what is the best heating system for house without gas

What heating options are there for homes without gas?

The list of heating options for homes without gas is far longer than you might think. From more conventional boilers that run on stored fuel, such as oil and LPG, to renewable heating systems. Comparing these alternatives to gas will help you find out which is best suited to your home.

What type of heating system is best for your home?

Different types of heating systems provide additional advantages for a house. In a location with generally moderate cold, a mini-split or simple space heater can work well. But if you live up in the Northeast, a more heavy-duty system such as a furnace or boiler would be more beneficial.

Is mains gas the cheapest way to heat your home?

One of the major decisions you will have to make is about heating. An expensive undertaking to both install and maintain and almost impossible to correct if you don’t choose carefully from the start. Mains gas is the cheapest way to heat your home, isn't it? But what if you don’t have access to mains gas? Or a house with no gas supply?

What are the alternatives to gas central heating?

So, for anyone off the gas network, there are several alternatives to choose between. And your options can be split into alternative boiler fuels, electric heating systems and renewables. Need a new central heating system? Get FREE quotes from installers in your local area today.

What is the most efficient way to heat a house with electricity?

Electric radiators and infrared panels are the most efficient form of electric heating, as both make use of radiant heat.

What is the most efficient heating system for a house?

Furnace. In general, furnaces are the most efficient of the heating systems, especially if you have natural gas. They work by heating air with a component called a heat exchanger and pushing it into the home through a duct system, using a fan (often referred to as a blower).

What is the best alternative to gas heating?

Gas Boiler AlternativeElectric Radiators. ... Electric Water Heaters. ... Heat Pumps. ... Hybrid heating system. ... Solar Thermal Panels. ... Infrared Heating Panels. ... Solar Powered Electric Heating. ... Biomass Boilers.

What are the alternatives to natural gas?

The main alternatives to oil and gas energy include nuclear power, solar power, ethanol, and wind power.

What is the cheapest most efficient way to heat a house?

As a general rule, heating your home with a natural gas furnace is the cheapest way to keep warm through the winter months. Electricity is usually significantly more expensive than gas, so even the most efficient heaters will be a bigger drain on your pocketbook than a traditional furnace.

Is electric heat really expensive?

Because of electricity generation and transmission losses, electric heat is often more expensive than heat produced in homes or businesses that use combustion appliances.

How can I heat my house without gas or electricity?

Electric OptionsInfrared Heating Panels. If you can't use gas and can't install a heat pump or biomass boiler for whatever reason, then infrared heating panels are the cheapest way of heating your home. ... Storage Heaters. ... Heat Pumps. ... Biomass. ... Solar Thermal. ... Solar PV.

Can solar panels heat a house?

Heating your home with an active solar energy system can significantly reduce your fuel bills in the winter. A solar heating system will also reduce the amount of air pollution and greenhouse gases that result from your use of fossil fuels for heating or generating the electricity.

What will replace gas boilers after 2025?

In 2025, gas boilers will be replaced by renewable heating systems in all new-build homes. This is part of a government effort to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

What are the disadvantages of natural gas?

Disadvantages of Natural GasNatural gas is a nonrenewable resource. As with other fossil energy sources (i.e. coal and oil) natural gas is a limited source of energy and will eventually run out. ... Storage. ... Natural Gas Emits Carbon Dioxide. ... Natural gas can be difficult to harness.

What will replace propane?

Renewable propane can be made from many sources like biomass, animal fats, vegetable oils, or triglycerides. Renewable propane aids in satisfying the increased demand while reducing its environmental impact even further. Get the security, comfort, and convenience that propane offers now—and for years to come.

How can natural gas be managed so we don't run out?

Regularly change your air filter in your HVAC system. Use mother nature. When it's cold outside but also sunny, open the blinds during the day to let the sun help heat your home. Regularly check and/or replace HVAC filters every month during peak cooling or heating season.

How much heat does a low energy house need?

A typical 3 or 4 bedroom low energy house is likely to only need 2 or 3 kW of heat for the whole building in the middle of winter. A wood burning stove is likely to produce something like 6 to 12 kW of heat, ...

What to know when choosing a heating system?

The 2 main points to remember when choosing any heating system is to really understand the thermal performance of the building and likely occupancy. A retired couple who stay at home will be very different from a young family where everyone is out during the day. So when you are relaxing in your newly completed home, built with your own hands, or at the very least your own imagination and drive, you will actually be relaxing with a perfectly controlled climate - by design!

Why are heat pumps less efficient?

As heat pumps are less efficient when the temperature differential rises they are not suited to providing hot water [read more here; Heat pumps for heating - pros and cons ]. This is important because as buildings become better insulated the proportion of energy used for space heating declines and proportionally more energy is used for hot water (3 times as much is common). Before deciding on a heat pump real thought needs to go into the thermal performance of the building, the likely occupancy and lifestyle of the occupants.

How does a heat pump work?

Heat Pumps. Heat pumps are complex pieces of equipment to specify but the technology is pretty conventional. They work on a similar principle to a fridge or freezer , but instead of taking the heat from inside and dumping it externally , a ground source or air source heat pump extracts the heat from the outside air or the ground ...

How much heat does a wood burning stove produce?

A wood burning stove is likely to produce something like 6 to 12 kW of heat, almost three times your requirements. The majority of this energy is collected by a back boiler, stored in thermal stores and for both hot water and space heating.

Do solar panels provide hot water?

When it’s too warm for a cosy fire, the solar thermal panels will provide enough hot water even in the UK. These collaborating systems are highly efficient and can have an electrical backup so are very robust as well as being relatively cheap to install and run.

Is there a one size fits all heating system?

The good news is there are many viable options. The bad news: this isn’t a one size fits all scenario. Each system has its own benefits and pitfalls for you, your family and the environment. To make a truly informed decision, your first step should be to have a clear understanding of your property’s thermal performance, which means understanding the room by room heat loss on a cold day in winter (for more on this see our article on SAP and thermal modelling ). With this critical calculation in hand it is possible to match different heating systems to the thermal performance of the building. The correctly specified system should have the lowest installation and running costs and keep your home comfy for years to come.

What type of heating system is best for a house?

Different types of heating systems provide additional advantages for a house. In a location with generally moderate cold, a mini-split or simple space heater can work well. But if you live up in the Northeast, a more heavy-duty system such as a furnace or boiler would be more beneficial.

What is the most common heating system in a house?

By far the most common house heating system in our homes is a furnace. Heating systems in old houses usually have a central furnace located in the basement, which provides heat throughout the home using a series of ducts and vents. Fuel, such as fuel oil, natural gas, propane, or wood is burnt inside the furnace to heat the air; the air is then distributed across the house through blowers. Moreover, electricity can also be used as a heat source to warm up the atmosphere. The exhaust gas is vented outside into the air through chimneys. These systems are also called ducted warm-air systems or forced warm-air systems since the warm air is forced through the ducts by powerful fans.

What is a reversible heat pump?

Also called air-source heat pumps, reversible heat pumps extract heat from the outside air through a refrigerant. With ducted air-source heat pumps, a ducted network is used in the house, through which warm air is distributed across different rooms. Louvers and vents are placed in each room to control the flow of air.

Why are geothermal heat pumps so efficient?

Geothermal heat pumps are some of the most efficient heat pumps because they use electricity only to move heat and not generate it . The process is lengthy and the cost to install the system is high. If you’re building a new home or can make the initial investment, ground source heat pumps, and an ideal investment!

What is an indoor fireplace?

A heating method as old as the discovery of fire, indoor fireplaces have found widespread use as a house heating system. They have become an integral part of a room’s décor, helping to set the ambiance of a room and provide a cozy environment.

What is the difference between a boiler and a furnace?

The main difference between furnaces and boilers is that as furnaces generate heat using warm air, boilers distribute the heat in hot water, which heats up the room as it passes through the radiators or underfloor heating pipes. This house heating system facilitates you with zoned heating and cooling but undertakes high setup and operational costs.

What is radiant floor heating?

Radiant Floor Heating. Radiant floor heating is an older yet less common house heating system among the different home heating systems. However, this is an option where you want the floor to be heated and keep the room warm, rather than a more direct heat source. Under the flow in tubes, hot water circulates.

What is a heat pump?

Heat pumps are a desirable alternative to gas-fueled heating systems. A type of furnace -- but not a forced-air furnace -- heat pumps work more like a central air conditioner in reverse during heating. You have two choices in heat pumps: ground-source or air-source. The biggest difference is how they obtain heat.

How does an air source heat pump work?

With air-source heat pumps, an outdoor compressor unit (again looking much like a central air unit) draws in air, extracts the heat and sends it, via a refrigerant, to the indoor portion of the heat pump, where the heat disperses through duct work .

Is hydronic heat oil or gas?

Other furnaces use oil, a fossil fuel considered dirtier than gas and less efficient. Hydronic heat systems employ either hot water or steam to heat your home, whether through a warm-air furnace system or radiators, various area heaters, or even in-floor or underfloor radiant heat designs. Highly efficient, hydronics rely on a boiler ...

Is a central furnace safer than gas?

Central Warm-Air Furnaces. You don't have to give up on furnaces to avoid using gas to heat your home. Electric furnaces, for instance, work just as well. Safer than gas, since there's no fuel combustion and resulting emissions, they're still expensive to purchase and install, and dependent on heating source costs (electricity in this case).

Is a space heater a solid heater?

Space Heaters. Space heaters of various types remain a solid heating choice. Radiator-type space heaters are especially efficient, although they require electricity to run. Electric-element-style heaters have an exposed element that can prove a burn hazard for young children or inquisitive pets.

Can you heat a home without gas?

With the rising price of natural gas, some homeowners are changing to alternative heating methods. When considering a method to heat your home without using gas as a fuel source, weigh the value of factors such as the system efficiency, the environmental friendliness of the fuel, the ease with which fuel is obtained and the cost of installation, ...

Do you have to live at the North Pole to appreciate heat in the winter?

By Karie Lapham Fay. You don't have to live at either the North Pole or the South Pole to appreciate heat in the winter. When you're cold, you're miserable, even in more moderate climates. You need a reliable heating system for your home.

Why is infrared heating more effective than conventional heating?

Unlike conventional heating that takes advantage of convection heating to warm the air in the home, infrared radiation travels unimpeded from the infrared heating panel until it hits a solid object where it gets absorbed – warming that solid object up. Infrared radiation is the reason you feel warm when the sun is shinning even in the middle of the winter. For this reason, infrared heating is a much more effective way of warming a space rather than using conventional convection heating (if you have no access to mains gas).

Why is the air pump less efficient?

When the temperature invariably falls over the winter months in the UK an air source heat pump will be less efficient, because the ambient temperature of the air is cooler so the compressor needs to work harder to drive the temperature of the water up.

How does an electric boiler work?

Electric boilers work by heating the water in a tank with an element. They can have similar efficiencies to gas boilers, but because the cost of electricity is around three times the price of gas, they tend to be much more expensive than equivalent gas boilers.

Is it cheaper to use LPG or gas?

The higher cost of LPG and oil over gas means that even with a new boiler however, there are likely to be cheaper options for your home; we recommend you look at other heating options before opting for a straight switch.

Do biomass boilers pay back?

Biomass boilers, although initially a little pricey, really do pay back and then some, with the RHI. Based on the ‘heat demand’ on your Energy Performance Certificate, some homes could see very favourable returns over the seven year payment period. I carried out a Green Deal assessment a couple of weeks ago and the home will make £7,000 per year for 7 years based on installing a biomass boiler – the biomass boiler needed though would cost £20,000 to install, however the returns could well justify the initial expenditure.

Can you use a wood burning stove to heat a home?

Wood Burning Stoves and Coal Fires. It is perhaps surprising to some how many people still heat their home with wood or smokeless coal. In fact, using a wood burning stove can be a cheap and effective means of heating a home, but it does come with impracticalities.

Is a storage heater more expensive than an electric boiler?

Modern storage heaters tend to be a more cost effective means of heating than an electric boiler, because of the cheaper night rate electricity that these heaters utilise. Plus they are much cheaper to install and maintain compared to gas central heating.

How to heat a house without electricity?

“The two most common ways to heat an off-grid house are using a wood stove or using one or more propane-fired space heaters with through-the-wall venting,” says Martin Halladay ...

How to live without power?

Before you’re forced to live without power, do a trial run. Shut off your main power under your ideal conditions and make a list of the things you need. Repeat as necessary, and you will learn what it takes to get things done.

How to prepare for winter off the grid?

“If you want to know if you’re prepared, the solution is simple: Shut off your main power under your ideal conditions, then make a list of the things you still need ,” King recommends. “Repeat this a few times, and you will learn what it takes to get things done.” Who says you need electricity to generate heat?

How many degrees F can a mini split heat pump run?

An ultra-energy-efficient home can use one or more small High SEER (up to 27) ductless mini-split heat pumps and be a success down to about 5 degrees F. These small systems have small electric power requirements and great performance.”.

What is house warming?

Survival Guide. By David Simpson. House warming takes on a whole new meaning when you’re living off the grid. If your survival goals involve being self-reliant, chances are you might need a way to avoid the season’s cold weather while sticking to your goals.

Is solar hot water a passive solar system?

“An active solar system (like solar hot water) correctly tied into a primary looped hydronic system is really an excellent way to go

Can energy auditors find holes in walls?

Energy auditors can find those holes and seal them. When considering insulation materials, be sure to use a product that will fill your walls completely. “We really like cellulose ,” Reid says. “It’s made of ground-up newspapers, and you can squeeze it into your walls and it really fills them.

Gravity Furnaces

Some older homes had monster furnaces that worked on gravity. They’d heat up the air inside a giant round furnace and it would float up through metal ducts into the house. Cold air is heavier and it would drop back down into the basement to be reheated by the wasteful burner.

Forced-Air Systems

Forced-air systems offer lots of advantages for purifying the air in your home and adding humidity should it be needed. For these systems to work best, the supply and return ductwork needs to be carefully sized and installed so all rooms are comfortable.

Coal Stoves

I have a very good friend here in New Hampshire that heats with anthracite coal. He has two coal stoves and only uses the one when the temperature drops below 0 F for an extended time. One advantage to using coal is he knows when it’s all delivered in the fall, he’ll never be cold at all in the winter. He has all his required fuel.

Propane - Natural Gas Systems

You can’t say that about me as I depend on three propane deliveries per winter season to keep my tank full. You may depend on natural gas to flow to your home each day.

Radiant Floor Heat

What about radiant floor heat? I have it in my home and it’s quite possibly the best form of heating I’ve ever experienced. The entire floor of my basement is toasty warm. It’s magical to step out of a shower onto a warm tile floor.

Electric Heat

Perhaps the most basic heating system you can install is one that just uses electricity. Simple baseboard radiators or portable ones can be used for heating. There are no moving parts to speak of but the downside is electricity costs may be quite high where you live.

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are electric heating systems, but they’re very complex machines. They do double duty as air conditioners in the summer. Modern heat pumps are quite efficient but once again, electricity may be pricey where you live. What’s more, electricity is quite possibly the least reliable heating fuel that you can choose.

What type of wood is best for heating?

That’s certainly a lot of fuel security. The best types of wood to burn for heating purposes are dark woods, such as oak and elm. These are very dense woods that will provide a longer and more consistent burn, whereas soft woods such as pine will burn quickly and unevenly.

What are some appliances that are good for off grid living?

Common wood burning appliances that are ideal for off-grid living include the likes of wood burning stoves, furnaces, and fireplaces. In particular, wood burning stoves remain popular for off grid living as they require no electricity, can provide that homely aesthetic, and are able to generate a good amount of heat.

How does insulation help in a home?

Insulation is also extremely useful at limiting heat loss in your home, as it ensures heat is kept inside for as long as possible before it is lost to the external environment .

What is propane heater?

Propane heaters. Propane is a gas fuel obtained through the processing of crude oil, along with kerosene, gasoline, and diesel oil. It’s particularly useful as an off-grid fuel since it is so versatile and can be used for a wide variety of different appliances, including propane space heaters, generators, and cookers.

How to warm a home with copper?

Still, for some, it can be a superb option for warming the home. One method involves the use of copper-painted pipes filled with water. This setup is placed in a location that gets a good amount of sun exposure. The thermal energy from the sun will be absorbed by the water, becoming warm, and in turn, will flow to wherever the pipework is installed.

What is the best part about a home inspection?

The best part about this process is that it’s extremely affordable and requires very simple materials . The key points include inspecting your home for drafts, making improvements to your home’s insulation, and installing a thermostat where possible.

Can you draft proof a house?

You can easily draft-proof your home as a DIY project; simply go around your home on a cold day, looking and feeling for drafts. Then do what is required to patch them up.

What is the most efficient way to heat a home?

Geothermal heat pumps are arguably the most efficient methods to heat your home.

How much does it cost to heat a home with a gas boiler?

The average annual cost to heat a home with a gas boiler ranges between $500 to $1,800, depending on the size of the boiler and its efficiency.

How does a geothermal heat pump work?

Geothermal heat pumps, or ground-source heat pumps, work by extracting heat from the ground and pumping it into your home. The Earth naturally contains heat, and geothermal heat pumps use underground pipes filled with refrigerant to capture the heat and use it to warm your home.

What is a mini split heat pump?

However, they only heat and cool a single zone (or room). Mini-splits have an outdoor unit, which sits next to the home outdoors, and an indoor unit.

Why do we need a boiler?

Boilers prevent a very even heat distribution inside the home, plus they dry out the air less than gas furnaces.

What is the function of a gas furnace?

However, they all perform the same function– combust natural gas to warm the air in your home.

Is geothermal heating efficient?

Geothermal heat pumps are arguably the most efficient heating option for your home. However, they do have high installation costs. Here are its pros and cons.