Heating in my house.. What should I do?

Chrisharry12345

Im really struggling with this and its on my mind permanently! I dont know if we should just stick with our current economy 7 storage heating or look at getting oil or LPG gas or even more modern electric systems if they are beneficial?(NO MAINS GAS HERE) Solars not an option

Running Cost
We have been here since January and have paid £100 a month for electricity (so heating and normal electricity) Obviously through the warmer months we wont have the storage heaters on so this will be reduced so I think were looking at about £80 a month max so about £1000 a year
Which? estimates oil costs for a similar size house to be £1100 for oil and £1300 for LPG
So I dont think financially we will get any financial benefit

Initial cost
After looking around getting central heating put in would be about £3,000 which I have so isnt a major issue but obviously would rather spend it on something else I guess I would only want to spend it if it added value on the house?

Convenience
No MAJOR issues with the storage heaters so far.. its a bit of a pain that if you forget to put the heater on and get in and the evening and its cold or you leave the heater on and it warms up and its boiling. I would like the option of having more control over the heating with the thermostat but I dont know if convience alone is worth the £3k spend!

Added value
Everyone whos asked about my new house has pulled a face when I said we have storage heaters so I guess the general feeling from the public is pretty negative.. If having another heating system in the house added say £5000 to the value I would defiantly be happy to spend the £3000.. but would it add value?

External factors
Worry's about the future cost of oil and gas really will it make it more expensive in the future? Do people view oil in a similar negative light as storage heaters?


Thoughts on this guys..? Any advice will be appriciated

huwsparky

Personally if I were in your shoes I would either stick to what you have or go for oil. As I understand if you dont have mains gas then oil works out cheaper (happy to be corrected though).

I can promise that you will not get an oil system fitted for £3000, no chance.

I bought a small 2 bed bungalow back in 2007 which I put an oil system in throughout. I did the majority of work myself, hanging rads, running pipes, wiring as i'm spark etc to keep costs down but I still spent about £4500 from memory.

Boiler £1600 (external combi)
Bunded oil tank £550
Rads £600

Now they are rough estimates but I can't imagine prices would have gone down in the last 5 years?

That's £2750 with no labour, pipe (which i know for a fact is a lot more expensive now), fittings, oil valve etc.

Also the lot should be connected up by a certified electricial which would maybe not cost a huge amount but needs tobe allowed for all the same.

HTH.

DPinBucks

If you're happy with Economy 7, stick with it, I would say.  Their main problem is lack of controllability, and we have just had a mild winter.  Top it up with plug-in radiators or heaters: the extra running cost will be less than the capital cost of installing central heating.

For many reasons, I would not recommend oil: environmental issues and future costs being the main ones.  I don't see the price of heating oil ever coming down significantly.

dibdab

I would stick with what you have as heating oil is very expensive and i don't think you would be saving anything by changing a system that works even though it's not as controllable as you would like, if you had mains gas then it would be a different matter but the other two options won't work out cheaper in the long run and i'm not sure if it would add value.

DOBLY

What about one of these?

(Just found the manufacturers website with the whole range of wood pellet fires)

We have a similar thing (same manufacturer) that is built-in to an existing fireplace - very happy with it.

John

Plug in heaters are expensive to run, I fell off my chair when I compared annual usage having stopped using one in the kitchen.

vince31

What about an Air sourced heat pump to replace your system, there are grants and FIT payments avaiblale for these now I believe

johntheexpat

^^^  What he says.  And more insulation.  Even if you think you have enough, you could probably do with more - its relatively cheap, very effective and pays back year after year.

Remember, with storage heaters you have no (or very low) maintenance costs.  With boilers you have the initial cost, service contracts, and a plethora of other small ways of spending money.  You have to look at the whole bundle rather than just the cost of oil or LPG.

Heat pumps and more insulation are the way, but you will have to remember that as the temperature drops the efficiency drops.  And if the temperature drops to about -15C then you gain nothing and will need to plug in some normal heaters.

danmc_82

Insulation should be your first investment.

Andyh4324

How about having a heating system put in with an electric boiler?  The convenience of a controlled heating system without the installation of oil tanks or gas cylinders. I believe Heatrae Sadia and a few others make them.

Link to boilers