New flat conversion – electric or gas?

Hi Des,

I know Gas is a more efficient and cheaper form of heating, but do you know the difference in capital outlay and future bills as these figures could inform your decision.

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Patterson" at "22/12/2015 - 08:23":

Hi Neil,

The initial capital outlay saving would be circa £8000 for the 4 flats which would not have gas, plus, on-going gas safety inspection costs each year.

I'm not sure how much more the bills would be with electric - yes, electric will cost more than gas but there will only be one bill if I go electric only and as mentioned previously, the flats will be insulated to modern standards.

Hi Neil

It is just a thought but I would consider putting in the electric and using the money saved to install PV panels on the roof.

You would have to think about where the electric goes but at the very least it could be used for communal areas.

Have you thought of doing this?

Electric heating is far more efficient now than it used to be, but have some concerns about the over sink water heater. Have you discussed with your local Environmental Services? They may have some health and safety concerns.

I don't generally read the Daily Mail (honest!), but came across this article recently, and wondered if it was scaremongering. If not, the issue doesn't seem to have much of a profile at the moment.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3358616/Climate-deal-signals-end-gas-cookers-ll-phased-meet-new-targets-experts-claim.html

Given that you are going back to bare walls, you might also consider the latest agreement at the climate change summit which apparently will end the use of gas in domestic premises within 15 years. So given the scale of your works it may be worth planning on a decent electric system for heating and water in all of the flats not just the 1 beds. I know 15 years is a long time but if you want to sell in the future, a gas system may just devalue the property and the buyer is likely to see a large and inconvenient remodeling coming. A bit like buying a four year old electric car that will need £6K spending on new batteries within a year or so!

Hi we build a fair amount of flats and studios and have been doing away with gas and going all electric for some time and have been using tankless water heaters which are big enough to run a shower and the hot tap in the shower rooms In the kitchens we have used instant hot water taps with the heater unit built into the tap body,both made by Strom Electrical. The nice thing about this is you only need to plumb cold feeds so less plumbing. Heating electric oil filled radiators which tenants are happy with as they will stay warm for a while when switched off. We upgrade the house to a three phase supply and wire each studio or flat individually and use Westwood meters to split the electricity. We do though insulate the property to death with insulation under the floors ,walls external insulation and lofts and warm roofs. Managing ventilation is a must, with fan that run all the time, we have had success with enviro vents social housing units as the internal are all black so tenants cannot see them turning as they operate slowly all the time.Hope this helps Damon

Reply to the comment left by "John Frith" at "23/12/2015 - 10:40":

Beat me to it John!

Electric every time for small properties, gas/boilers are too expensive to install, and in a well insulated conversion to current regs elect will work really well..
All of my conversions and refurbs are going over to elect for smaller properties..But really hasn't your architect advised you on this??
Plus if you're keeping and renting them out then boiler breakdowns are a pain plus no gas safety to be over charged on too!
Another thing about elect is that as the storage rads provide all day warmth you largely eradicate potential condensation issues caused by tenants not heating the flat properly, ie cold/heating off in the daytime and hot/heating on in the evening.
Rgds John

John what storage rads do you use is it on and economy tariff