Gas Central Heating - Worth it?

[ithink]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for some opinions on running Gas Central Heating... Trying to understand if people who have it installed are happy with it... Some questions as below:

1. Would you recommend buying Gas Central as opposed to Electric Central? From what I hear, there is a 5K+ difference in the installation cost, gas one being cheaper. I have not got the exact quotes yet. If you know, can you tell about the costs please? I would be looking at around 10 vents in the house (2 story).

2. Is it correct that to run a Gas Central system is cheaper than running a electric central?

3. We do not have double glazing (DG) in our house. In terms of priorities, should DG come before the Gas Central?

4. Which is the best Gas Central system in terms of upfront cost as well as running costs? Is it the 6-star Braemar?

Thanks in advance..!

[Gladdynook]

Not able to comment on the best option, however i've noted a few high spec houses that have been renovated (villas, bungalows) that have gone with gas ducted heating and heat pump for cooling. Seems overkill to me, but for them to go gas PLUS electric would indicate that gas heating is superior?

Either way they should be underfloor ducting rather than through the ceiling as the heat has a hard time flowing down to the living spaces.

If it was me i'd do the sums on how long you'd need to own the house in order to get any financial benefits. You mention $5K difference in install alone, so i'm guessing the systems are $30K+? thats a lot of oil heaters and electricity! or another option could be multiple heatpumps @ $2.5K ea?

[TheLibrary]

What sort of insulation do you have? DG makes a huge difference.

[ithink]

Either way they should be underfloor ducting rather than through the ceiling as the heat has a hard time flowing down to the living spaces.

If it was me i'd do the sums on how long you'd need to own the house in order to get any financial benefits. You mention $5K difference in install alone, so i'm guessing the systems are $30K+? thats a lot of oil heaters and electricity! or another option could be multiple heatpumps @ $2.5K ea?

Thanks for your response there Gladdynook..! You will be surprised, the install cost is in the range of 8-10K for Gas Central depending on the number of vents, the layout of the house, and amount of work required.

For a 2 story house, would it make sense to have the heating in the cavity between the ground and the upstairs? Or are you suggesting that it should go under the floor of the the ground-floor? In that case I am wondering how the ducting would go up to the upstairs!

Thanks again tho...

[ithink]

What sort of insulation do you have? DG makes a huge difference.

Thanks TL for your response..

Insulation has been recently done for both underfloor and ceiling... It is the polyurethane insulation of a better R value than minimum recommended. The upstairs has both, underfloor and ceiling and in-walls. Downstairs does not have in-walls insulation unfortunately.

I do understand that DG makes a huge difference. However, the cost of DG is about 16K for my 120 sqmts downstairs whereas the install cost is in the range of 8-10K for Gas Central Heating... That's where the question about where is money better spent if I can do only 1 of the 2....

[TheLibrary]

Wherabouts are you located?. I have ceiling, floor and wall insulation, and had half the house in double glazing installed last week. Yesterday, I didnt need the heat pump as much as I would have, and required no overnight heating, and today, have only just turned the heating on. Am in Auckland, so might be a different story if your in the south Island but you say upstairs is fully insulated, so you should just need some supplmentary heating, and focus on downstairs since that is not insulated. Remember that Double Glazing has no running costs.

Again, could be a different story if your down South.

[Wayne]

when I chose to install a Heat Pump Central heating system in my new PPOR I did so because the winters are relatively short here in the mighty Waikato. I couldn't justify the expense for 2-3 months of the year. So I chose a heat pump system so I could get cooling in the summer thereby upping my running costs but getting more benefit from the system.

If you live in a cooler part of NZ then gas may make more sence - so long as yu have natural gas to the house. I would think running one of these off bottled gas would make for a big turnover in bottles.

[davtam]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for some opinions on running Gas Central Heating... Trying to understand if people who have it installed are happy with it... Some questions as below:

1. Would you recommend buying Gas Central as opposed to Electric Central? From what I hear, there is a 5K+ difference in the installation cost, gas one being cheaper. I have not got the exact quotes yet. If you know, can you tell about the costs please? I would be looking at around 10 vents in the house (2 story).

Mine was 8k for 7 vents.

2. Is it correct that to run a Gas Central system is cheaper than running a electric central?

I believe so, but with gas, you have to pay a daily fixed charge of around $1.5. We already have gas hot water and a gas stove so it made sense, in this respect to have gas heating.

3. We do not have double glazing (DG) in our house. In terms of priorities, should DG come before the Gas Central?

A few of our rooms dont have DG, and they heat up really well with the system. We also have rooms that have DG and are fully insulated, but you do need to heat them somehow.

4. Which is the best Gas Central system in terms of upfront cost as well as running costs? Is it the 6-star Braemar?

We go the 4 star braemer - the sales guys said it would take an extra 3 years to get your investment back on the 6 star.



Thanks in advance..!

We've only had it for a few days, but it's fantastic. very unobtrusive, not very noisy, and it heats the whole house in about 10 mins. we split our place into two seperate zones.

[drelly]

We've only had it for a few days, but it's fantastic. very unobtrusive, not very noisy, and it heats the whole house in about 10 mins. we split our place into two seperate zones.

Do you know what the heat output is from it?

[davtam]

Not sure . .it was probably in the brochure somewhere.

It will take a month or so before I can work out the running costs as well, but our daily power usage has halved so far.

Cheers

[drelly]

We moved into a place with a gas fire recently. Heat output is a pitiful 8kw. Seriously considering ripping it out and replacing it with a wood fire.

[davtam]

My old place had a gas fire place, it was hopeless. What little heat was created, went straight up the chimney. It took at least an hour for the lounge to get warm.

[DazRaz]

We moved into a place with a gas fire recently. Heat output is a pitiful 8kw. Seriously considering ripping it out and replacing it with a wood fire.

8KW sustained heat is not bad. Do you really need more in Whangarei? Most 15KW wood burners will be running at rates well below the max rating and only really cranking when first lit as people try to overcome the long heat up time.

I heat a medium sized lounge in Christchurch with a 4.5KW heat pump and have no problems. A little slower to heat when it's at -4C but ok.

Other part of the house, I have a 5.5KW heat pump and between the two can heat the whole house and leave all internal doors open.

[drelly]

8KW sustained heat is not bad. Do you really need more in Whangarei? Most 15KW wood burners will be running at rates well below the max rating and only really cranking when first lit as people try to overcome the long heat up time.

I heat a medium sized lounge in Christchurch with a 4.5KW heat pump and have no problems. A little slower to heat when it's at -4C but ok.

Other part of the house, I have a 5.5KW heat pump and between the two can heat the whole house and leave all internal doors open.

We don't need it all the time but when we do the heat isn't going down the corridors to the bedrooms. even the company website says that it's not intended to heat the whole house.

[Wayne]

I have electric central heating in all the house except the lounge. This room has a gas fire - an open one, more for ambiance than anything but it heats the 6x6 lounge in no time at all and ends up being turned off as it won't go low enough. Good insulation helps.