Gas/central heating vs electric

krlyr · 3 January 2018 at 10:54PM

I recently purchased a 1 bed house, which currently has no gas to the property. There are two electric heaters, and the hot water runs off an immersion heater - which is taking some getting used to.

I'm debating biting the bullet and having a boiler/gas central heating installed. I've had an online quote of ~£1000 to bring gas to the property (nearest pipe is around 30m away from the property) and an online calculator has come in around £2000 based on property size/no. of radiators, but I'm not sure how accurate this is - I guess I'm best to get some local installers to quote me for a more accurate price.

Just wondering if the investment is worth it. I do miss the instant hot water, but I am planning to hopefully to sell and move on in a couple of years time, so I could probably put up with it/get used to it. I'm not sure the savings on bills would pay for the installation - however, I'm wondering if it will increase property price/saleability enough to justify it.

I'm basically gutting/redecorating the whole property over the next few months so it would be a good time to have the work done if I do decide to go ahead with it.

Ectophile · 4 January 2018 at 12:28AM

I'd be surprised if you could get a complete central heating system installed for £2000. That's about what I would expect just for supplying and fitting the boiler.

Grenage · 4 January 2018 at 9:08AM

Gas every time for me; the running costs alone on fuel makes it a good choice.

Katapolt · 4 January 2018 at 10:26AM

I moved into a 3 bed end of terraced house 2 weeks ago that had all the central heating ripped out and energy saving electric heaters installed. Personally, i dont really see an issue with it, they're mega efficient and its quite handy only having an electric and water bill.

suppose it depends on how you can "Sell" it when it goes on the market, but no central heating doesnt have to be such a big deal to buyers now if theres a valid reason

Norman_Castle · 4 January 2018 at 11:03AM

I would get proper quotes for the installation then figure out if it will increase the saleability and price. Its likely you paid a lower price due to the lack of gas supply and heating.

Could the supply pipe costs be shared with near neighbours?

cattie · 4 January 2018 at 3:45PM

Go for it. There is no way I'd consider buying a place with electric heating only & would happily pay a bit more for a property with a decent boiler & full ch.

EachPenny · 4 January 2018 at 5:14PM

If you are planning on selling in a couple of years you need to think about how much of the cost you will recoup in energy saving and any increase in the property value. As a 1 bed property, you also need to think about how future purchasers might want to use the heating - it might be very different to the needs for a family home.

Have you got an Economy 7 or Economy 10 supply? This ought to be the first thing to look at if not. If you have, then you should be able to heat a day's worth of hot water overnight, and therefore have instant hot water available all day.... it shouldn't be something you are missing, unless the system is not set up as it should be.

krlyr · 4 January 2018 at 8:38PM

EachPenny wrote: »

If you are planning on selling in a couple of years you need to think about how much of the cost you will recoup in energy saving and any increase in the property value. As a 1 bed property, you also need to think about how future purchasers might want to use the heating - it might be very different to the needs for a family home.

Have you got an Economy 7 or Economy 10 supply? This ought to be the first thing to look at if not. If you have, then you should be able to heat a day's worth of hot water overnight, and therefore have instant hot water available all day.... it shouldn't be something you are missing, unless the system is not set up as it should be.

It's difficult to tell. It's only a 1 bed property so most likely purchases would be first time buyers/young couples without kids or singletons. Part of me thinks that it will probably be people in a similar position to me - not able to afford much else in this area so not able to be too picky! The cost of the electric was something I was a little worried about, but the lack of any real alternative meant it wasn't a dealbreaker. Very few houses on the estate seem to have gas, judging by the limited pipes I could join on to.

However, I am modernising the property in terms of decor - basically gutting the lot - so wondering if I should just go the whole shebang with central heating in the hopes of marketing as a bit better quality/worth a bit more.

I'm on an economy 7 plan at the minute but not really making any use of the cheaper hours at night. The immersion simply has an on/off switch so it's a case of turning it on when I remember. I go to bed too early to start during the economy 7 hours and I'd probably forget to turn it off in the morning too. If I don't go down the central heating route though I could use some of those funds to make the electrical system more economic - so a timer plug, a better heater upstairs, I've thought about one of those electric heaters that plumbs in under the sink if I just need enough hot water to wash a couple of mugs for example.

krlyr · 4 January 2018 at 8:42PM

Norman_Castle wrote: »

I would get proper quotes for the installation then figure out if it will increase the saleability and price. Its likely you paid a lower price due to the lack of gas supply and heating.

Could the supply pipe costs be shared with near neighbours?

Thanks. I'm going to get a few quotes to see what costs would work out at. Re sharing costs, I'm the end terrace on a block of three and I don't really know the neighbours - one is an elderly couple who I'm not sure would go to the effort/disruption (they've managed without for the 30 years they've lived there), the other I rarely even see and I have a hunch they rent rather than own.

jrrowleyws · 4 January 2018 at 8:45PM

Get the immersion wired into an E7 circuit and get a few storage heaters. My first house was 1 bed all electric and it was quite good on an E7 circuit

EachPenny · 4 January 2018 at 10:12PM

krlyr wrote: »

I'm on an economy 7 plan at the minute but not really making any use of the cheaper hours at night. The immersion simply has an on/off switch so it's a case of turning it on when I remember. I go to bed too early to start during the economy 7 hours and I'd probably forget to turn it off in the morning too. If I don't go down the central heating route though I could use some of those funds to make the electrical system more economic - so a timer plug, a better heater upstairs

I would get the immersion heater onto a timer asap. You can get a purpose-made wired-in one for under £15. It doesn't take much running during peak hours, or forgetting to turn the heater off, to recover this cost quite quickly. Even if you do go over to Gas CH it will take a while before you are able to heat your water by gas.

krlyr wrote: »

I've thought about one of those electric heaters that plumbs in under the sink if I just need enough hot water to wash a couple of mugs for example.

Those units tend to be quite expensive, and over two years it is debateable whether the saving on energy cost would recover the cost of the unit - they also use electric at the time of day you use hot water, so again you'd be paying peak rate. Boiling a kettle would probably be more economical if you don't want to get the immersion heater working on E7.

Gas/central heating vs electric

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