Electric vs Gas

Everything you need to know about gas and electric, the good, the bad, the ugly. One of the main deal breakers with gas and electric is price. Because gas is a raw fuel it can be directly used, unlike electricity which has to go through processes to become useable power. For example, some electricity is made by wind turbines and solar which costs money to do. Saying this, solar is actually one of the cheapest ways to generate energy. But because there is less demand for renewable energy (for heating our homes) it costs more, however don’t worry this is definitely changing.

There is also the problem of electricity companies buying gas to generate electricity and making a profit by putting the price of electricity up, which is passed onto the consumer on top of environmental tax (the tax given to activities that harm the planet). And even though electricity is better for our planet is has higher environmental tax than gas. It’s a little like a burger costing £1 and fruit being £4. You see our struggle?

There are ways to make electricity more affordable and its down key technologies that affect your energy consumption. Alongside this, how we use our electricity plays a huge part in energy use. Hopefully, we can save some money and save our planet!

There is a future for both gas and electric as the goal of the UK government to be carbon neutral by 2050 involves low carbon hydrogen and renewable electricity.

So, let’s break down the key differences.

Gas, Electric and Energy prices

First thing’s first, our energy providers prices are going up because of the gas shortage and that cost is being passed onto you. Due to the level of stored gas being lower than usual because of a chilly winter in Europe and a hot Asia (which used air conditioning) this creates a bigger supply and demand. The gas exports from Russia to Europe being at an all-time low also effects prices. In 2035, all gas heating systems in the U.K must be removed to meet net zero targets. This might make prices of gas removal and electric installs sky rocket due to a huge demand when it becomes mandatory.

So, how is the government helping people with high energy bills? A one-off £400 credit grant on electricity bills in October is being put in place, which customers aren’t expected to pay back although this will help, it will not resolve the energy crisis entirely!

There is a lot you can say about gas. The bottom line, it is a cheaper option but for all the wrong reasons! Price is a huge deciding factor for so many people and it’s a shame that the more environmentally friendly option is the pricier option. The UK government are rethinking this due to the rapid effects of fossil fuels and the pressure to be carbon neutral.

Gas

The Positives

Gas boilers can get a bad rep for not being efficient, but they have become 90% efficient compared to older boilers, still not as efficient as electric but a good system, nevertheless. I would check if your boiler is up to date as this can directly affect cost. Another positive to gas is it is easy to replace because the infrastructure is already in place. Gas is speedy at heating your home so less gas is used, which in turn saves you money. Let’s say you spend £100 to heat your home, £10 is being wasted if your boiler is 90% efficient. And of course, gas is cheap so that money might not matter as much.

Extreme Ways to Extract Gas

Because the earth is running out of gas, we have produced other ways of extracting the gas such as hydraulic fracturing. This causes a massive amount of damage to the planet and puts the price up for gas because this process is more expensive to do, bare this in mind when considering heating options. We need to reduce our gas use massively, especially when it makes up 80% of our heating.

Electric

With heating being the biggest source of CO2 from most homes, outweighing flying or driving, we need a sustainable option especially with the icemelting, gas emissions and pollution. However, we still do use gas for 40% percent of our electric this isn’t ideal, but this will continue to decease as more technologies develop to meet the carbon neutral demand.

Why electric is worth the cost…

60% of our electric comes from renewable methods of creating energy and there is so many ways to create eco-friendly energy such as solar energy and hydropower. There’s multiple different methods to collect this energy and renewable sources of energy are the cheapest to run once put in place. Fracking is much more expensive to do and although electric costs more at the moment, the bigger the supply of eco-friendly electricity, the cheaper it will become because there will be more of it. There is so much change in the world today and we do not want the effects of what gas does to our planet, this is much like when diesel was encouraged because it was better for the environment, electric is the new solution!

How Electric Is the Future

The government are wanting the public to heat their homes using electrical appliances that are compatible with net zero targets. Appliances that are aren’t as compatible are night storage heaters, which can waste electricity by their lack of controllability, also plug in space heaters and convector heaters that don’t have a storage element.

If electric is going to be our solution, we need an attitude change towards how we use our power and the type of products that can affect energy consumption. Smart technologies that can control and measure the heat from your heating source are going to be key. And yes, more efficient products can be an investment but in the long run it will pay off on your bills and our environment.

What You Need to be Aware of

It can be expensive to install an electric system, however the installation is quiet straight forward. If you are on economy 7 you must switch over to a flat rate tariff - a simple switch over is easy enough, in fact some companies will throw this in for free! However, here’s where you can stumble into a little trouble (if you have previously had older electric heating) a brand-new consumer unit board can be needed because of new regulations on electrical safety, you must be RCD protected by law. Every company will insist on changing the board or it is unsafe, and this can go up to £500.

Gas VS Electric in Practical terms

• Lasting longer

Electric usually has a longer lifespan than gas because gas boilers need to be serviced every year and the starting cost is £80, an electric system does not need servicing like a gas system does, it requires little maintenance.

• Running costs

Electric running costs can be more expensive depending on how efficient your electric system is. For example, some radiators have independent thermostats, which means you’re able to control each heater separately, this can be very cost effective. Whereas a gas system, you have no say in what radiators are on or off, meaning you have to heat your whole house for the purpose of one room.

• Fossils fuels (gas)

Fossil fuelled heating might be banned by 2025 and no new gas boilers are allowed to installed in the Uk by 2035 to comply with the governments net zero targets, whereas electric is compatible with net zero.

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of the key differences between gas and electric. If you do want to check out our sustainable electric option click the link here: The Neos Radiators - Trust Electric Heating

Tags: Comparisons.