Alterrnatives to gas central heating

[mikey]

I'm refurbishing a small flat that only has a small bedroom, an open plan living room with kitchen, and a very small bathroom (the hall is really just a separating are between front door and lounge door so doesn't need heating).

I wanted to fit gas CH and asked a few local companies for quotes for a condensing combi system with just 3 (maybe 4) rads and a feed to a thermostatically controller mixer shower bar that I am going to fit, but every quote is in the region of £1,700. I'm going to let the flat out so have to use a Corgi registered company, but I really thought that with such short pipe runs and a very small boiler I would only be paying around £1,000. The gas meter is in the cellar and I have been told that they would have to run a new length of pipe floors down to it (flat is on first floor) as the pipe which currently supplies the gas fire and gas cooker is of the wrong gauge? Not sure if this is just a way to justify the high price!

Anyway, if CH is going to be so expensive (and 3 firms have all quoted similar prices), are there alternatives that I can use to heat this flat? At present it just has a gas fire in the lounge and a plug in electric heater in the bedroom. I've thought about storage heaters but am not sure if that's a viable option as I've never used them myself and don't know if I quite like the principle of storing heating during the night to use the following day, particularly if the person in the flat is at work all day???

Can anyone suggest any other options that will give me heat in all three rooms and provide hot water?

Mike

[leighhales]

=A31,700 is cheap as a good combi boiler is over =A31000 and will have to=20 be a size to be able to produce hot water for a bathroom - so not a=20 small boiler.

Electric panel heaters - on peak would be your cheapest option...

I'm refurbishing a small flat that only has a small bedroom, an open plan

[Doctor Drivel]

A good price. Look at the prices of the kit itself.

[Owain]

The limiting factor is the combi boiler has to be big enough to provide the hot water, regardless of the size of the flat. If you could use a storage tank for hot water, you could use a much smaller boiler.

Because the combi boiler has to be adequate for an instantaneous hot water load, it often has a higher peak gas capacity than a non-combi boiler.

If this is going to be a long-term rental investment you could cap off the gas supply. This will save you the cost of the annual gas safety check for rented property. Then fit electric convector heaters with adjacent dedicated single sockets. If the tenants want to use plug-in timers for economy, they can. Suitable heater in the bathroom. Electric shower, and an unvented electric under-sink heater will do both the sink and the washbasin if adjacent and unlikely to be used simultaneously. (Vented under-sink heater will need special vented taps, which always drip - avoid.) AIUI you can self-install these unvented water heaters because they have a small volume of stored pressurised water.

Having electric-only heating will slightly reduce the rental appeal of the flat, and will affect its resale value, but if money is tight this may be a realistic way forward.

I would suggest you leave space in the kitchen/wherever units for a combi boiler, and put in pipework for rads (and gas supply) while refurbishing, then you can install a wet central heating system at a later date with the minimum of disruption.

Pay attention to insulation - the mention of a cellar makes me think this is an older building, possibly a conversion - this will make things more comfortable for the tenant and comfortable tenants tend to stay in situ and not leave you with void periods.

Owain

[ARWadsworth]

DIY the central heating yourself and then get a CORGI firm to give a landlords safety certificate. If your work it up to scratch there is no problem. You will not get an installation certificate but who cares?

Adam

[gort]

Dave