Why you shouldn’t consider diesel for heating your home

One big advantage of underfloor heating is it can be powered by many different methods. For example: a hot water heat pump, electricity, pellet boiler, wood boiler, gas boiler, coal boiler or a diesel boiler.

Of all these, the best choice is hot water heat pump and one of the worst choices is a diesel boiler.

It’s useful to know that there are 10kW hrs of energy in every litre of diesel. At the time if writing there has been a recent significant drop in the price of oil, which means that diesel is around $1.10 at the pumps, equivalent to 11c per kWh. By comparison standard rate electricity is around 28c per kWhr.

However, that changes when you put the electricity through a heat pump; the cost falls to 7c per kWhr (as on average a heat pump is 4:1 efficient). If you have night rate electricity and or solar PV panels then the savings are even greater.

So even at present rates, a heat pump is cheaper to run than a diesel boiler. Also consider a diesel boiler needs servicing, and there is a storage tank to consider (which have been known to leak causing significant environmental damage).

Chances are oil won’t stay at these low levels in the long term.

However, the worst aspect of diesel is the carbon dioxide and other pollutants put into the atmosphere, when a heat pump run on renewable electricity causes zero damage.

Economically and environmentally there is simply no reason these days to use a diesel boiler, there is every reason to replace a diesel boiler with a heat pump.

We have successfully converted a number of diesel boiler systems to a heat pump, simply for the cost savings. One customer went from a tank of diesel every six weeks to a tank of diesel a year. (In this case the boiler provided some back up during severe cold conditions).

But even if the running cost was the same, don’t even think about a diesel boiler – it’s just wrong on every level. If you have an existing boiler, and even if radiators are involved, give us a call, undoubtedly we can help; help to reduce your running costs and help to reduce your carbon footprint.

Conversion costs start around $6000. Contact us now to find out more.