Living in the countryside is much better for your health than living in a city-centre. Less petrol and diesel fumes, bigger gardens, country walks with the family dog and growing your own fruits and kitchen vegetables. But what are your choices of heating systems living in a rural location with no gas supply?
Oil, Lpg Fired Boiler or Electric Heating
Oil-fired systems haven’t changed much in the last few decades, installation from scratch is tricky and expensive. The UK Government has recently announced that new gas boiler installations will be phased out as soon as 2025. Installing a gas heating system is expensive. Particularly if you’re not on the Grid – when it might not be possible at all, Gas is a fossil fuel, so burning it contributes enormously to CO2 global warming and climate change.
Electric radiator systems have made huge technological advances in the last decade, and although several rural homes may not be on the gas mains supply, all homes can connect to the electricity grid. so here are the important factors to consider and the differences between oil-fired and electric (Creative Radiators) heating to help you to make an informed choice. Increasingly, electricity is being generated from renewable, sustainable sources, which is great news for the environment. This makes electricity the most eco-friendly of the 3 fuels we’re comparing.
Comparison table Oil, Lpg v Creative Radiators
| Oil Fired and LPG Boilers | Creative Radiators | |
| Installation cost | Team of 3 men 1 week | 1 man for 1/2 day |
| Cost of Radiators | One-off cost but needs a boiler to make them work & a tank of oil. | One-off cost with no additional extras |
| Cost of Boiler | £1,500 to £2,000 | Not needed |
| Green Energy use | No, Oil is a Fossil Fuel and will be illegal in due course | Yes, can use solar panels, wind or water turbine and National Grid Electricity |
| Eco Design ‘Lot 20’ compliance | Not compliant | Fully compliant |
| Maintenance 10 years | Every year, certificate, repairs and maintenance costs | None, fully guaranteed for 10 years |
| Servicing | Annual Service Needed | None required |
| Repairs | Wet heating systems will always need repairs at joints, under floors, outside pipes etc | Not Needed |
| Oil, log Tank Cost buy or rent | Major capital expense to buy, some companies will rent an oil tank for an annual fee | Not needed |
| Fire Risk of Oil, Lpg Tank | Oil & Lpg tank is a fire hazard, and must comply with Fire Regulations & distance from the property | Safe, Not an issue |
| Theft risk of Oil | Oil tank must be secured against theft of oil in a secure enclosure | None |
| Annual Servicing cost | Yes, need to add the cost of taking a day off work for an engineer to attend | Not needed |
| Annual Safety Check Cost | Yes, oil safe certification required annually | Not Needed |
| Possible water leak damage | Yes, flowing water systems will wear away joints & need replacing | Not possible |
| Energy Prices | Expensive, The trend for fossil fuel is going up | Not an issue, green energy is getting cheaper |
| Minimum energy cost | Minimum oil delivery is £1,000 paid upfront in full | Paid monthly according to use. No advance costs |
| Risks of running out | Regular checks needed to ensure oil, Lpg doesn’t run out and | None |
Heating controls and temperature settings
Take control of your heating. Another huge difference between oil-fired and Electric Creative-Rads is the heating controls and temperatures settings.
With Creative Radiators, you can zone your heating, basically control every radiator separately and independently from each other, so you can have grandma’s bedroom at 22.1 degrees, Johnnie’s bedroom at 19.5 degrees, and the dining room radiator on a background setting of 12 degrees except for 2 hours to eat from 6pm to 8pm, and the lounge set to come on at 7pm until 11pm. With oil-fired heating, you will only have every radiator On or Off, and no way of setting a precise temperature for each room.
Additionally, Creative Radiators are all Wi-Fi- connected and you can turn them on or off, and up or down via a smartphone app, or on your laptop, on the train on the way home from the office. Using the smart heating APP is the most effective way to track your energy use, and reduce bills, saving energy, keeping you warm, and much better for the environment.
You can live happily in a rural countryside setting, knowing that you are reducing the carbon footprint and helping the UK targets for green energy…
What could be a better choice?
