Central Heating Or Electric Radiators

[Catfreak]

Hi. We have a quote to install gas central heating in my parents 3 bedroom detached house. They have no gas central heating at all so it is from scratch. They have a multi-point water heater and wall mounted gas fires in each room. No water tank. So the quote of £7300 includes all pipework, new combi boiler and rads. Someone has suggested that rather than go through the upheaval of new pipe work etc that my parents consider electric wall mounted rads which would work on timers and thermostats etc. Can anyone offer some advice please as I cant find anything definitive as to which system which would be cheaper to run. Bearing in mind the heating will probably be on quite a lot. The multi point boiler is old and would need to be changed even if they decide to go electric.
Thank you.

[The Builder]

First-off Cat, that is a very fair quote.
The only downside, as you say, is the upheaval. Although, a good installer will reduce that considerably.

My leaning would always be towards electric, but, only with very high levels of insulation.
How old is the house?

[Vagus]

Is it something to bear in mind that gas boilers are going to be phased out...??
I don’t know the timescale or the legalities but might be worth looking into.

[Catfreak]

Thank you The Builder for your reply. The house is 1930s. Only insulation is in the loft. My concern is that their electric bills will be really high if they decide to go with electric rads. One more thing is they have a 5 sided round bay - I know they can get a GCH curved rad but would you know if they could get an electric one? Thank you.

Thank you Vagus - yes that is a good point.

[The Builder]

Good question about the curved electric rad. I can't say I've ever seen one. A bit of Googling doesn't come up with anything either.

A lot of building, and particularly plumbing matters are fraught with "tradition". Things have moved on. There is little justification these days for siting rads under windows anyway.
In fact, I would argue that, given the potential for huge heat losses through 1930s (or any other) windows, it's probably the last place I would put a rad.
Old-school plumbers still stick to the old ways. The thinking once, was that walls needed to be left clear for huge old sideboards and wardrobes. It's nothing today to put a sofa along a wall in front of a radiator.

Anyway... back to the plot.
1930s house - solid, dependable construction, but with the insulation level of a garden shed - and just as draughty.
Electric heating, even with the modern, German/Scandinavian style panel heaters, is going to be very costly to run without serious alterations to the fabric of the house.

A modern, high-efficiency gas combi boiler is still probably the best option. They are due to be outlawed one day, but until then, the CO2 Police are not going to come along and confiscate them ;o)

[Catfreak]

Thank you The Builder for your really helpful answer. I think mum has made up her mind - she wants to go with GCH - and will put up with the upheaval. I agree I think the monthly electric costs will be massive as the heating will be on a lot. If the environment Police turn up we'll deal with it....... hopefully by then we will have all moved to the seaside.