom, and so I was considering either converting it to gas central heating via a small combi boiler - this would include running pipework and buying conventional rads as none are present currently. The property would need no more than 5 radiators max throughout however.

Myself and my dad could do a lot of the work to run pipes etc, apart from the final connecting up and commissioning etc or the electrical work required at the end so would save on labour costs to some extent (he has done much of this work before).

I was wondering though if the GCH install is worth overall doing versus installing modern electric radiators that are controllable via phone/wifi etc, primarily due to the size of the property and small amount of radiators actually needed if I was to do GCH - the elec rads would be a lot simpler and less disruptive to install, with no requirement for pipework etc or ongoing servicing. Would look to decommission the existing gas supply if going down this route.

Because we could do much of the labour ourselves, I have figured the initial costs for both methods would not be too far apart overall. If using electic rads I was thinking either something like the Dimplex Q-RAD RF dual element range or ceramic cored ones perhaps something like Ecostrad Klasse etc which are a bit dearer but nicer looking etc.

I know that the electric rads would probably be a bit dearer to run overall but hopefully not crazily expensive, considering It will be just me there, and is a small property, I work from home 2 days a week so was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on whether GCH is actually worth putting in a property this size vs modern electric rads? The smallest combi boilers I see, like worcester bosch greenstar 1000, glow worm compact, small vaillants etc, seem to be 24-25kw rated, and usually list being sufficient for up to 10 radiators - I'd have half of that at most so would it be overkill to do this? I know the electric rads get bad press in general for being expensive to run from what I have read, but these would be new ones, not old economy 7 storage etc so hopefully efficient enough if programmed to use sensibly? Or would I be crazy to consider these at all given that there is a gas supply present, even if it means more work and adding pipework (which would lose a bit of wall space which is a premium) to put in the GCH.

Great to hear any thoughts or opinions as I have little experience with anything like this before.

Thanks

MP1995

£7500 grant towards an air sourced heat pump is the obvious answer. That size of Property bound to be basically free.

Netexporter

I agree. An ASHP is the obvious answer. The money you save could then be spent on some solar panels and a battery and you'd have virtually free heating for life, using the right smart tariff.

FlorayG

How long is 'long term'? If you're talking 30+ years then I wouldn't install new gas central heating as that's going to get more and more expensive and eventually phased out. But that is looking LONG term...

habahero

Hi all, thanks for comments so far, I will look a bit more into these -  I had previously not considered these much as don't you have to meet a lot of criteria to be eligible for the grant? Without it I see these installs costing upwards of £10K. I am single, OK earnings etc no benefits or kids anything so presumed I would not qualify unless I have this wrong. Aren't they also expensive to run? I also did not think they would fit these to a property this size (it has small front and back paved courtyard gardens only). I aim to stay for the long term so would be 30+ years, no plans to move unless a major circumstance change (lottery win?). I did see some of the boilers sold today state compatible with hydrogen mix for future proofing etc on those, is it expected that gas will eventually become the more expensive option vs electric? I am 40 for ref!

Netexporter

 I had previously not considered these much as don't you have to meet a lot of criteria to be eligible for the grant?

You can get the grant under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which is to encourage people to move away from inefficient/carbon intensive heating systems. I think you must be thinking of the ECO4 scheme, which does require a low(ish) income and eligibility for certain benefits, to get completely free heating and insulation works done. 

zxzxzx

Insulate/triple glaze to death, install loads of solar/battery and a wet heat pump …. or forget the piping and rads and have a look at A2A heat pump (aka air conditioning) which is cheaper and more efficient and lovely as the weather heats up BUT no £7.5k grant.

FreeBear

habahero said: I had previously not considered these much as don't you have to meet a lot of criteria to be eligible for the grant?

The BUS grant rules were relaxed earlier in the year. You no longer have to do the thermal upgrades recommended in the EPC.

Spoonie_Turtle

zxzxzx said:

Insulate/triple glaze to death, install loads of solar/battery and a wet heat pump …. or forget the piping and rads and have a look at A2A heat pump (aka air conditioning) which is cheaper and more efficient and lovely as the weather heats up BUT no £7.5k grant.

I believe to install ones capable of cooling* you need planning permission.

*I know that's a feature of A2A, not sure if they can be installed with the cooling capability turned off or not.

Brie

If you have the heating ducts there then an air to air heat pump might be the best option.  

Heat pumps: how they work and types explained - Which?

MP1995

Does the boiler upgrade scheme apply to air to air heat pumps?