Quickly estimate the cost of gas vs oil heating
Boiler Efficiency
You can get the theoretical efficiency of a boiler from the datasheet. Typically, this will be around 65% for a non-condensing boiler, and around 87% for a condensing boiler.
However, for condensing boilers, the real-world efficiency is often much lower than what the datasheet says. Unless you’ve got weather compensation enabled, or have finely tuned the water flow temperature, it’s unlikely that a condensing boiler is operating anywhere near its theoretical efficiency.
Oil vs Gas | Additional Considerations
Garden space: An oil tank is ugly and takes up prime garden space. Gas heating does not require a tank.
Convenience: Oil heating brings the hassle of tank refills. But with gas, you have an additional bill every two months, and must switch suppliers regularly for the best price.
Price trends: Future carbon tax increases will push up the cost of both oil and gas, but especially oil.
Boiler efficiency: No matter what heating source you use, getting the best efficiency from it will have a huge impact on your bills. This is not just about buying a boiler with a high efficiency rating, it’s also about fine-tuning the performance using features like weather compensation. Simply improving the operation of an existing condensing boiler can often save you hundreds of euros per year.
See Also
Oil Boiler vs Heat Pump Calculator
Gas Boiler vs Heat Pump Calculator
