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Does anyone have knowledge on how the Lifetime cost of gas and electric compare in a domestic application. Almost by default gas central heating is installed assuming that it’s cheaper option.
 
Does anyone have knowledge on how the Lifetime cost of gas and electric compare in a domestic application. Almost by default gas central heating is installed assuming that it’s cheaper option.
My understanding is that natural gas is on the rise and if I was you I would go electric it’s fairly cheap in summer but in the winter it gets a little bit higher cost
 
Go gas. It's cheaper.
 
get a wood burner. scrap wood and chipboard ( Ikea wardrobes etc.) cheap as chips.
 
Good question?

Yes gas is cheaper now.

But for how long?

My understanding is that natural gas is on the rise and if I was you I would go electric it’s fairly cheap in summer but in the winter it gets a little bit higher cost

Most British power stations are gas. So the cost of electric is always proportional to the cost of gas. If gas goes up electric goes up.
It costs more to get electric power from gas as the heat losses and losses on transportation of electric in to your house are greater than the losses from you condense boiler which is 99% efficient heat transfer.

However this may and will change as more wind / tidal/ solar power is harvested.
And gas becomes more obsolete.

We’ve recently reached the 50% target of renewable (or so called free) power in the UK.
I have to say I am very sceptical of those figures as I believe they have been massaged a bit or sexed up if you like.

Renewable electric is not free it’s actually more expensive than gas powered electric.
But the cost to the environment..... another debate.


I like where we are going with reviewable even though I’m a bit sceptical as to some of the claims, but as technology improves we will be able to move away from gas al together.

I’m seriously considering going all electric when my combi dies.
Solar panels and air source heat pumps and battery back up.
 
i'm i the process of buiding a 12ft. radius driver wheel to turn a generator. ( similar to a water wheel.) unfortunately we have no river close by, and I'm stuck on the calculation of how many hamsters i need and what the food costs will be.
 
You could fit a gas boiler and supply it with 10mm cable from CU so the option is there to switch to electric at a later date.

Or install both and have the best of both worlds
 
i'm i the process of buiding a 12ft. radius driver wheel to turn a generator. ( similar to a water wheel.) unfortunately we have no river close by, and I'm stuck on the calculation of how many hamsters i need and what the food costs will be.

If you can get the hamsters to be bitten by a radioactive spider, then you only need 4. They also don't need feeding.
 
That’s ecology unsound, they’re gonna be banned soon too :)
Question, do I get rid of my woodburner, which I feed free renewable wood (pallets), or do I install electric heating @15p/kWh, which also contributes to global warming? I bet it's the energy companies lobbying to get woodburners banned.
 
Question, do I get rid of my woodburner, which I feed free renewable wood (pallets), or do I install electric heating @15p/kWh, which also contributes to global warming? I bet it's the energy companies lobbying to get woodburners banned.
I had one in my old place, can’t have it in the new pad. We enjoyed it, although never had ‘free’ wood. Used to buy renewable source logs, cost about £160 per winter. But never had it burning every night. Don’t know if it really reduced on our gas bills, but it certainly made the downstairs warmer.

That’s the plus side. I don’t think you can argue about it’s particulate polluting effect. I know some of the latest ones are quite good, but just imagine what it would be like, if everyone had one.

Guy round the corner used to get tanalised wood off cuts for free and burn that!
 
I’m thinking of the lifetime cost gas central heating and electric heating. Boiler servicing adds to the lifetime costs. If you’re boiler system failed or needs upgrading would you consider electric heating as more cost effective option?
If it’s a newbuild would it be more cost effective over 25 years to go electric?
 
I’m thinking of the lifetime cost gas central heating and electric heating. Boiler servicing adds to the lifetime costs. If you’re boiler system failed or needs upgrading would you consider electric heating as more cost effective option?
If it’s a newbuild would it be more cost effective over 25 years to go electric?

In my old pad of 30 years, we had two gas boilers. I feel a strange feeling of deja vu here.
 
It depends on the system, if you're comparing a gas boiler to an electric boiler I think the gas boiler will always win.
If you're comparing a gas boiler to other forms of electric heating it may be a different story.
Also the method of heat delivery (radiators/wet underfloor) and the type of control will have a bearing on the efficiency and running cost of the system as a whole.
 
Imagine you had a bare shell of a house...
do you plumb in a combi, with gas pipes, water pipes, radiators etc...or do you make sure it is well insulated (fraction of the cost of the above) and install efficient electric radiators?
If the electricity fails, neither will work. However, if you have efficient electric radiators, the cost of keeping your house warm will be lower, over the 15 years lifetime of the gas boiler (assumed). Hot water is another thing altogether.
If you live in a rural location where woodburners are the thing, and you have a ready supply of cheap or free wood, then you are in a win situation, and the extra pollution is outweighed by the pollution caused by producing your energy from other means...and don't even think about telling me a giant wind-turbine is cheap to produce, because it isn't, and it involves smelting to get the aluminium, mining for the copper etc etc
My sister has her own small hydro plant, so electricity is free (it took only 7 years to recover the capital outlay) and she is fortunate in owning a few hundred hectares of woodland, so her woodburner is supplied from fallen timber, free of charge. It is all about looking at options, and trying to get off-grid at every opportunity. No chance for most of us in suburbia, but let's be happy for those who get energy for nothing, money for nothing...and chicks for free!
 

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