Do I need a boiler?

[DanielTheGhostGangbanger]

We’re about to move into a house which is being heavily renovated/extended.

Open plan living room/dining room kitchen with a big wood burning stove type thing. Boiler is old and knackered - needs moving a fair distance and replacing so will be £££. Don’t even know if the radiators work.

I’ve never had a wood burning stove before. But if I had two electric showers (upstairs and down), heated towel rail and Quooker-type tap in kitchen….do I really need a boiler?

Kids could have electric wall heaters in their bedroom. I prefer not to have heating in my bedroom but I suppose I could have a small heater installed just in case.

That only leaves the bath/sink taps - how could I get hot water to them?

Do I need a boiler with this type of set-up? Is having electric radiators in the kids’ rooms going to bankrupt me because of running costs??

Any advice/ideas would be so appreciated.

I would also think about resale. I wouldn’t buy a house with only electric showers and heating.

That seems such a backwards move and will seriously affect resale.

@NewYorkLassie - ah yes, that is a very good point! In all honesty though, that’s not really a factor here as it’s probably my forever home.

If it's your forever home then I'd invest in the boiler move and replacement rather than all that faff of individual components.

@ApolloandDaphne it just seems pointless to spend around £6k plus ongoing maintenance/servicing etc for a bathroom tap and radiators in the kids rooms….

I need to know if this is a terrible idea 😂😂 We don’t plan on ever moving from this house.

What about hand washing in the bathrooms? Just cold water seems very miserable.

Yes, that’s the bit that I’m wondering if there’s a solution for. Our current house only has cold water in the sink upstairs and it’s a pain.

Yes, that’s a good point. There is money in the budget to replace/move the boiler but there are logistical/non-financial issues with getting it replaced which is why I wondered if there was a viable alternative which doesn’t make everything a bit shit! 😂

My electric radiators in an apartment were soooooo expensive to run

Energy crisis is so anxiety inducing isn't it

I would always have a boiler in my house can you just get a small combi?

You can have a new one installed in a new location for often under 2k if they can get the flue in and I have seen some interest free deals too

(Gas engineers wife and anxious mum about increasing cost of living)

We can heat water off wood burner via boiler in back of it, not many installers will do this though as it’s a very complicated system! and radiators too but u really need to think about it as this entails lighting the fire just for hot water even in in summer, u can have a heater installed in water tank but that would be using electric. We had both as back up, however eventually we got a gas boiler aswell. Bringing wood in to light a fire when u are not well is not fun, and don’t even start me on the chopping and storing of wood. However this winter we will be using the wood burner rather than gas, it’s lovely to have a choice with the current prices.

Air source or ground source heat pump? If you're already doing the upheaval of major works...

Definitely have a boiler, gas is cheaper than electric, should you need to resell you will really restrict the market. by not installing one.

I only ever use cold water in the bathroom sink , we have hot but by the time the combi has got hot water to the tap ( it’s other side of house) I’ve washed dried and gone……. You get used to it.

Aah this is so helpful, thank you. With the impending fuel hikes I’m doubly concerned about the cost of electric heating. Sounds like a non-starter from what you say….

Ive not given the full details here about my circumstances- mainly because this was a name change from a fun thread and I forgot to revert to my usual username and I don’t want the two linked 😂 Suffice to say, because of the circumstances we’re looking at a cost of about £6k minimum for a boiler and the logistics will be an absolute ballache. Not needing one would be such a help but I don’t want to be stuck with enormous running costs or cold water/rooms.

And yes, also one eye on the fuel costs too playing a part….

We once lived in a house with (only) a wood burning stove which powered a back boiler - maybe something like this could work for you if you have a wood burner. Downsides were, we could only get hot water when the stove had been on, and our insurance did not allow us to have the stove on when we were out. It was a bit bit of a PITA. It was the only house I've ever lived in where I put on a down jacket when I came in. Nit sure about hot water in the summer, we only lived there Jan-June, and it was a chilly spring.

I’m all electric- no gas or oil possible on the premises.
It’s hideously expensive, always has been (I put up with it because it’s a beautiful place otherwise) and is going to get worse. Get a boiler, or as others have said, consider some sort of heat pump.

Having to get the fire sorted will ruin your life.

trust me.

I live in Europe. We have an old fashioned hot water tank which heats at night.
Under the kitchen sink is a mini elec tank, as its so far from the water heater all the hot water was being wasted in underground pipes
The whole house is heated by wood burner with an oven above it, except for my bathroom which has elec under floor heating, & a towel rail switched on if necessary.
I light the fire about 2pm in the winter, then it dies down at night. ( but you can still throw a log on in the morning & it revives)
My house is one of the warmest I know, but yes, you have to be present to light the fire, then throw a log on every few hours.

Agreed. For

Posted too soon - meant "agreed, from bitter experience, see my previous post". Woodburners are lovely as swell as GCH. They are a total PITA to rely on as an alternative.

Think longer-term, OP. If money and space aren't top of your worries, go for underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs. Insulate, insulate, insulate - everywhere you can. Heat by an air source heat pump. Up-front costs are high, but it's best to put the infrastructure in whilst renovating. Also consider solar panels and a battery pack if you can.
What I suggest will cost £20 - 30K, but your running costs will be reduced enormously.

OP, you might well want to investigate alternative off-grid options - heat pumps etc. Maybe google a local heat pump company whose brains you can pick?

In general electric heating and showers work out more expensive than current gas-based solutions because of heavier consumption for the same out put. My MIL lives off the gas grid and her heating bills have always been through the roof, she rations her showers, etc - it's not what I'd choose if I were you.

I get that it's possible but a proper heat-pump whole-house solution would be a much better bet, I think.

We have a Rayburn 600 series in the kitchen - heats hot water and cooks as well, all on timers so not on 24/7. We also have solar, this heats the hot water in summer (not used the Rayburn it's been off since March). All in all very economical.
You could look at heat recovery from your chimney to heat hot water and radiators + solar as another option - we've a log burner that has the capacity for heating water - problem is that it is miles from our tanks, we are considering adding a tank and secondary hot water ./heating using the woodburner

OP

Sometimes a full conversion can be that cost if the house is large but my husband rarely charges that type of price to do a boiler location move and install

I would honestly get a small combi put in and if your house is old listed or close to another one or has a covered parking out the front etc etc etc consider buying scaffold

I'm just on a thread about PV panels as we want them on our roof and I'm trying to find out if the quote we got was expensive

Even in the "field" it's sooo hard to see wood for the trees. I am in Kent, if you DM me the quote you ever got with all your bits cropped out I'll put my phone under his nose and ask his opinion.

He works and runs a really successful business and we have three children and live well but of course worry too about things at times

Xx

For an 8 bed 3 storey house with 2 300litre mega flows

A wall flue .. 8 tRv (digital) and drayton weiser

Valliant eco tech pro

Approx 8k

NO rads incl, no re pipe but a power flush

That was enough water for approximately 4 showers running simultaneously

Happy to get him to have a look at your quote if you like

Victorian

Do you need that type of a system?

@DanielTheGhostGangbanger