oil or gas

getfit

I will have to decide in the next week or two on which option to proceed with (oil or gas central heating).

There's a mains supply running outside the front of the site and I had assumed I'd hook up with that from day one. However, now that I'm close to making a decision I've done a bit of research and tried to crunch some numbers.

As the meter for the gas will be a good 30/40m from the boundry, there will be a hefty enough connection fee. Possible in the region of 1k+. On top of that, the cost of gas is on the way up. I'm currently renting a house which uses gas and over the summer we have been hit by the monthly service fee, which is an extra cost I had forgotten to factor in... When you're forking out hundreds a month over the winter the service fee seems insignificant, but over the summer when you have zero use it's a real annoyance having to pay it!!!

With Oil the connection is simpler and cheaper.
There's no account maintenance fee.
Price of oil "seems" to be on the way down at the moment, whereas gas is on the way up.

Didn't expect I'd be looking into oil, but the gas crowd are
a) not making it easy to connect (seem very inefficient in the office)
b) making it expensive to connect in the first place
c) in a very strong position once I connect and can hike prices as they see fit.

The house I'm building is very well insulated, with solar panels and a very good stove connected to a back boiler. Also, the house will have three heating zones, the third being the 1st floor of the bungalow, which will be for guests and rarely used. I "hope" that heating bills will be a good bit cheaper than a normal Irish house and it seems the gas would be the better option the more of it you use.....

I can't seem to find a simple cost per unit comparison for oil v gas.... to factor into my decision.....

ircoha

Not going to argue for one or the other here, am just musing while having a glass of chardonnay.:)

Oil tank etc will be an extra cost as well as being unsightly.

Filling it is a one off cost// u can spread the cost of gas bills

The cost of energy in terms of quids per Kilojoule, regardless of source, will generally be the same.

Condensing gas boilers are, in general more efficient than their oil equivalents.

Use the gas to heat the hot water during the summer.

The gas is good to have for the BBQ, no lugging the heavy cylinders.

Gas hobs v good for cooking: not the oven part

Gas tumbler dryers very efficient.

VH

I have gas and it sickens me that I am completely at the mercy of a monopoly - and worse again a semi-state monopoly. Would you be happy to buy gas from CIE for ever more?

Would you even consider oil if you had to buy off the one oil company for the rest of your life?

Condensing oil boilers tend to be 1-2% *more* efficient than gas, in the 99% range, whereas gas is typically 97% max. I don't think this is a difference you'd notice tho.

In addition with an oil boiler there is the prospect of burning non-fossil oil, like bio fuels and waste oils.

Oil you pay up front, but with gas (like ESB) you pay a standing charge on every bill whether you use it or not.

In addition gas just went up 20%.

Heating your hot water on night saver ESB in the summer is waaaayyy cheaper than heating by gas.

c class 226

If you go digging on the SEI website (sorry, don't have the link handy), they have a table which compares the cost of all common forms of energy. They factor in standing charges, inefficient boilers etc. to show the actual cost of each unit of energy used.
Cheers.

sydthebeat

http://www.sei.ie/index.asp?locID=58&docID=-1

look at second and third link...

metalscrubber

Might just have to do a bit of rethinking on the heating system

ircoha

The other consideration with oil v gas is that on the plus side once you have your oil tank and have a small generator, you will be more secure in the event of a gas shortage.

on the neg side, due to the price of oil now you need to have your tank secure, and, if in the country, prolly hidden 100% as there is a roaring trade in .......

Having regard to the need to secure the oil tank and the risk of the Big Bear turning off the gas, brings the idea of building an underground oil storage tank to the foreground.

Re

Might just have to do a bit of rethinking on the heating system

If the build is as far as I think you are really only looking at <Might just have to do a bit of rethinking on the heat source >

fuzz11

hi , sorry to interupt this thread but does any one have any experience of oil fuelled underground heating... plumbers are against it but talking to some homeowners that have installed it they are very happy.any feedback gratly appreciated. Thanks

Poor Uncle Tom

Hi fuzz11,
I think you may mean underfloor heating. Most of the houses I am aware of with underfloor heating are using oil to heat them. The feedback I get is very mixed regarding oil usage, but a very basic pattern has emerged.

Pipes inside a max of 75mm screed, proofed and insulated underneath, plenty of zones in the house. Feed and return pipes to each zone should be very well insulated and keep non used rooms on a much lower temprature then the rest.