Help!

[Anna B 1,414]

I'm in need a new Central Heating System, preferably before winter, but know very little about these things. 

 

I'm currently all electric, and bearing in mind the extortionate rise in the cost of gas, wonder if I would be wise to go for all electric again. I don't want a lot of disruption and decorating, and I know gas would probably involve pipework and the location and installation of a boiler etc. (I currently only have a gas hob which I rarely use.)  

I rarely use the heating upstairs (5 rooms including bathroom) and have 4 rooms downstairs. 

 

What should a new systems cost?

How do the running costs compare? (I also have solar panels on the roof.)

Does the type of heating affect the resale value of the property?

Any recommendations as to suppliers etc.

 

Any help / comments would be appreciated...

Edited August 18, 2022 by Anna B

[Padders 2,863]

49 minutes ago, Anna B said:

I'm in need a new Central Heating System, preferably before winter, but know very little about these things. 

 

I'm currently all electric, and bearing in mind the extortionate rise in the cost of gas, wonder if I would be wise to go for all electric again. I don't want a lot of disruption and decorating, and I know gas would probably involve pipework and the location and installation of a boiler etc. (I currently only have a gas hob which I rarely use.)  

I rarely use the heating upstairs (5 rooms including bathroom) and have 4 rooms downstairs. 

 

What should a new systems cost?

How do the running costs compare? (I also have solar panels on the roof.)

Does the type of heating affect the resale value of the property?

Any recommendations as to suppliers etc.

 

Any help / comments would be appreciated...

Can't offer any help Anna, But I'll make a comment.

Why do you need a new Central Heating System?

I've had mine 25years now (New house in 1997) never had a problem.

Like you, this coming winter I've turned of all the upstairs radiators, I've only got 3 operational now, 2 in the lounge, 1 in the kitchen.

I keep thinking, how long can my system last, will it need replacing soon.

I'm wondering about cheaper alternatives to heat the upstairs, summat I can switch on and off when required.

I've absolutely no idea how to work out the cost of Electric  v  Gas.

I've got a little fold up bed, if things don't improve I'll have to resort to sleeping on that downstairs, owt to save a few quid.

I reckon you need a proper engineer to give you a survey.

 

[HeHasRisen 3,399]

Also, electric has gone up in price as well, heating water by electric is deemed more expensive than heating by gas, even accounting for the recent rises

[Arthur Ritus 30]

Your problem is that a gas installer will say you need a gas central heating system (most plumbers will tell you you need a combi boiler because its easier for them), a heat pump (fancy name for air conditioning) company will say you need theirs, an unbiased opinion from someone with the technical knowledge and experience, difficult to find. There were grants for some systems maybe worth investigating whats still available.
If you don't go with gas central heating  then you could get your gas disconnected and save the fixed cost charge, must be about £80/year
Air source doesn't work very well when temp out side bellow 10 deg c but would work in conjunction with electric heating to save some money. Also if any room left solar water heating is much more efficient than photovoltaic panels and immersion heater.
Up to a year ago it would be a no brainer get a condensing boiler and gas central heating,  water  -most people seem to prefer instantaneous rather than storing hot water - as much as you want whenever you want it, better if use is more sporadic. Storing hot water (solar can be used when sun shines) is supposed to be a bit more efficient for the condensing  boiler. I think it's that most central heating systems don't send the return back cool enough to make use of the boilers condensing ability that's when the cool return from the hot water storage tank over a longer period helps extract that bit more heat from the flue gas. Any saving if no solar would be lost if the hot water just sits there unused.

Recent events have upset that world, its even possible gas may be turned off at times of demand outstripping supply which would unfortunately be when its very cold, the future is difficult to predict nobody really knows, ideally wait another year - get world peace,  nuclear generated electricity, green crusaders take a reality pill, UK population drops significantly, intelligent government, UK  steel making and energy guzzling manufacturing diminishes. Well there's one we can tick off, just have to beat the Chinese and Germans to the Arab gas supply which they need to make the stuff for us we don't make any more.

What was the question again, oh yes, personally I would gamble on gas, condensing combi on a kitchen wall- little disruption to house. Quite a few plumbers fit the pipe work to the ceiling then you get a false ceiling put up (if ceiling high enough) very little disruption, I don't like the pipe work sealed in, I prefer the removeable panels - does make it office looking, perhaps ok for kitchen and halls and plasterboard for living room. Get any extra electrical work done like extra sockets upstairs or more lighting before boarding. Heat and hot water when ever needed about 1/3 the price of electricity.

[bassett one 451]

we will all have to put on more jumpers and use hot water bottles and dressing gowns,ice on the inside of the windows when i was a kid,going back to the old days,so just get a fire and live in one room,thats all thats left for us to do,its the goverments way to reduce pensioners

[HeHasRisen 3,399]

2 minutes ago, bassett one said:

we will all have to put on more jumpers and use hot water bottles and dressing gowns,ice on the inside of the windows when i was a kid,going back to the old days,so just get a fire and live in one room,thats all thats left for us to do,its the goverments way to reduce pensioners

Maybe stop having a KFC every week and cook something cheaper and healthier 👍

[hauxwell 243]

Anna says she has solar panels, I thought having them you generated your own electricity and on cloudy days they still work.  I don’t know anything about them but I’m curious to know how much money they save you on your bills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna B 1,414]

3 hours ago, hauxwell said:

Anna says she has solar panels, I thought having them you generated your own electricity and on cloudy days they still work.  I don’t know anything about them but I’m curious to know how much money they save you on your bills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re: solar panels. I wouldn't bother. Trying to get the money out of the supplier (Scottish Power) is like getting blood out of a stone. They sent a man round for yearly check last November. He took a reading and said payment would take up to two months to come through. I'm still waiting. Phoning up is a none-starter as they never answer the phone, so you're left in limbo. And the amount isn't that much anyway.

Technology also moves on so fast they are probably out of date by now. 

Seemed like a good idea at the time. 

 

Thank you all for your replies. Please continue if you've any further advice. Going to get onto Age UK I think, as they've been helpful in the past. They might be able to suggest something. I'm paying £200 a month for electric, and still spend every winter frozen to death 'cos heating is so poor. Something's wrong somewhere....

Edited August 18, 2022 by Anna B

[fools 447]

Electricity has always been 3 to 4 times more expensive than gas.

 

The price cap is currently around 7p/kwh for gas, 28p/kwh for electricity, and the October increase will be announced in a week.

 

That gas hob is the cheapest way of cooking, around 5p/meal currently. If you're using electricity to cook, eg (heating an oven up) instead it's way more expensive.

 

How many kwh are you consuming per annum, and how much of that is generated by solar?

 

Do you have any smartmeter gizmos to see what is used where?

 

The choice of what method to use is up in the air, the powers that be were trying to force us all down electrically operated heat pumps before this crisis happened. Up until then, gas boiler was the best option for a house.

 

------------

 

Padders, if you've got gas central heating, you can control upstairs with zone valves, or individual radiators with electrically operated valves, or the cheaper option is set and forget thermostatic radiator valves (not set on max). Even cheaper is to adjust each valve manually, to let a little flow in each room to take the chill off and avoid damp.

Edited August 19, 2022 by fools

[hauxwell 243]

7 hours ago, Anna B said:

Re: solar panels. I wouldn't bother. Trying to get the money out of the supplier (Scottish Power) is like getting blood out of a stone. They sent a man round for yearly check last November. He took a reading and said payment would take up to two months to come through. I'm still waiting. Phoning up is a none-starter as they never answer the phone, so you're left in limbo. And the amount isn't that much anyway.

Technology also moves on so fast they are probably out of date by now. 

Seemed like a good idea at the time. 

 

Thank you all for your replies. Please continue if you've any further advice. Going to get onto Age UK I think, as they've been helpful in the past. They might be able to suggest something. I'm paying £200 a month for electric, and still spend every winter frozen to death 'cos heating is so poor. Something's wrong somewhere....

Thank you Anna for the information.  I was going to say change your supplier but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are all the same.  

[HeHasRisen 3,399]

11 minutes ago, hauxwell said:

Thank you Anna for the information.  I was going to say change your supplier but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are all the same.  

Absolutely pointless. Anna is probably paying the SVT, all fixes are currently higher than this, and many suppliers arent accepting new customers anyway.

 

She needs to do her own audit of her electric usage if she feels her usage is high.  A quick win would be to check how long the hot water goes on for, we recently halved the time ours is on for and has cut the amount we use considerably. We even turn it off totally when away from home for more than a day.

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by HeHasRisen

[hauxwell 243]

4 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Absolutely pointless. Anna is probably paying the SVT, all fixes are currently higher than this, and many suppliers arent accepting new customers anyway.

 

She needs to do her own audit of her electric usage if she feels her usage is high.

I’m not surprised about some  suppliers not  excepting new customers.  Gone are the days when  they use to knock on your door to offer you a better deal.   At the moment we are living in very worrying times with gas and electricity