"Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot" wrote
| Does anyone know if it's cheaper to heat the whole house
| (3 bedroom semi) with the gfch than it is to heat one
| room with a 2Kw electric heater and another with a
| three-burner gas fire on full chuff?
| I know there are a lot of variables - it's a seperate
| boiler, not a combi, for example, but a rough idea
| would settle an argument with SWMBO

Gas fires are usually inefficient compared to boilers.
Electric heaters are 100% efficient but electricity costs twice or three
times as much as gas.
There is usually better insulation between inside and outside than there is
between adjacent rooms, so there will be heat loss from room to room.
Individual heaters usually have poor control so the temperature will swing
wildly and there may be a temptation to over-heat to compensate. CH will
usually maintain a more even temp over time.

It is probably no more expensive, and considerably more comfortable, to use
the GCH, and possibly cheaper if you can use turn down the radiators in the
unused rooms a few degrees lower.

Of course, if *you* want to use the gas fire on full chuff I am sure we can
find some other arguments to support you.

OWain