LPG or Oil for central heating

Newbie71 · 11 March 2019 at 11:52AM

I can't see any recent thread on this. We currently have bulk LPG for our central heating ( not used for cooking) and have been considering changing to oil. We need to buy a new boiler and so have the cost of that regardless. We know there will be costs for the switch but our main question is, is it cheaper to use oil or lpg for heating a 4 bed detached house. Is one better regulated than the other? There doesn't seem to be any clear advice on this.

Mister_G · 11 March 2019 at 12:25PM

The first question is - how much are you currently paying for your LPG and how much is oil in your area?

I assume that you are locked into a 2 year contract with your supplier. Is this up for renewal soon?

A replacement gas boiler will be about 40-50% cheaper than an oil boiler.

Oil will also require you to get a new bunded/double skinned tank.

1 litre of oil produces about 47% more energy than 1 litre of LPG, but it can be more than 47% of the price of LPG. See here:

https://nottenergy.com/our-services/resources/energy-cost-comparison/

Many years ago I had to make the same decision and went for LPG. It's certainly cleaner than oil (also less CO2 emissions) and much less likely to get stolen!

I pay 30ppl from my local independent supplier, whereas oil is currently over 50ppl in my area.

Rodders53 · 11 March 2019 at 1:37PM

You have bulk lpg... probably best to stick with it... as any payback on the energy price difference will be long?

Oil tank install costs significant money (LPG tank may also need removal at some cost to you - check your contract). Oil tank location may need firewall(s) built as well as reinforced concrete base.

AIUI oil boiler installs cost more a bit more than gas/lpg boilers of the same rating.

LPG bulk is maybe around 6.82 p per useful kWh of heat and Oil (kerosene) is 5.68 p per useful kWh of heat (source:
https://nottenergy.com/our-services/resources/energy-cost-comparison/ )

Perhaps consider a complete heating system overhaul and move to electricity via heat pumps? Sooner or later the greens are going to get oil burners and gas boilers banned.

But you need to do some sums. Annual energy used, based on your known LPG consumption. Estimates of boiler replacement cost and the associated tank works and then calculate the overall costs for 5, 10, 20 years with LPG vs kerosene (and even heat pump maybe?).

LPG or Oil for central heating

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