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Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby PaulS » Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:44 pm

Hi Folks,
Just looking for some advice regarding natural gas versus bottled gas for central heating.
When we bough our house last year, the heating system had been converted to natural gas supplied by Fenosa. As we are not here for the main winter months, we opted not to continue the contract as it seemed senseless paying standing charges for 12 months. There are however times when we would use the heat although not more than four weeks per year.
Is it possible/economical to convert back to bottled gas? All the piping, connections etc are still in situ for bottles however I assume the gas boiler would need to be changed? Has anyone come across this and/or recommend someone reliable who I could get to give advice/cost.
Cheers.
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby richardlionheart » Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:35 pm

In theory all you need to change are the burners, different gas needs different gas:air ratio.

When they converted it, did they just change the burners? or the entire boiler?
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby PaulS » Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:11 pm

No idea unfortunately. The boiler looks fairly new given that the house is twenty years old and the heating was installed when the house was being built. The previous owner was a hoarder of bills and paperwork which I've inherited so I'll look thru that to see if it offers any clues. Either way, I'll need a gas engineer to do the work so any suggestions/recommendations welcome.
:text-thankyouyellow:
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby scubydoo » Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:16 am

With gas natural there are several tariffs you can go on you may be better keeping with it but make sure you are on the lowest standing charge!
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby PeteKnight » Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:56 am

When converting from one type of gas to another, you’d normally need to get the jet(s) changed in the boiler. The old met may even be taped to the inside cover of the boiler, or to the instruction manual, to allow it to be converted back.

Having said that, running a heating system from bottled gas is a cumbersome process. You’d normally use the large bottles, that have to be delivered by lorry and have a manifold that allows you to have several hooked-up at the same time so you can change over from one to another. Natural gas is supposed to be cheaper than bottled gas, and you’d have setup costs that would cover your natural gas standing charges for quite some time.

As all the hard work has been done in laying the natural gas supply pipes and doing the conversion, it would get the natural gas supply reinstated and, has previously been stated, go for a tariff that is the most economical for your situation

Pete.
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby PaulS » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:30 am

:text-thankyouyellow:
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby JohnES » Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:05 pm

I am not convinced that it would be cheaper to stay with Natural gas if you only want to use it for a month a year. My boiler was converted almost 3 years ago and I had a lot of problems with billing. I do not use natural gas in the summer months because it is used only for the central heating boiler. There are fixed charges each month of 9.5 euros (30 Days) and they only read the meter once a year . The first summer I was receiving estimated bills for about 62 euros each month. They are a difficult supplier to deal with as they do not have an English speaking customer service option. I still have the parts from when the boiler was converted from bottled to natural gas. There are 12 jets which screw into the burners and the logic card which was also changed. I believe that the gas pressure was also adjusted.
Check out the tariffs by all means but I think that you would be better off going back to bottles. They are rather a pain in the coldest part of winter as two only last about 5 days and it is usually dark when they needed replacing. You also have to watch out for the delivery guy once a week.
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby Gasplumbman » Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:31 pm

Hi I run mine on propane 4 X11.5 kilo bottles with a a proper propane regulator safety cut off system the bits are around 150£ from Ireland( struggle to source in Spain)4 propane bottles if you can get 40€,, to convert your boiler ? Certain boilers only need resetting from gas valve in boiler modern condensing typeVaillant is one ,others need just the jets changing plus resetting the pressure,there will be one or two that would,not be worth the hassle,can you take a picture of boiler certainly connections under boiler plus the front
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby milor » Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:39 pm

We changed after 15 years from bottled gas to Gas Natural. Like you we are only here part of the year.
No way would we go back to bottled gas.

To change back you will need to change boiler injectors and also remove any pressure regulators fitted.

You will also need a contract for the bottled gas which can only be obtained when your gas installation has been certified by Authorised Gas Engineer.

All of this will cost far more than your meter rental and standing charge will for a good few years. Also your flexible connections on your gas cylinders will need checking/renewing every 5 years to comply.

Change to the lowest gas tariff, submitt readings on their website monthly as we do. Same reading each time if we are not here and never have to worry about running out of gas again, or having bottles delivered.

Our meter rental is 60 cents a month and contract 4.20 a month, on the high contract. This could be reduced by going to a lower contract, but the gas is more expensive if you go over your set limit.
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Re: Gas - natural gas versus bottled? Advice needed.

Postby GrahamR » Wed Oct 31, 2018 6:10 pm

When we got the knock on the door from a salesman representing Gas Natural Fenosa saying they were installing it in our Residencia, we took the view we would get it fitted as we may not get another chance at a reduced price.
Three years later, the gas only comes to an outside wall as we do not cook with gas and our electric water heater still works.
Like others, we had a lot of hassle with estimated billing, but we eventually sorted it out.
We pay about 6 Euros every 2 months standing charge and have to send them images from our phone via the YoLeoGas app with a 0000 reading. It’s a waste of money, but maybe our house might be desirable if we ever sell it.
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