# Cost of LPG heating



## FMS (15 Nov 2007)

Hi all!  Was wondering if anyone can help me.  In the middle of a self-build and we were originally planning on installing geothermal heat pump but doesn't look like this is going to work out now due to a number of factors.  We are looking into gas heating as an alternative and was just wondering if anyone can advise me on approximate cost of filling an LPG bulk tank and how long a fill would last.  House is approx 2400 sq feet and will be using lpg for underfloor heating and hot water only.

Thanks!


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## lfcfan (15 Nov 2007)

Hi FMS. We are a few weeks from moving into a house around the same size as yours and are using LPG for underfloor heating and 5 Rads. We also have solar panels for water heating. We have a Half Tonne tank from Flo Gas which costs roughly €1,000 to fill I think and this should do you for a year or more, depending on levels of insulating etc. Flogas costs €225 for the tank and they give you €600 worth of Gas free on your first fill.


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## johnnyg (16 Nov 2007)

would people recommend gas or oil if they had the choice, which works out cheaper?


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## galwaytt (19 Nov 2007)

on a per-litre basis, oil could be (slightly) cheaper. Over the lifetime of the system, Gas will be cheaper. It's cleaner, less prone to breakdowns, the boilers are more long-lived, etc etc.

Gas is also more suitable for UFH - oil is not. Reason for this is that gas boilers modulate to produce hot water over a wide range - typically 30-80 degrees. So, if you UFH only needs 40 deg water, that's all the boiler will produce. An oil boiler, however, can't do that - it's either on, or off, and typically in the 60 degree range. So, to delivery 40 deg water to your floor, it has to mix down with cooler water at a mixing valve, before sending to the floor. Just a pain, if you ask me.

Besides, someone show me an oil boiler that hasn't got 'smelly' or hasn't needed major parts after 10 years.

I've had UFH and LPG for 10 yrs, and 2200sq ft dormer costs about Eur 125/mth for all heating - water, floors, and two fires.


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## brendy818518 (27 Apr 2008)

Im in the middle of building a 1700 square feet house and cant decide between oil or LPG i am fitting solar pannels and rads.Any ideas on how much it costs to install LPG and what the running costs would be?


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## galwaytt (28 Apr 2008)

very much a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question, really..........Gas boilers can be more expensive to buy, but I find ours have been very, very cheap to maintain over the years.  They have needed no parts whatsoever from wear/tear.   Unless oil ones have changed drastically over the years, they start to go downhill from day 1......

Our last fill cost Eur 270.

How long it lasts is all down to your house - insulation levels, etc.   It'll last no less than oil, if that's what you want to know - and you can have your fires/cooker off it too, so don't forget to factor that into things.

What sort of energy standard are you aiming for with your house?


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## lfcjfc (29 Apr 2008)

Galwaytt,
Your information on LPG is very interesting. After much research, I am at the point where I have to make a decision on heating system. I ruled out GSHP a long time ago based on (i) how long it would take to pay for itself and (ii) nobody could convince me that the system wouldnt cost money before it paid for itself. Anyway, I am still though trying to make the decision between gas and oil and am wondering about a few things:
Your running costs sound impressive - is your house high spec. on insulation?
How convenient is it to get your gas tank filled - can you ring and get a fill that same day like oil or do you have to be planning way ahead?
In the current climate of rising fuel costs - is there any reason why gas would become proportionally more expensive/harder to get than oil in the future?
Is the LPG-run heating system any more complex than the oil-run? Is is just a case of swapping one boiler for another?

Thanks


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## AndyH (29 Apr 2008)

OP, 
LPG is a by product of oil refining, so it's cost will always be directly related to rising oil prices.

If you go with LPG, buy a gas tank outright yourself and don't rent from a specific company, otherwise you are tied to the company for supply and lose the ability to negociate the best available price with other suppliers. The apparent bonus of any initial "freebies" will be nullified after a few years of operation.


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## Strathspey (10 Jun 2008)

AndyH said:


> OP,
> If you go with LPG, buy a gas tank outright yourself and don't rent from a specific company, otherwise you are tied to the company for supply and lose the ability to negociate the best available price with other suppliers. The apparent bonus of any initial "freebies" will be nullified after a few years of operation.


If you buy the LPG gas tank outright, would this still be through Flogas or Calor Gas. Is there perhaps an independent supplier and installer?
Thanks 
Pat


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## olddog (11 Jun 2008)

I understand that the best way to compare the price of oil and LPG heating is the cost per kWhr of both.

Heating oil provides circa 10.4 kWhr per litre

The kWhr per litre rating of LPG varies depending on the makeup of the gas ( the supplier should bill based on KWhr )

Of course the efficiency of the boiler to be used can also be factored in .....

It would be really useful if people would post what they are being charged per litre or kWhr for LPG & oil

Olddog


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## galwaytt (16 Jun 2008)

AndyH said:


> OP,
> LPG is a by product of oil refining, so it's cost will always be directly related to rising oil prices.
> 
> If you go with LPG, buy a gas tank outright yourself and don't rent from a specific company, otherwise you are tied to the company for supply and lose the ability to negociate the best available price with other suppliers. The apparent bonus of any initial "freebies" will be nullified after a few years of operation.


 
There are only two suppliers afaik, Calor and Flogas, and both are near-identical, so, does it make any difference.........?

As for buying the tank, I'd advocate leasing it.  If you lease it, the Gas company have to inspect and maintain - and insure -it.   They also have to change it if it becomes suspect.  Leasing is Eur76 p.a.   To buy would mean you'd have to keep it 10 years to stay even-steven........at which point it may/may not need changing.   If it does, and you own it....you pay for it.   If it does, and you lease it............they pay for it.    There's no financial benefit one way or the other as far as I can see it....


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## mercman (12 Jan 2010)

This an old thread but an ongoing problem.

Has anyone noticed any change of the price of LPG from Calor or Flogas recently ? With the price of Natural Gas fluctuating, one would have thought that there would be a decrease imminet.


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## RSMike (12 Jan 2010)

The SEI Cost Comparison is always worth looking at especially as it converts all fuels to a standard cent per Kwh figure, regardless of how they are sold/supplied.

[broken link removed]

According to the last Comaprsion (Oct 09), Bulk LPG is supposed to be down 18% since Oct 2008 although unit cost looks a bit pricey at 10.22/Kwh versus oil at 5.97/Kwh


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## Charlie 07 (12 Jan 2010)

I have LPG/UFH combo. Love the UFH, hate the LPG cost. Doing research at the mo to see how to replace it.


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## falasarana (18 Jan 2010)

Calor Gas who have apparently been absorbing the recent increases in global prices , wrote me today to inform that the unit cost (Per m3) would increase by 0.14E.
Has anyone else received similar mail?
Did the regulator recently announce an 8% reduction in gas prices to be introduced in February, or am i dreaming?


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## fmc (19 Jan 2010)

falasarana, the gas the regulator refers to is natural gas. calor and most of flogas is usually propane or lpg which is part of the oil process as was stated above, so regardless of what the regulator says if oil rises so will your lpg gas whether metered or by the tank. most calor metred installations will have an underground or above ground storage facility.
I had the same letter today.


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## mercman (19 Jan 2010)

Why is it that when the price of Oil rises the cost of LPG heads north, but if and when the price of Oil decreaes the providers of LPG do not act in a reciprocal arrangement. 

Has anybody's price of Gas dropped from when Oil was $150 per barrell to where it is now at approximately $80 per barrell ?


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## galwaytt (20 Jan 2010)

mercman said:


> Why is it that when the price of Oil rises the cost of LPG heads north, but if and when the price of Oil decreaes the providers of LPG do not act in a reciprocal arrangement.
> 
> Has anybody's price of Gas dropped from when Oil was $150 per barrell to where it is now at approximately $80 per barrell ?


 
Actually, yes.


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## fmc (20 Jan 2010)

mercman its usually up three times down once or twice and only when the crude or brent oil barrell drops significantly.


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## villa 1 (20 Jan 2010)

I would recommend insulating your house to current specs. fitting an oil fired condensing boiler, 2/3 solar panels,  and a buffer tank to feed your underfloor circuits. I you fit radiators take them directly off your oil boiler on a seperate circuit. It is a known fact in the plumbing industry that Lpg is more expensive to run than Oil firing and indeed gas boilers do break down and are very costly to repair. That is my opinion, 30yrs in the business and i'm not related to any arabs!!


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## Luigi0189 (20 Mar 2017)

Hi all! I am living in an apt. We have a bulk gas tank outside. Can anybody tell me how much does it cost to fill up a 1200 litres lpg bulk nowadays? My question is because i am charged by 5 euro per cubicmeter. And i think it's way more than anything. It is not a supplier price this is what the landlord tell me without any proof. I just wanna know how far is this from the truth.


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## Leo (28 Mar 2017)

Bulk LPG is around [broken link removed] per litre. 1 cubic meter is 3.85 litres.


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## Clonback (31 Mar 2017)

Floras LPG price increase effective from 23rd jan 0.0681 cent per litre inclusive of VAT.


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## SDMXTWO (17 Nov 2018)

Has anyone an update on the cost of installing a FLOGAS tank, can the cost be added to the bill? Thnx.


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## RedOnion (18 Nov 2018)

SDMXTWO said:


> Has anyone an update on the cost of installing a FLOGAS tank, can the cost be added to the bill? Thnx.


Hi,
I looked into this during the summer, but not a job for this year.
There are only 2 gas suppliers: Calor or Flogas.
If you buy your own tank outright, you can choose between them for each fill.
However, the more common option is to rent the tank. But you're then tied to that supplier for a contract term, and until you change the tank!. The only upfront cost is you have to put in a concrete slab for the tank to be placed on. The supplier is responsible for the maintenance of tank, and insurance.
If you call them, they'll discuss with you, and determine size of thank you need. I can't find the figures I had.


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## Monbretia (18 Nov 2018)

I didn't know you could buy your own tank, is that a fairly new option?  It definitely was not there before, renting was the only option as they had to regularly service it.

I switched from Calor to Flogas a few years back, didn't have to pay for putting in new tank at the time but it is rented so annual cost.


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## Clonback (18 Nov 2018)

Not possible to buy your own tank as supplier needs to have responsibility for it.I also moved from Calor to Flogas 6 years ago.


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## Monbretia (18 Nov 2018)

I thought as much!


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## RedOnion (18 Nov 2018)

Monbretia said:


> I switched from Calor to Flogas a few years back, didn't have to pay for putting in new tank at the time but it is rented so annual cost.


Did they replace the tank when you switched, or just change a label on it? It's about 6 months since I talked to them, but I think they said they can't fill another suppliers tank. I was looking at converting from oil to gas, but bigger jobs came up first, so I didn't look into it fully.

I obviously got the bit about buying tank completely wrong.


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## Monbretia (18 Nov 2018)

Yes they replaced the tank, Calor came and took theirs away and Flogas installed a new one, major palaver!  It didn't cost me anything even though Calor tried to charge some fee or other but Flogas said there should not be a fee so after much back and forth sure enough Calor charged nothing.


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## RedOnion (18 Nov 2018)

Thanks. I'll need to research it properly in the new year.


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## grenzgebiet (19 Nov 2018)

Hallo Claonback, Montbretia,
It is indeed possible to buy a Gas tank - I have had one for a number of years. 
The responsibility for maintaining the tank then rests with the owner - we have recently had ours inspected and recertified by a company qualified to do this. 
We generally phone around to get the best price for gas when we need a refill.   
There are other suppliers than Flogas and Calor - Tervas for example in Cork. Don't know if there are others around the country.


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## Monbretia (19 Nov 2018)

Interesting, is there any saving I wonder?  What does it cost to get tank serviced and how often does it have to be done?  In fairness the rental cost is not high at the moment with Flogas although I changed from Calor because they were increasing their rental substantially.

I have never seen or heard of any other gas supplier in my area and doubt there is, might be more options in larger population areas but I'd say we are stuck with just two here.


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## Clonback (19 May 2021)

Flogas now charging 69.63 per litre inclusive of Vat and carbon tax.I have a 2 year contracted price of 64 cent all in but they  just increased to 69.63


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