Calor Gas

gizzemoto · 15-02-2012 4:51pm #1

Hi all,
I moved in to a rented house last November, I am new to LPG heating, I got a fill of gas (Half a Tank) and it cost €436 for 501 litres on the 8/11/2011, and today it has run out, that,s an average of €4.45 per/day. I only have it on for one hour in the mourning and one hour at night. Is there something I am doing wrong or does this sound right??

I am trying to find out the unit price per litre for LPG, I am currently paying 0.8711 per litre.

heinbloed · 15-02-2012 9:23pm

That would be around 5-6 liters per day and around 35-42 kW per day.
Not bad if the house is warm.
A 20 kW boiler would run for 2 hours on this amount of gas.

Do you think about saving on the bills?
Or increasing the comfort?

Patrickgerard · 25-02-2012 11:28pm

Hi All.
I am doing up a house in rural Ireland and am getting LPG Gas central heating installed to replace the existing storage heaters
I am a total newbie to this form of central heating as I have natural gas in Dublin.I really would appreciate any comments re the pros and cons of this form of CH ??

heinbloed · 25-02-2012 11:35pm

Patrickgerard wrote:

I am doing up a house in rural Ireland and am getting LPG Gas central heating installed to replace the existing storage heaters

Why LPG, Patrickgerard?

DoneDL · 25-02-2012 11:51pm

Patrickgerard wrote: »

Hi All.
I am doing up a house in rural Ireland and am getting LPG Gas central heating installed to replace the existing storage heaters
I am a total newbie to this form of central heating as I have natural gas in Dublin.I really would appreciate any comments re the pros and cons of this form of CH ??

I would give LPG a wide berth in a rural property. The price of LPG will not compete with oil and the more rural you are the harder it is to get parts for a gas boiler. I would stick with an oil condensing ( preferably Grant) and good controls with a good quality solid fuel stove with a backboiler as a backup.

Patrickgerard · 25-02-2012 11:54pm

Hi,
We have just decided LPG would be a better option for us when everything is considered (house will be used as a holiday home)

Patrickgerard · 26-02-2012 12:01am

DoneDL wrote: »

I would give LPG a wide berth in a rural property. The price of LPG will not compete with oil and the more rural you are the harder it is to get parts for a gas boiler. I would stick with an oil condensing ( preferably Grant) and good controls with a good quality solid fuel stove with a backboiler as a backup.

Hi.
Any pros??

DoneDL · 26-02-2012 12:05am

Apart from the fact nobody is stealing LPG I can't think of one. Really LPG is a better fuel but ìts still expensive.

heinbloed · 26-02-2012 12:11am

For a (summer-) holiday home any source of thermal energy is viable. Standing charges for tank rental or electricity meter/connections are propably higher than the demanded thermal energy itself (costs for purchased kWh/a compared to standing charges and maintenance costs).
Add anual maintenance costs and spare parts to the overall bill then nothing beats electricity - unless the holiday home is in forest and those going on holidays are willing to chop to fuel stoves.

What type of DHW supply is available, being considered?

How high is the thermal demand per year, space heating and DHW? Is electricity and potable water available ?

A civil engineer or architect doing the plans would ask these questions, are these numbers available or would the holiday home been build around the available energy source?

DoneDL · 26-02-2012 12:23am

heinbloed wrote: »

For a (summer-) holiday home any source of thermal energy is viable. Standing charges for tank rental or electricity meter/connections are propably higher than the demanded thermal energy itself (costs for purchased kWh/a compared to standing charges and maintenance costs).
Add anual maintenance costs and spare parts to the overall bill then nothing beats electricity - unless the holiday home is in forest and those going on holidays are willing to chop to fuel stoves.

What type of DHW supply is available, being considered?

How high is the thermal demand per year, space heating and DHW? Is electricity and potable water available ?

A civil engineer or architect doing the plans would ask these questions, are these numbers available or would the holiday home been build around the available energy source?

Strangely enough heinbloed " unless the holiday home is in forest and those going on holidays are willing to chop to fuel stoves" in a rural property if you have good local connections that is somewhere that savings can be made

Cedrus · 26-02-2012 12:58am

The lower occupancy of a holiday home will push up the return on investment of a LPG System (well any system really), it's already the one of the most expensive home fuels in Ireland. Electric is the cheapest to install, (hence why it was installed in so many apartments during the tiger terror) and although it too is an expensive fuel, you will not need it for long. It is extremely controllable, you can run just a a trace heat when it's unoccupied, set it up with a frost stat, you can even get a controller that you can phone up to turn the heating up when you're driving there. Another pro point is that you don't have a radiator system to freeze when you're not there. I would supplement the space heating with a good solid fuel stove to keep the electric costs down, if it's a small place I'd just use a solid fuel stove for the space heating and keep electric for DHW and a trace space heater. Electricity (like LPG) is also a lot harder to steal than oil.

Patrickgerard · 26-02-2012 1:07am

Thans all,
Has anyone an approximate idea how much it would cost to get a small bungalow fitted with calorgas lpg central heating and 8 rads ???? as I am clueless !!! but do realise that a plumber fits the rads and calor do the gasand what vshould I watch out for ???

Patrickgerard · 26-02-2012 1:17am

Thanks !!!

Cedrus · 26-02-2012 1:19am

gizzemoto wrote: »

Hi all,
I moved in to a rented house last November, I am new to LPG heating, I got a fill of gas (Half a Tank) and it cost €436 for 501 litres on the 8/11/2011, and today it has run out, that,s an average of €4.45 per/day. I only have it on for one hour in the mourning and one hour at night. Is there something I am doing wrong or does this sound right??

I am trying to find out the unit price per litre for LPG, I am currently paying 0.8711 per litre.

SEAI currently have Bulk LPG Average at 89c/L
SEAI Fuel Cost Comparison

maradonas · 26-02-2012 1:21am

7 - 10 grand get a flo gas rep. or other rep.s to see if your site is suitable for lpg

Patrickgerard · 26-02-2012 1:22am

Cedrus wrote: »

The lower occupancy of a holiday home will push up the return on investment of a LPG System (well any system really), it's already the most expensive home fuel in Ireland. Electric is the cheapest to install, (hence why it was installed in so many apartments during the tiger terror) and although it too is a relatively expensive fuel, you will not need it for long. It is extremely controllable, you can run just a a trace heat when it's unoccupied, set it up with a frost stat, you can even get a controller that you can phone up to turn the heating up when you're driving there. Another pro point is that you don't have a radiator system to freeze when you're not there. I would supplement the space heating with a good solid fuel stove to keep the electric costs down, if it's a small place I'd just use a solid fuel stove for the space heating and keep electric for DHW and a trace space heater. Electricity (like LPG) is also a lot harder to steal than oil.

You seem to know what youre talking about !! any more info on LPG ?? Is it much more expensive that oil ? basically we just want something that you can walk in and switch on !! what are the electric alternatives !! storage heaters are a disaster

heinbloed · 26-02-2012 1:23am

Calorgas is a brand name. They sell gas delivered in large tank trucks and they sell bottled gas for take-away.

If you really think about supplying a holiday home with LPG (95% propane) then think about buying the storage tank OR buying the gas in bottles/cylinders.

Renting a tank is rather stupid, a tank rented will allow for 1 supplier only to fill it, according to the rental contracts - the owner of the tank.

A tank owned by the consumer allows for every supplier to deliver and to fill it up. And that is as cheap as oil when comparing the price per used kWh.

The numbers of radiators is irrelevant on final fuel consumption. Ask the planner(architect, civil engineer, energy advisor, builder etc.) to do a thermal energy demand calculation according to EN 12831 or similar.
Any other approach is like reading tea leaves.

Cedrus · 26-02-2012 1:37am

Patrickgerard wrote: »

Thans all,
Has anyone an approximate idea how much it would cost to get a small bungalow fitted with calorgas lpg central heating and 8 rads ???? as I am clueless !!! but do realise that a plumber fits the rads and calor do the gasand what vshould I watch out for ???

What colour string?

This will depend a lot on location, local competition, quality of finish etc.
In some places the local trade is cuthroat so you'll get good deals if you know what you're doing but in other areas half the plumbers may have gone to australia and you'll still be paying tiger prices. Are you building a cabin in country where budget fittings will do or are you kitting out 5 star experience to rent to swiss moneymen?

If you really are clueless, get an engineer to sort it all out and get at least 3 quotes for everything.

Cedrus · 26-02-2012 1:51am

Patrickgerard wrote: »

Is it much more expensive that oil ? basically we just want something that you can walk in and switch on !! what are the electric alternatives !! storage heaters are a disaster

About 1.5 - 2 times the price per kW see the SEAI link in post 14.

The options are myriad but depend on too many factors which you haven't published. Occupancy, location, site exposure, materials of construction, fuel/energy source availability, capital budget etc..........................

detective · 05-05-2012 8:18pm

I'm currently paying 68c p/l inc vat with calor bulk supply. Got 1891ltrs 13 months ago. Still have 225 left but it wasn't a bad winter.

shagal · 04-02-2013 8:09pm

im considering switching from oil to gas i contacted calor for a quote
3000 e+vat , for tank, 24 kw boiler , instolation 1000 liters gas on a 2 yr contract
with gas at 72 cent per liter including vat and carbon tax 500 euro deposit and the rest over 24 months with 0 intrest
but not sure as i have never had gas before always oil
anyone got any comments on this offer , is there some thing i am missing out on ?

ps .dont bother with seai fuel prices i checked out their latest prices and they had kero and lpg at .94 cent pl
calor own quote was 72 cent per liter including vat and carbon tax .

shane0007 · 04-02-2013 9:01pm

shagal wrote: »

im considering switching from oil to gas i contacted calor for a quote
3000 e+vat , for tank, 24 kw boiler , instolation 1000 liters gas on a 2 yr contract
with gas at 72 cent per liter including vat and carbon tax 500 euro deposit and the rest over 24 months with 0 intrest
but not sure as i have never had gas before always oil
anyone got any comments on this offer , is there some thing i am missing out on ?

ps .dont bother with seai fuel prices i checked out their latest prices and they had kero and lpg at .94 cent pl
calor own quote was 72 cent per liter including vat and carbon tax .

I do installs for Calor & I find them an excellent company to deal with.
They are offering very good deals at the moment & there are some real benefits from having a modulating gas boiler rather than an all on or all off oil boiler. I am on oil myself with a 2 & 1/2 year Grant Vortex. I am soon to swap over to Calor. Just finalising my savings calculations & a neighbour down the road wants to buy my boiler!
+1 on SEAI's figures. I have no idea where they get those figures from. Perhaps from Community bulk storage that is metered. They do pay quite a bit more.

glic83 · 26-02-2013 6:00pm

Any update on this Shane did you change over yet?

shane0007 · 26-02-2013 11:51pm

glic83 wrote: »

Any update on this Shane did you change over yet?

Sorry, Glic83, no update as yet. I had planned on doing it in January as January & February are my usual quiet months but have been very busy so far this year for some reason.

glic83 · 26-02-2013 11:55pm

No problem was just interested in hearing how the changeover was going would be interested in changing over myself if it would save me on oil, my own boiler is non condensing and i think its slightly undersized for the house ,so a modulating gas boiler would be the better option and we are no where near the main gas line so it would have to be lpg.Re the pack on offer from calor, do you know what boiler is it that they offer ?

shane0007 · 27-02-2013 12:03am

The complete priced package is a bit of a myth. It only qualifies for that price if very certain criteria is met which only about 1 in 20 meet.
It is more done so on a price to suit the job & you can choose whatever boiler you wish. Issues arise when the installer arrives and the boiler is in a different place to where the old one is, pipework is different. A powerflush is required. Wiring is different, etc.

Offer at the moment is 1,000 litres of free LPG & depending upon the size of the house, about €0.65 to €0.70 per litre including taxes & vat, etc. They also will do deals on tank installation & tank rental/maintenance.

glic83 · 27-02-2013 12:08am

well my firebird 70/90 heatpac is an a few feet from the house so there would be a bit of work involved so id say that would drive the price up a good bit, would probably cos a good bit more so to chance over to lpg than get a condensing oil boiler and install it next to the house.

shane0007 · 27-02-2013 12:15am

Not necessarily. It does not matter where the old boiler is but where do the pipework surface in relation to the location of the new gas boiler.

It costs nothing to get a quote on both. For example, many of the Calor contractors do both gas & oil as we do, & can discuss both options. It is just better not to have the contractor contacted through Calor initially as it would be unethical for Calor to send them out to quote but then install oil! Well, I would not do it anyhow.
Alternatively, contact Calor for quote for gas & another contractor for an oil quote. Best advice I can think of is to try to educate yourself as much as possible. It really helps both parties.

glic83 · 27-02-2013 12:23am

well dont have the money to pay out for a new boiler just now (and tbh dont need to change just now) but i like the offer on the interest free payment with calor and i like the idea of gas and that no one is going to rob your lpg tank like they can with oil. it would be a messy job to change over i would think as there would be a bit of pipe work involved in the utility , where as with a new oil boiler its an easier install for a new boiler outside as thats the current set up, again this is just my opinion and an installer would have to look at it for a definite answer

phormium · 08-07-2013 7:57pm

Just came across this thread while searching for info on Calor. Would anyone know what the tank rental is with them and does it vary? I am with them for many years and the annual rental was always 70ish, however got a letter last year saying it was going up from next renewal for everyone to 200, sure enough in due course my renewal arrived and I had to pay 200. I did ring them and complain about the massive increase but got nowhere.

Now as it happens I pay the bills for another family member and their renewal for tank arrived couple of weeks ago and it was still at the old rate of 70, mine arrived yesterday and it is 200, before I ring them to ask and maybe end up costing my relative more. Any info?

Also is it possible to buy one's own tank, I see reference in one of the previous posts to it being better to own the tank, is this an option with Calor does anyone know. And finally one last question is it possible to switch to Flogas while there is gas in the tank or is it even possible to switch at all?

scudo2 · 09-07-2013 9:51pm

phormium wrote: »

Just came across this thread while searching for info on Calor. Would anyone know what the tank rental is with them and does it vary? I am with them for many years and the annual rental was always 70ish, however got a letter last year saying it was going up from next renewal for everyone to 200, sure enough in due course my renewal arrived and I had to pay 200. I did ring them and complain about the massive increase but got nowhere.

Now as it happens I pay the bills for another family member and their renewal for tank arrived couple of weeks ago and it was still at the old rate of 70, mine arrived yesterday and it is 200, before I ring them to ask and maybe end up costing my relative more. Any info?

Also is it possible to buy one's own tank, I see reference in one of the previous posts to it being better to own the tank, is this an option with Calor does anyone know. And finally one last question is it possible to switch to Flogas while there is gas in the tank or is it even possible to switch at all?

Ask other suppliers flo gas + anybody else for info. there always looking for new costomers.

From what I heard home insurance Co. do not cover gas tank in some cases, but please check it out.

Oil is 20-30% cheaper to run. Look it up.SEAI.IE or grantengineering.ie

Calor Gas

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