Would you buy a house that uses bottled gas?

[Iseeall]

Just that really.
Today we viewed a lovely 2 bed detached period cottage(cira 1720).
It has 2 receptions, one with a huge open fire place, kitchen and bathroom, cellar and attic.
It has mains electric and water but no mains gas. It had 4 calor gas bottles outside in the courtyard.
Does anyone have this sort of setup and how much does it cost, is it practical,(the house has radiators for gas central heating and a gas hob). We are a family of 3(2 adults 1 teen) .

What should we be asking the estate agent/vendor about bottled gas

It is the only choice in huge parts of the UK. No problems, get it delivered, change over the cylinders.

Hmmm. My experience is that bottled gas is hugely expensive (but this is based on overseas). i would be asking some pretty direct questions about cost.

Would another alternative be a calor gas tank? A cost to install but you should get your money back as it would be cheaper to purchase.

I would ask the vendor how long a canister lasts and how long they have their heating on for on a daily basis

The house is vacant and the estate agent who did the viewing today was from a different branch, so knew nothing about the house.

I'm compiling a list of questions for the 'proper' estate agent tomorrow.

There is no mains gas for anyone in the area and I welcome all advice.

I wouldn't buy one where the only means of heating it was with bottled gas because it would be ruinously expensive. Assuming that there is no gas in the village, I'd look at non-mains gas alternatives including some greener technologies but how much I would spend on installing any new system would be influenced by how long I was intending to stay there.

No. Unless money were no object.

I think the bottles are expensive to buy but you get £50 back when you take the bottles back - it's the bottles that cost isn't it? Also if it's not on gas mains, I'd check the situation re sewerage too. Quite often if you're not on mains gas, you're no on mains sewerage either which can mean costly pumping and negotiating sewage pit clearing with your neighbours (they're often shared and it's not great if they're on your land because you get the grief if they refuse to cough up)

I would if the house is as beautiful as it sounds and presumably in a rural location - as long as the price is right.

Our last house that we lived in for the best part of a decade and half had no mains gas.

I would get a woodburner put in asap.

Do you have mains sewerage there?

Ha x post with Odd.

That's why I asked - in my old place there was no mains sewerage either.
It does often go hand in hand.

Put in a multi fuel burner with a back boiler. that will run heating and hot water in the summer easily.

Get a solar tube system combine the two and have hot water all the year round.

Get a heat reclaim system.

Insulate beyond properly, use breathable paints, inside and out, avoid concrete render anywhere.

triple glaze where possible,

bills will be tiny.

you can always add grey water harvest and solar panels for electrics.

have the bottle gas as an extra not you main heat.

We didn't have gas in our very old house, too far in the stix.
We had cylinders for a while and then went onto full electric and a woodburner, loads cheaper.

Being off mains sewerage can be cheaper though, depends where you are.

Everywhere I've ever been with bottled gas has another fuel source for the heating. It depends how much you'll use the fire, whether the fire will heat much of the house, whether gas bottles work out more/less expensive than night storage heating, whether the house is worth paying to install a different heating system....

I would. We are also off mains gas. We have solid fuel but other houses round here use bottled. I'd stick a stove in the fire place and that will heat most of d downstairs without needing the central heating then your had use will be minimal.

It is fine, you get used to knowing how much you use and ordering so as to not run out. First winter you might end up cutting it close at times but after a couple more years you can be pretty precise. The main thing is remembering to save money during the summer months add of course you are not on a direct debit that evens out over the year.

We found it was hideously expensive using any form of electric heating even as back up.

I suggest ruggedness and knee blankets .

Years ago we used to heat our house with a mixture of two open fires, a portable calor gas heater and a paraffin heater - it was pretty effective to use all these things at differing times! But of course prices have rocketed since then.Even the cost of logs and coal are terrifying if you have to buy in.

Lets face it,unless you get free wood from somewhere,no heating is cheap any more.

I would have no worries about buying a small house without mains gas.

We bought a large barn conversion with no mains gas or mains drainage, we have a septic tank. The septic tank is no problem and I am working on installing suggestions mentioned by quotes list above.

We have installed wood pellet boiler, a new Woodburner and 4 kW of solar panels I need to break it to DH I am ordering an everhot for the kitchen.

If you are home to light and stoke the fire a Woodburner and back boiler would work. Deposits for the bottles are a one off, how big are the bottles being used?

I would also bear in mind that old old properties are very often draughty.

If you are using anything that carries a risk of CO emissions (ie solid fuels) remember that over insulation also decreases ventilation.

The property is grade two listed, so we can't have double glazing installed.
Some replies have mentioned mains sewerage, is that different to mains drainage? sorry to sound so dim.
It is beginning to sound as though bottled gas for a central heating system could be expensive.
The boiler and radiators are new(the house has been updated by the vendor). We are not looking for a project, so really don't want to rip out new boilers/rads etc.

will ask estate agent about sewerage tomorrow.
thanks.

'If you are home to lift and Stoke the fire'

got to say, a wood burner needs more care but a multi fuel stove you can burn coal on can easily be left alone all day. ours is on 24 hours s day in winter months, I never have to light it. If I'm on a long shift and dh is in the office then just open air vents on getting up, riddle and re fuel after shower. By the time you've had breakfast and are leaving the house it is ready to be damped down. Come home 12 hours later house is warm, plenty of hot water, turn it up again for evening boost. We burn less fuel having it on all day slow burning than we would doing faster burns for shorter periods in the evening etc.

re double glazing, you can sometimes have secondary glazing if you can't have proper double glazing.

What is the community like? Any neighbors in similar houses you could ask? a few of the houses round here we looked at that used bottles said they hardly used any gas as the stove heated most of the house even without being one that ran the central heating.

Yep Indith is right - I said woodburner as that what I call them for ease but ours was multi fuel.

We used to keep it 'in' for days on end with coal.
But coal is bloody expensive now too.

It must come with an energy efficiency rating cert?

You wouldn't be able to install solar panels if it's listed. Mains drainage is separate from sewerage. Basically, you're connected to the mains for your water supply and for drainage, but not for your sewage. If it's not shared, it's really not a big deal and, as someone else said, it can be cheaper than getting the water company to bill you for it.

My parents and a sibling both have shared sewage systems with neighbours - my parents are at the end of the line and some of their neighbours (they share it with 5 other houses) are reluctant to fork out when it needs emptying. My sibling has no problems with it at all.

You might want to ask a neighbour what they do about it if the vendors aren't around to ask.