Should I choose electric or oil central heating for my self build?
We are designing a 216m2 new build. There’s no natural gas nearby, so our options for heating are propane, oil or electric. Our home will have underfloor heating (UFH) on the ground floor and radiators upstairs.
We don’t like the idea of oil/gas tanks and given future proposed legislation, both propane and oil seem to have a short time before they are outlawed. We’re leaning towards electric heating as an alternative – although it’s more costly to run, it is cleaner and greener.
We intend to add a wind turbine at a later date to help supplement the electricity costs. Are there electric boilers out there that could cope with our setup and would you recommend pursuing this route?
Electric boilers should generally be avoided as these are very expensive to run (except perhaps in Passivhaus builds where the space heating demand is negligible). at said, of all the options you’ve mentioned, this would be the cheapest to install.
In my opinion, the best solution is a hybrid heat pump/boiler which has an air source heat pump (ASHP) as the main heat provider and a backup LPG for times of peak demand when the air temperature drops, and the heat pump becomes less efficient.
is way you will be running the appliance when the COP is 2.5 or above, making it both cost-effective and green. If you want to be even more eco-friendly, switch the LPG to BIOLPG.
It’s worth noting that the proposed fossil fuel boiler ban you allude to won’t come into effect before 2025; and even then it only applies to new properties (your project would presumably be complete by then). Legislation for installing boilers in existing properties is not expected until 2035 at the earliest, pending a government review over whether to delay this date further.