I want to get an advice if it is worth installing a gas central heating?

[Guest]

We only have electricity and it's quite expensive to run heater during winter as my other half is quite sensitive to cold. She uses a 2000W heater at least 10 hours a day. We are quoted approximately £10,000 to install a complete gas central heating.

• Connection from main grid system (£1470 according to Cadent website).
• Installation of gas meter (not sure if Octopus will charge for this).
• Installation of gas combi boiler + 4 radiators (approx £8,000 according to local company).

My alternative is to use a paraffin oil heater (Zibro LC150 Laser heater 4.85KW) which will cost us about £300 upfront, and then kerosene oil (£30 for a 20L from Rye oil).

Has anyone ever used it and if it is safe to use inside a room? How much ventilation does it need like open the window wide? won't heat loose if we keep the window open and no point of using paraffin heater?

Any advice and suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.

[Lorraine]

I paid 4k for 7 rads and bew boiler including all fittings and fixtures. I personally would shop around as that's really expensive.

[Karen]

I have just paid £5k to put gas crnral heating into my sons flat. Worcester bosch combi boiler, radiators in 2 bedrooms, lounge and a towel rail in the bathroom. didn’t have to pay for connection as their was an old caped off gas pipe already and Ovo don’t charge to fit a meter. They have taken out the old immersion heater and put the boiler in the bathroom where the tank was and as it’s a concrete construction flat all pipe work has to be surface mounted so A bit cheaper than if they have to run under the floor.

[Liz]

As others have said, you might be better off going for an air source heat pump. Running costs are similar to gas at the moment. With a gas boiler, for every 1kW of heat you get out, you need 1.1kW of gas. For heat pumps, for every 1kW of heat out, you need about 0.3kW of electricity. If you are also worried about climate change, heat pumps emit less carbon than gas boilers.

There are grants available to help with installation costs. The main grant open to anyone is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme If you receive certain benefits, your local council might also have grants.

To find out more about heat pumps, Heat Geek on YouTube has some great videos.

[Neil]

The quote for the boiler and 4 radiators seems exceptionally high. Yes, they will need to install all the pipework, if none has been there before but even so £8K seems very high. That said, there may be other alternatives if you're considering paying out over £10k, such as air source heat pump heating or solar.

[Julia]

I'm in an all electric house and bought a calor gas fire. It only heats the room you're in but works perfectly for me. Some will say about condensation, I've not found it to be an issue. I always have a window cracked open in the bedroom and run a dehumidifier in bathroom to dry washing.... Costs me approx £30 for around 4-5 weeks...

[Florin]

£8000 it's quite expensive for boiler and 4 radiators. I've change in February the full system to combi boiler and relocation( new gas pipe from meter) without radiators was £4000 and 7 radiators was £600 from Amazon( I've choose 5 vertical ones and 2 towel rails).

Explore these too: Boiler water temperature question if I may

[Angela]

Another idea to put onto your list might be: Just install a single wall-hung gas fire in the living room. It seemed almost "every house" had these in the 70s-90s; recent developers haven't been installing these, so they've disappeared from common view, but are still sold.

It'd avoid a pricey boiler and all the hassle/upset of getting radiators throughout.

It wouldn't give you gas fired water; it wouldn't reach every room. But it'd be less hassle/cost to get something in place to keep you warm, safely, even if it's only in one room.

Just an idea for you to add to your list of options.