Hello,

We have been house hunting and one of the houses does not have any
central heating fitted.

I was thinking if we bought that house, I could fit the water side of
the CH myself and get a professional to do the fuel side of things.

I suppose it's a big job because although the plumbing should be
simple enough, the problem is lifting all the carpets and floorboards
etc. to lay the pipes beneath.

If I plan in advance and run the pipes parallel to the joists that
might help but I think that cutting the joists will be unavoidable.

Part of me thinks if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly
but OTOH I wonder whether I could make things easier for myself by
boxing some pipe work above floor level. What would you do?

Now the second problem: this house is in a village without a gas
supply. So I think we would have three choices:
1. use oil
2. use gas bottles
3. get a gas tank

I presume that 1 or 3 would be expensive. Is one cheaper than the
other to install?

I think with gas you are tied in to a particular supplier afterwards
but OTOH I think an oil boiler costs more to install so there are pros
and cons to both.

I think gas bottles might be cheaper in the short term but how long do
they last? Obviously this depends how long and how hot I run the CH.

Or would you recommend we stick with the storage heaters they use at
present?

Finally, would I need a gas boiler modified for bottled/tanked gas and
if so, what is involved?

Thanks.