Heating

If you can afford to get gas heating fitted it would be better to do it when the house is unoccupied (but make sure the house is secure - boilers and pipe are prime theft targets from empty houses).

If you can't afford the whole job you could consider getting all the underfloor radiator pipes put in, capped off and air pressure tested now, for the boiler and rads to be fitted later.

While the ground floor is up put in underfloor insulation, insulate the loft, and consider cavity wall insulation if the house doesn't have it.

Your storage heaters could still be working in 20 years time.

There may be grants to help with the cost of gas connection and insulation, but they usually require you to have owned the house for a year before applying. Try the Energy Saving Trust website.

J_B wrote: »

Financially you would of course be better to do nothing!!

Not necessarily. Adding gas central heating is one improvement that is likely to add value to the house above what it costs, and is likely to give lower running costs than electricity.

Have you found out how much it would cost to have gas connected yet? That figure might just answer your question for you.