Hi All, We have recently purchased an old house (3 bed) with no central heating. The question is: do we install an electric boiler (oil is not an option) or do we go for an lpg condensing boiler? Does anybody have any idea on running cost on either? How much do the lpg bottles cost and how long do they last?
Many thanks, Erik
What about, ground source or air source system.
Just curious, why?
Dunno but probably variations on "an arm and a leg". ;-)
Unless your property is quite small I think it's more normal to have a gas storage tank tank in your garden. I think cylinders would need changing too often.
Sure someone will pop up with relative running costs but I don't think it's gonna be cheap.
Tim
Conventional (non-heat pump) electric systems are going to cost a fortune to run in an old house that has not seen much in the way of energy efficiency improvements.
As already said, for whole-house heating LPG uses a bulk tank which is refilled by tanker: significantly cheaper than electricity but more expensive than oil (why is oil not an option?).
Ground source heat pumps are expensive to install but the running costs should be in line with mains gas and they should be maintenance free. Lots of info at
Depending on how many people are in your household, if you end up with a regular electric system you may just be one of those rare people for whom solar hot water is an economic proposition, but look at insulation first.
Oil is not an option, because we don't have a big enough garden to place a tank.
That probably rules out the LPG and heat pump options then.
Gas will be a little cheaper I think, and somewhat better if you get a power cut.
I am surprised 'oil is not an option' because the siting requirments for LPG tanks are a LOT more stringent than oil.
Then its unlikely you will have sp[ace for an LPG tank.
This is where I'd start thinking 'insulation, insulation, insulation'
and a coal or wood burner..and some leccy concvectors stuck on the walls.
Where do you park the CAR?
An oil tank is not much bigger than a dustbin, for small ones.
Bore hole heat pump??? Do these have large footprints at the surface?
The Natural Philosopher wrote in news:1201635123.25309.0 @damia.uk.clara.net:
Possibly the option I'd go for too
Not really. We have LPG heating and have four big bottles outside the kitchen wall, coupled in pairs. Not uncommon. We do end up changing a pair every 2 or 3 weeks in the winter, which takes a phone call. Though this winter (our first in the house) is exceptional, as I've just stripped out most of what insulation there was in the roof and first floor for some building work. Will be interesting to see how it performs next winter, when everything has been thoroughly Kingspanned.
I've no idea of the cost comparison with electric. We're about go go over from electric to LPG for our cooking, but that's as much for convenience as cost.
Regards Richard
I think you can get a heat pump option that involves drilling straight down (possibly two holes ?) and dropping your coil in...
If there's room for a coal or wood store, then there's room for an oil tank. But the building regs might defeat the idea on 'distance from' rules for oil or LPG storage.
R.
And the other thing to bear in mind about LPG is that you don't own the tank the gas company does and this ties you into buying your gas from them. Oil you own the tank and you can shop around the local suppliers for the best deal.
I guess the OP was thinking of running his space heating from the large orange 47kg propane cylinders. I guess you could, with correct regulator and jets but how long a 47kg cylinder would last attached to a space heating system is another matter, maybe a month, if you're lucky?
A 47kg cylinder of gas has 47kg of gas plus *a lot* of steel. The gross weight of a full 47kg cylinder is the best part of 100kg (15 stone or 2 cwt) bit of a lump to be moving about every month or more often...
I THOUGHT if the tank was properly bunded, oil tanks could be put anywhere..
You don't have to touch it - if you have bottled gas you'll have a contract with a supplier, who will come and swap the empty cylinders for full ones. Normally you have either two cylinders or two pairs of cylinders. The gauge tells you when one cylinder or pair is empty, whereupon you ring them and they come and change the empty (while you continue to use the full). it's quite simple ;-) Involves nothing more than lifting a telephone, and then paying an invoice when it arrives.
And yes, as someone suggested, you can have ground source heat pumps with the "element" going straight down. A supposed "eco house" being built in the next village has one that almost reaches New Zealand. Why do you seldom see a small eco-house? Seems odd.
Regards Richard
In which case you probably don't have room for an LPG tank. Oil tanks are quite modest in size and can be located much closer to buildings than LPG ones can.
Peter Crosland
The message from The Natural Philosopher contains these words:
Should normally be 1.8m from a building. So if the OP has 2.5m from his house, he should have room for an oil tank. It's all madness. In Canada we were compelled to have the oil tank inside the basement -- well, it would have frozen otherwise. OTOH they were small tanks holding a couple of hundred gallons and the oilman called every two weeks to top it up.
Doesn't that stop you shopping around? With the volatility on energy prices now and for the foreseable future that abilty can save money, the= last 2000l of oil we bought (21 Dec) had a =A360 spread on total price. =
That's a weeks groceries...
true enough but that depends on your choosen method of supply.
Big houses have bigger heating demands therefore bigger savings to had from being "eco" with energy useage.
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