Electric boiler query , also reviews would be appreciated

[Neil Carroll]

My gas boiler is weeks away from the scrapheap , I have a few questions regarding electric boilers ,
I have a 1 bathroom , 2 bed terrace . according to the info I have read from a size point of view this is suitable.

If I get a gas engineer to remove the old one , could I potentially install the new electric one myself?
I have installed , extractor fans , sockets in the past , im assuming that I would need to get a electrician to sign it off , or even to wire it up , the original boiler has a fused socket next to it for the current gas combi boiler , is this sufficient to power an electric boiler or does it need a cable that is able to take a larger feed similar to a cooker/shower cable.

The other query I have is that ive sent for a few brochures from companies that specialise in these boilers and they have sent me brochures for residential heaters and water heaters but not combis , im assuming that electric combis do exist.

 

[stem]

The first thing to consider is that electricity costs about 3 times the cost of mains gas per unit of energy, so your heating bills will increase by a similar amount with an electric boiler installed. [It's not exact as that because electric boilers are generally classed as being 100% efficient, whereas, because of their flue heat losses, gas boilers are less so. 'A' rated gas boilers are 90% or more, efficient]

The mains electrical supply to domestic properties is limited, so will not be sufficient to provide the power to generate the same heat that a gas combi would produce. (older properties may be even less so) Electric boilers are usually somewhere in the range of 6 to 15 kW whereas gas combi's are tend to be somewhere in the range of 25 to 40 kW. So, with an electric boiler not being able to meet that capacity, a traditional hot water cylinder is normally used for hot water supplies. This can be heated from the electric boiler, or more often by an independent electric immersion heater.

In reality an electric boiler may not be big enough to heat your property anyway. There's an on line calculator you can use to check here. Don't tick the "Have a separate hot water cylinder" box if you intend to use an independent immersion heater.

Assuming you are competent to do the work but not registered as a competent person, I believe that you can now use a registered third party to certify your electrical installation work to your local authority's building control.

 

[ianmcd]

you are completely barking if you want to do this, just get the gas boiler replaced