Moving away from gas in the home

[Indecisivelurcher]

Just musing on this while watching the news about gas prices. What are the options for moving away from gas at home? We have a gas hob, so would need electric instead which is pretty easily done. But what about replacing gas central heating? Retrofitting the UK housing stock with insulation and other forms of heating is absolutely essential in hitting net zero. I briefly looked into air source heat pumps and they are so expensive still and the fact they make a noise puts me off.

@Daftasabroom - it's not a problem at the moment but if (and that if I'd doing a lot of heavy lifting) we all switch to electricity for cars and heating homes then there does need to be an upgrade in infrastructure.
For example we had to upgrade the mains 'fuse' for our home when we installed solar panels and a battery and electric car charging for our home and if we want to make the jump to a ground source heat pump or add another battery we also need to upgrade the mains cable from our house to the main road - this was too expensive (thousands) so we have left it for now but have done some of the prep work for it. Our village has a very old electricity supply network and due to a lack of investment it's starting to struggle with the upgrades and additions for new technology. We are just one place but this is an issue and the electricity network supplier for our area acknowledges this is an issue.
It's not just about the actual electricity but the infrastructure getting it to us.

@wonkylegs I did state that the infrastructure is evolving! I've also posted elsewhere that domestic solar PV doesn't make a huge amount of sense compared to commercial as the grid tie is such a large part of the cost.

@PinkPlantCase I'd avoid internal insulation as the danger of condensation at the interstitial faces is too high. External insulation is great, particularly when combined with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

I think the issue is whether you need to replace your boiler as there is an environmental cost to a new one as well. We needed to replace an old oil boiler last year as we were having problems with it and it needed quite a lot of new parts, so we bit the bullet and replaced with ASHP. Apparently we needed to replace and move the single skin oil tank as well if we replaced the boiler due to a change is regulations, so the ASHP became an economic proposition.
Our pump is not noisy, It is a bit cold if you stand next to it while it is working ( to be expected) but it is probably less noisy than the oil burner - or maybe I just notice my neighbours boilers when they fire up now.

[quote Daftasabroom]@PinkPlantCase I'd avoid internal insulation as the danger of condensation at the interstitial faces is too high. External insulation is great, particularly when combined with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.[/quote]
Is it a bad idea to do both external and internal?

We're in the stupid position of renovating an old victorian house and trying to power us via renewables.
When we took it on the heating and most hot water was a coal-fired aga.
We converted the aga to electric (vanity project it turns out, very expensive to run but does give a lovely base level of warmth when we pluck up the courage to turn it on), installed solar panels on the roof plus one battery- max we could. New hot water tank with integral air source heat pump. Gradually installing infra red heating panels room by room as we renovate. Use 100% green energy supplier for the rest.
Our biggest problem is our old leaky house. We've installed as much loft insulation as we can, but no cavity walls and old wooden sash windows mean any heat goes out again quite quickly.
So thick curtains, draft excluders, slippers and jumpers are also very handy, as we gradually fix windows and insulate where we can.
Luckily we live in Cornwall, so rarely have to deal with freezing temps.

@Ihaventgottimeforthis that sounds amazing!

@Ihaventgottimeforthis we had one of those but a few steps further on from you.
Ours is a rural Victorian villa but we've done quite a bit of work in the years we've had it.
We insulated the roof and also with sheep's wool under the floor, we have done a lot of draught proofing everywhere including chimney sheep. We have replaced the windows with timber double glazed sashes (expensive but they are works of art and much much warmer) and have a smart heating system as well as thick curtains (which we had before the windows were replaced) we've sorted out the ventilation - it's made a massive difference.
We've done the work over time but it's definitely been worth it.
We've just added solar panels and a battery to a new super insulated extension which means we are just about off grid for electricity at the moment.
It's been hard work but we intend to stay here for many many years so it's felt like a good investment.

We haven't worked out yet the best move forward regarding gas yet though, that's a evolving thought process. Focussing on reducing demand as much as possible first.
We are in the NE and it can get pretty damn cold.

lurcher it IS amazing, or at least will be in a few years time.
Till then it's a shabby draughty money pit but it's our home & we love it!
wonky fixing windows & doors is our top priority. Replacing the glass in sashes is a big job, we have 22 windows.
The infra red panels take some getting used to but are efficient & affordable. Closing doors & windows & hanging curtains in doorways & stairwells is cheap & effective but a combination of cats dogs & DCs means no door is ever closed for long...
No gas connection here so we're 100% electric.

Lack of knowledge here

Why are infrared heaters good? Don’t know anything about them!

Sounds like you’ve made a huge effort, bloody well done

Landlords need to be incentivised to do this too. Rental housing is usually done on the cheap, which means gas boilers & often minimal insulation etc. They often don't care, they don't have to pay the gas bill. Prospective tenants often don't /can't consider the EPC when looking round a house. I'm not only talking about private LLs, BTW - I'm in a new build HA house, less than 2 years old. Decent insulation but it has a gas boiler. Ridiculous decision, IMO.

@Ihaventgottimeforthis I completely understand we've got 22 too. We used a local joinery firm and they were fab. They've made each architrave to match the original designs as each one was different. It's great because they are still quirky without being so leaky.

We’ve a communal gas boiler on our estate, LA but managed by a TMO. It’s 40 years old so needs replacing. The LA were first insisting we all had individual boilers installed but that just doesn’t fit with climate objectives so now we are looking into boring holes across the estate for ground source heating.

@1990s buildings need to be able breath because of the moisture from cooking, washing, breathing etc. or from our wonderful weather. In a relatively humid environment condensation can form on cold surfaces, this can the encourage mould and mildew.

If the insulation is on the inside the structure of the building will be relatively cold, and any moisture penetrating from the outside can condense on the cold inner surface.

If the insulation is on the outside the masonry will be relatively warm and the risk of condensation is much less.