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Calor Home Heating... a load of hot air?
13th August 2004
For homeowners and householders living in rural areas and without access to ‘natural’ gas, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and oil are often the only practicable fuel choices available.
To assist consumers in deciding between the merits of LPG and oil heating, Calor Gas now offers what it claims is ‘fuel for thought’ on the subject so consumers can ‘make up their own mind objectively’.
Despite being the UK’s largest supplier of Liquified Petroleum Gas, Calor seems to have a remarkable understanding of oil heating. However, at Oilfiredup.com, we’d be the first to admit that we know very little about LPG. But, as an oil heating publication and a proud supporter of the UK’s oil heating industry, we like to think we know at least a little bit about oil. So we thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at Calor’s claims with specific regard to oil heating.
Under the headline ‘You don’t need to go into the red installing Calor Country Living’, Calor claim that the first 12 months costs for a typical oil installation at a 3 bedroom home, will amount to some £3,730. The costs are stated by Calor to include an oil storage tank, an ‘A’ rated energy efficient boiler, together with installation and one year’s servicing costs. This compares with an equivalent figure stated by Calor, of £1,633 for an LPG installation.
Sensibly for their oil installation, Calor have opted for a bunded tank, complete with inbuilt protection against pollution. Calor claim that a suitable bunded oil storage tank for their imaginary installation will cost some £855, a figure which presumably includes VAT at the prevailing rate of 17.5%. A quick search on the internet however revealed that BHL.co.uk – which supplies oil heating equipment throughout the UK – offer a Harlequin 1450BND Bunded Tank (complete with remote electronic gauge and bottom outlet fitting kit for £700.08 inclusive of VAT and delivery) to any UK location. That’s almost £155 less than the figure stated by Calor.
By contrast, Calor claim that a suitable LPG tank will cost £150 and £60 rental in the fist 12 months. But this ignores the fact that it will also cost £60 to rent in the second 12 months, in the third twelve months, in the fourth 12 months… in fact for the lifetime of the installation. Over the typical 20 year lifespan of a heating installation, the Calor tank will actually cost £649.92 more than an equivalent oil storage tank. And unlike an oil tank where you choose your fuel supplier, with Calor your limited to supplies from Calor.
At their oil installation, Calor have opted to fit energy efficient Sedbuk ‘A’ rated oil boiler. Again, Oilfiredup.com salutes Calor for their vision and commitment to the environment. They claim however, that the ‘A’ rated boiler will cost some £2,370… which in anyone’s money does seem a tad expensive.
So at Oilfiredup.com, we got busy on the internet again and came across a Grant Vortex 15/26 17010 High Efficiency Condensing Boiler for £1,062.75 from Heatandplumb.com. Add in £122.35 for a suitable flue and £350 for installation by an OFTEC Registered Technician and the total cost is £1,535 including VAT and delivery… some £835 less than the figure stated by Calor. In essence, Calor appear to have unwittingly overstated the cost of their oil installation by some £990.
Calor also claim that the costs of maintaining oil storage tank ‘is unknown’. Erm, no its not… it’s generally included in the cost of the annual service, which as Calor quite correctly state generally costs no more than £75 per annum.
But installation and equipment costs are only part of the story.
At almost any installation (irrespective of fuel type), installation and equipment costs will be considerably less than running costs over the lifetime of the installation. So let’s take a look at the whole life costs of a Calor LPG installation when compared with an oil installation, over a 20 year period:
CALOR LPG HEATING INSTALLATION
Installation* £1,518
Tank Rental* £1,200
Annual Service* £1,100
Fuel Costs† £14,720
Total Estimated Whole Life Cost £18,538
Annual Estimated Whole Life Cost £926.90
OIL HEATING INSTALLATION
Installation¹ £2,635.08
Annual Service¹ £1,500
Fuel Costs† £7460
Total Estimated Whole Life Cost £11,595.08
Annual Estimated Whole Life Cost £579.75
So in essence, over the 20 year typical operating life of a domestic central heating system, heating your home with LPG could cost £6,943 more than heating your home with oil… equivalent to £347.15 more each and every year for two decades.
And of course with oil, you have a meaningful choice of supplier, you can choose oil boilers which are more efficient than LPG alternatives and you own your entire central heating system outright. Oil is also amongst the safest of all home heating fuels, and unlike LPG, isn’t even flammable, never mind explosive at room temperature.
So if you’re installing or replacing a central heating system… choose wisely, choose oil.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION *Information obtained from Calor website. †£736 (LPG) and £373 (Oil) annual heating costs for Detached Home for a boiler that is 93% energy efficient, obtained from Sedbuk Heating Cost Calculator 13.08.04 and subject to assumptions contained therein. ¹Information contained within above article and obtained from sources stated therein.
