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To change of heating system
Hello!
How much would a change of a heating system of an house from fuel oil to gas? Does anybody get this done recently? How long does this take? What is your experience? How often do houses need to fill tank for a winter season? Any experience regarding this is appreciated. Thank you very much.
Did it about five years ago. Took a day. Much easier than having to order oil. About the same price, but you know well in advance how much it will cost. No regrets.
According to Test Achats, heating a house by stored gas is more expensive than heating it by mazout. You would also end up with an unsightly gas storage tank in the garden - or have to pay considerably more to have a special underground chamber created for the tank, you can't put it in the cellar as you can with mazout tanks.
Obviously the equation is different if you have access to piped gas.
There are a variety of factors that will impact your cost;
- the age of your existing installation, newer systems can be converted at lower cost than older systems;
- whether you are connected to the mains gas, or if you need merchant gas;
- if there are any grants / tax deductions available, etc. etc.
Your best bet would be to find one or two local heating engineering companies to come in and give you an estimate.
I had mine converted about five years ago from oil to natural gas.
The principal cost consideration will be how close you are to a supply. If you already have gas laid on to the house - for cooking - no charge; if you have a supply in the street there will be a cost depending how far the house is from the street but it will not be significant; if you do not have a supply in the street, forget it. My son was quoted €15,000.00 to lay on a supply from a main road about 150 metres away.
Laying on a supply to the house took an afternoon but they only needed access to the house for an hour. Taking out the old system and installing the new took a whole day. The oil tank was in the ground and too close to the house to be removed so it had to be emptied and cleaned and then filled with an inert substance and that took two mornings.
The older your existing system the more efficient the new and so the greater the operating cost savings. .My system was over 20 years old and I reckon that the savings paid for the whole installation in 4 years.
You will be entitled to a grant. It will be worth claiming but insignificant in the total cost - in my case I think it was about 2%.
