I have had oil-fired central heating for many years. The drawbacks are the need to have deliveries (about three times per year), the oil smell for a day after delivery, the need to have a tank, the fact that the boiler is not very quiet, and the boiler is floor standing and quite large.

The advantages are that the boiler keeps the kitchen warm even when all one is doing is heating water, and it has been extremely cheap. I have been paying £60 per month for well over 20 years.

However, the cost in the last two years has been going up fast, and I have now needed to up the monthly payment to £110, and might even have to increase that by the end of the year.

I am beginning to wonder whether I might as well switch to gas. I have got a gas fire in the living room, which is really only for show. So I would be very grateful if someone would tell me how much they pay for gas central heating and water heating.

Hiya,

I would assume you had oil installed as you didn't have mains gas, therefore, although the oil price has increased in the last couple of years, I think you'll find LPG is even more expensive.

If on the other hand, you have mains gas, you would be far cheaper. I also believe it is fairly easy to switch over keeping your own radiators, however, if they are also 20 years old, you may just want to replace the whole lot.

Your main cost would be getting Transco to bring the gas pipes to your house. No idea of quote as it can cost from a few hundred pound to a few thousand.

Tip to save on oil costs though, if your interested: rather than pay a monthly Direct Debit to one company who fills when the oil gets below a certain level, you'd be better to put the money aside each month, then phone round all the oil companies for a quote (I have found them to vary by up to 5p a litre) then ask how much for cash. I always get at least .5p off per litre. I know it doesn't sound like much, but when 1000 litres has gone up about £150 in the last year it makes a difference.

Also oil is cheaper at the end of the month.

Good luck.

the poster must have mains gas as he has a gas fire?

I don't think it would be very useful to tell you what we pay, as we all use energy in very varying ways. One of my neighbours is very abstemious and has tiny gas bills (just puts on more jumpers!) whereas my gas bills are probably four times the size of his.

There must be a website which compares directly the cost of gas and oil though?

I was always under the impression that oil-fired heating would never be a first choice? I had oil when i lived in a purpose built flat - there were three blocks of 12 flats and the oil tank was out in the grounds. We never had to do anything re:sourcing the fuel, arranging deliveries, coping with the smell etc, as this was all dealt with by the property managment agent, but even then we found it expensive and inconvienient. The cost of maintaining the bolier (which back then was already 35 years old) was very high, we used to pay around £300 a year in service and repair costs...we were actually very hard pushed to find anyone who even repaired oil-fired boilers. Since moving to properties where mains gas was avaliable, we've found it much cheaper and easier, although i am no longer familier with the price of using oil - i am merely assuming that it is (as always was) more expensive than gas.

To the original poster, the fact that the 'waste' heat from the oil-fired boiler is sufficient to heat the kitchen makes me question it's efficiency when you consider that a modern combi boiler loses practically no heat at all.