Diesel central heating - any good? Problems?

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Batman

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#113681 24-Jan-2013 12:30

We are looking at buying a house ... there is one with "diesel central heating" ...

Does anyone know if it is costly to run, things that go wrong, any tips?

Thanks

Zeon

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#750113 24-Jan-2013 12:33

I think its pretty common overseas but not in NZ. Not sure how you claim the tax back if you buy it at the gas station?

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nickb99

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#750129 24-Jan-2013 12:50

Hi. I am from the UK and so have a few years experience with central heating systems. Two years ago I had one installed in our Dunedin villa using a wood pellet boiler, in conjunction with insulation and double glazing. With diesel the drawback will be the cost of running it. All systems that burn some sort of fuel have running costs of course. If it were me I would be checking the age of the boiler and how often it had been serviced. Well serviced a decent one should last many years. I would not pay much of a premium for it unless it was reasonably new and efficient. I would also take what the owner might say about running costs with a pinch of salt. They might have diesel receipts but you might want the house warmer than them, or run it more often etc. I would want to know who services it locally and how old it is, are the parts still available etc. Maybe call the service agent and ask if that boiler is a good 'un. Is it a quality or cheap brand? Was the company that installed it experienced with central heating? Are they still around to talk to? Not a problem in the UK but less heating engineers with the right experience here.

I would also like to see it switched on and run in front of me so I can hear how noisy the whole thing is and how quickly it heats the house.

Always possible to replace the boiler of course but many $$$. It will only heat where the radiators are of course, so see how many there are and where located.

On the up side central heating transformed our house. Went overnight from an uncomfortable, damp house to a lovely comfortable home. We keep it all around 18 degrees all year and its great. Fingertip thermostatic control for the whole place. No more lugging/storing/cleaning wood etc. Lovely. Hope this helps.

old3eyes

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#750139 24-Jan-2013 12:55

oil fired heating in NZ fell out of favor back in the 1970s when the price of the fuel went thru the roof. Haven't seen much of it over the past few years.. Most people these days install air con units..

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Old3eyes

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#750142 24-Jan-2013 12:57

I wonder if you could retrofit a heat pump unit onto it at a reasonable price?

Incidentally, heating doesn't solve dampness problems, it probably makes them worse as warm air can carry more moisture. Extraction, ventilation, and prevention are how to fix dampness. Plastic ground sheets and a ventilation system run during the day made a huge difference to my place, turned it from damp and smelly to normal. Heating and insulation made a big difference too, but it's separate.

Poll

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#750151 24-Jan-2013 13:00

We have a diesel heater in the flat I rent, when we moved in they said a tank should last us 2/3's of winter, it cost us $500 for half a tank and we went through that in 2-3 weeks with it set to low-medium when it was on, the landlord wasn't impressed with that at all so they installed a heat pump for us and even using that non stop with Heaters in our rooms is far cheaper than the diesel heater was.

langers1972

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#750161 24-Jan-2013 13:06

Central heating is basically the same if you're talking about radiators, the only difference is the heat source used for heating the water and that can always be changed retrospectively if needed.

Roll on the day when the average Kiwi house has central heating, as a Pom it's always mystified me how you Kiwis live in such cold houses.

I'm currently installing central heating as part of my renovations, can't wait until Winter

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timmmay

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#750166 24-Jan-2013 13:08

I agree that central heating should be fitted in NZ homes, especially Wellington and South Island. Retrofitting can be a bit expensive, and you need space for it. I have a couple of heat pumps that do the job pretty well, and there's no space for a central heating boiler or anything like that.

New houses are so much warmer than old houses, even old houses with insulation retrofitted well.

wellygary

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#750181 24-Jan-2013 13:30

Zeon: I think its pretty common overseas but not in NZ. Not sure how you claim the tax back if you buy it at the gas station?

You don't;

Its diesel, there is no excise tax in the fuel price, you pay the tax via RUC, and for non motorised uses you don't need RUC...

Batman

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#750264 24-Jan-2013 15:54

ok i will see it as a white elephant

my current house has 3 heat pumps 2 of which goes all day and we use dishwasher everyday and dryer every other day plus tonnes of electronic gadgets and our bill comes to $250 consistently over winter

.... BTW it is not a hazard to remove is it in case it explodes oil or something?

nickb99

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#750266 24-Jan-2013 15:57

>>Incidentally, heating doesn't solve dampness problems, it probably makes them worse
>>as warm air can carry more moisture. Extraction, ventilation, and prevention are how to fix dampness.
>>Plastic ground sheets and a ventilation system run during the day made a huge difference to my place,
>>turned it from damp and smelly to normal. Heating and insulation made a big difference too, but it's
>>separate.

Heating does not solve dampness problems, agreed, but only certain types will make it worse. Gas fires for example produce a lot of moisture. Drying clothes on radiators produces moisture. Central heating with radiators does not generate moisture.
I also agree that it has to be taken into account as part of a heating / healthy house solution. If nothing else damp air is harder to heat. We are always careful to use extraction over the hob and showers, dry clothes outside as much as possible etc.

ubergeeknz

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#750276 24-Jan-2013 16:13

Not only is damp air harder to heat, but heating air effectively dries it (reduces relative humidity) because warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. Edit: also many central heating solutions also provide ventilation so they definitely make for a dryer home.

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scuwp

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#750306 24-Jan-2013 16:38

wellygary:
Zeon: I think its pretty common overseas but not in NZ. Not sure how you claim the tax back if you buy it at the gas station?

You don't;

Its diesel, there is no excise tax in the fuel price, you pay the tax via RUC, and for non motorised uses you don't need RUC...

Incorrect. Diesel does have some excise duty imposed at the pump. You can apply for a refund if the gas is used for fuel, you need to keep reciepts and apply to the NZTA. Small comfort though, AFAIK diesel heaters/burners are highly inefficiency and all but obsolete. If you are looking at buying the property I would personally budget for a heating upgrade when negotiating.

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