I'm wishing to move back from Spain but when I see a flat within my budget that has nsh I move on. A poster up thread said it would cost around 5,000 to install central heating. Is that so?
I've never lived with nsh nor experienced it so I don't understand why I feel so against it.
To expand a little - I grew up in a house with no heating except coal fires. I lived in a London flat with no heating then I bought a flat with central heating. Now I live in a small Spanish house with no heating and in Autumn and Winter I've never been so cold. In other words I regard ch as a necessity.
Is installing central heating really available at around 5,000k?
I watch this thread with interest. I live in a flat with 4 heaters - the heaters in the kitchen and spare room are never, ever switched on, the bedroom has a simple switch on/switch off heater, the front room has an enormous storage heater. All the heaters are origional and were installed when the flat was built in 1987.
Our electricity bill is £1, 763 in a flat only 38qm with 2 heaters, a new oven, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and double glazing... it costs my sister much less to run a 3 bed detached. We're flummoxed. I think the storage heater may be to blame. Is it worth looking into given it is almost 28 years old?
I watch this thread with interest. I live in a flat with 4 heaters - the heaters in the kitchen and spare room are never, ever switched on, the bedroom has a simple switch on/switch off heater, the front room has an enormous storage heater. All the heaters are origional and were installed when the flat was built in 1987.
Our electricity bill is £1, 763 in a flat only 38qm with 2 heaters, a new oven, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and double glazing... it costs my sister much less to run a 3 bed detached. We're flummoxed. I think the storage heater may be to blame. Is it worth looking into given it is almost 28 years old?
Check for anything odd...
A friend of mine lived in a coach house in a modern development in Diddyland. (House with 3 garages below.) She didn't realise until she went on holiday that her circuit provided the power to the lights and sockets in the 2 other garages.
Her neighbours had freezers and tumble driers in their garages. Both neighbours claimed to "believe" that the garage supply came from their own home.
It was discovered because she turned off her water and mains before going away for 2 weeks... Two large freezers of defrosted food and no lights/driers...
Another friend discovered that the two 500W security lights outside his apartment block were linked to his lighting circuit. He only worked it out when his electric company supplied him with a free electricity monitor and it jumped by 1kw every night at dusk.
Checking his deed pack, he did find the rules that it was his responsiblity... Switching both lamps from 500W halogen to a 20W CFL cut his electricty bill by £400 a year.
I watch this thread with interest. I live in a flat with 4 heaters - the heaters in the kitchen and spare room are never, ever switched on, the bedroom has a simple switch on/switch off heater, the front room has an enormous storage heater. All the heaters are origional and were installed when the flat was built in 1987.
Our electricity bill is £1, 763 in a flat only 38qm with 2 heaters, a new oven, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and double glazing... it costs my sister much less to run a 3 bed detached. We're flummoxed. I think the storage heater may be to blame. Is it worth looking into given it is almost 28 years old?
Storage heaters ain't cheap to run - they used to be at one time but prices for off peak have gone up since then compared to gas.
A friend who is thinking of having his gas central heating replaced is looking at about £7,000 or so. That's for a wall mounted boiler, new rads and a gas fire in a 2 bed detached bungalow. If he went with British Gas it would be much more of course.
My gas/electric for a smallish three bed semi with three storage heaters and two gas fires is approx £1,700 PA. I'd probably save about £400 PA with gas but payback time is about 15 years if prices remain in proportion between gas/electricity. So I may stick with what I have - as I don't expect to live that long.
If you intend to sell your flat then it may be worth it.
I watch this thread with interest. I live in a flat with 4 heaters - the heaters in the kitchen and spare room are never, ever switched on, the bedroom has a simple switch on/switch off heater, the front room has an enormous storage heater. All the heaters are origional and were installed when the flat was built in 1987.
Our electricity bill is £1, 763 in a flat only 38qm with 2 heaters, a new oven, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and double glazing... it costs my sister much less to run a 3 bed detached. We're flummoxed. I think the storage heater may be to blame. Is it worth looking into given it is almost 28 years old?
Wow, that seems a lot to me! I only have a 1 bed flat but 3 storage heaters and I put the prices I pay/paid on the previous page. I use a dishwasher and have a dehumidifier running most of the time too. If anything I'd suspect the non storage bedroom heater, but it depends on how much you use it? Do you have economy 7 electricity or just a normal tariff?
Thank you so much for all your opinions! There was a mixed bag there so we did a lot of research, called around energy suppliers, and questioned the current tenants of the house. They're being kicked out so I figured they have no reason to lie to us. The house seems to be very well insulated and the storage heaters are almost brand new, so it seems to be reasonable.
The house itself is otherwise extraordinarily good value and the only one we've seen that we want, so we've put in an offer this morning. I know it goes against what some of you said here and I do appreciate those opinions, but at some point we have to compromise and I think this is an acceptable one... I hope.
I watch this thread with interest. I live in a flat with 4 heaters - the heaters in the kitchen and spare room are never, ever switched on, the bedroom has a simple switch on/switch off heater, the front room has an enormous storage heater. All the heaters are origional and were installed when the flat was built in 1987.
Our electricity bill is £1, 763 in a flat only 38qm with 2 heaters, a new oven, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and double glazing... it costs my sister much less to run a 3 bed detached. We're flummoxed. I think the storage heater may be to blame. Is it worth looking into given it is almost 28 years old?
£1763/year is probably double what it should be.
Maybe you are providing heating/lighting for another flat without realising it?
The thing to do would be to turn off all your electrical devices, off at the wall switch, and see if the meter is still running.
Is installing central heating really available at around 5,000k?
There will be regional variations, but yes broadly speaking so long as it's not too complex you should be able to do this. Couple of years ago I had to replace a boiler and got an Ideal with a 5 year warranty for £1,300 installed. Last year when I moved I wanted a better boiler so was quoted £2,000 to swap out an old 'system' boiler and immersion tank, replacing it with a really decent Vaillant combi boiler.
Try and get local recommendations, personally I would only go with a company that is prepared to accept a credit card too for added protection if anything goes wrong. Vaillant have accredited installers so I suppose you could give them a call and ask for a list of who installs in the area you're moving to then phone them up for estimates.
I'd avoid the big utility companies like the plague, you will pay over the odds. I found a bill for the old resident here, she was in her 90's and only a handful of years ago they charged her £4,000 for swapping an old 'system' boiler for a new one, these are the cheapest crappiest CH boilers you can get and I wanted it taking out the day I moved in. She was really ripped off and the work was worth nowhere near that money. I won't mention the company name but let's say they are very 'British' and historically weren't known for supplying electricity.
Comments
I'm wishing to move back from Spain but when I see a flat within my budget that has nsh I move on. A poster up thread said it would cost around 5,000 to install central heating. Is that so?
I've never lived with nsh nor experienced it so I don't understand why I feel so against it.
To expand a little - I grew up in a house with no heating except coal fires. I lived in a London flat with no heating then I bought a flat with central heating. Now I live in a small Spanish house with no heating and in Autumn and Winter I've never been so cold. In other words I regard ch as a necessity.
Is installing central heating really available at around 5,000k?
Our electricity bill is £1, 763 in a flat only 38qm with 2 heaters, a new oven, no tumble dryer, no dishwasher and double glazing... it costs my sister much less to run a 3 bed detached. We're flummoxed. I think the storage heater may be to blame. Is it worth looking into given it is almost 28 years old?
Check for anything odd...
A friend of mine lived in a coach house in a modern development in Diddyland. (House with 3 garages below.) She didn't realise until she went on holiday that her circuit provided the power to the lights and sockets in the 2 other garages.
Her neighbours had freezers and tumble driers in their garages. Both neighbours claimed to "believe" that the garage supply came from their own home.
It was discovered because she turned off her water and mains before going away for 2 weeks... Two large freezers of defrosted food and no lights/driers...
Another friend discovered that the two 500W security lights outside his apartment block were linked to his lighting circuit. He only worked it out when his electric company supplied him with a free electricity monitor and it jumped by 1kw every night at dusk.
Checking his deed pack, he did find the rules that it was his responsiblity... Switching both lamps from 500W halogen to a 20W CFL cut his electricty bill by £400 a year.
Storage heaters ain't cheap to run - they used to be at one time but prices for off peak have gone up since then compared to gas.
A friend who is thinking of having his gas central heating replaced is looking at about £7,000 or so. That's for a wall mounted boiler, new rads and a gas fire in a 2 bed detached bungalow. If he went with British Gas it would be much more of course.
My gas/electric for a smallish three bed semi with three storage heaters and two gas fires is approx £1,700 PA. I'd probably save about £400 PA with gas but payback time is about 15 years if prices remain in proportion between gas/electricity. So I may stick with what I have - as I don't expect to live that long.
If you intend to sell your flat then it may be worth it.
Wow, that seems a lot to me! I only have a 1 bed flat but 3 storage heaters and I put the prices I pay/paid on the previous page. I use a dishwasher and have a dehumidifier running most of the time too. If anything I'd suspect the non storage bedroom heater, but it depends on how much you use it? Do you have economy 7 electricity or just a normal tariff?
The house itself is otherwise extraordinarily good value and the only one we've seen that we want, so we've put in an offer this morning. I know it goes against what some of you said here and I do appreciate those opinions, but at some point we have to compromise and I think this is an acceptable one... I hope.
£1763/year is probably double what it should be.
Maybe you are providing heating/lighting for another flat without realising it?
The thing to do would be to turn off all your electrical devices, off at the wall switch, and see if the meter is still running.
There will be regional variations, but yes broadly speaking so long as it's not too complex you should be able to do this. Couple of years ago I had to replace a boiler and got an Ideal with a 5 year warranty for £1,300 installed. Last year when I moved I wanted a better boiler so was quoted £2,000 to swap out an old 'system' boiler and immersion tank, replacing it with a really decent Vaillant combi boiler.
Try and get local recommendations, personally I would only go with a company that is prepared to accept a credit card too for added protection if anything goes wrong. Vaillant have accredited installers so I suppose you could give them a call and ask for a list of who installs in the area you're moving to then phone them up for estimates.
I'd avoid the big utility companies like the plague, you will pay over the odds. I found a bill for the old resident here, she was in her 90's and only a handful of years ago they charged her £4,000 for swapping an old 'system' boiler for a new one, these are the cheapest crappiest CH boilers you can get and I wanted it taking out the day I moved in. She was really ripped off and the work was worth nowhere near that money. I won't mention the company name but let's say they are very 'British' and historically weren't known for supplying electricity.
Good luck with your offer Psychosis.