Gas vs Oil vs Electric Heating: Which Option Is Right For You?

In any modern home, heating is a necessity. Even in warmer climates, heating is needed at night-time when it begins to get cooler, over the winter months, and to heat water within your home. When it comes to selecting a new heating system for your home, choosing the right option for your environment is essential. But what are the choices? Homeowners with an environmentally conscious outlook may think of the emissions created by their system, while other may be more concerned about how much they cost in the long term or what the heating capabilities of their system may be.

Electricity, oil, and gas systems all posse specific pros and cons to consider. Read on and find the perfect heating option for you. 

Gas Heating

Gas heating produces warmth through the use of a furnace. This pushes warm air throughout a ventilated system, also possessing the ability to work through a boiler, heating water into steam it circulates through coils or radiators. Gas can be seen as consistent and convenient, the fuel comes from an underground pipeline, meaning you will not have to arrange a delivery of any kind. 

This being said, gas systems often cost more, when it comes to installation, requiring a higher investment in elements such as pipes and ventilation.  Larger gas systems need frequent maintenance and annual servicing in order to keep on working successfully

Oil Heating

Like gas, oil is another extremely common fuel used to heat homes. When these produce heat, oil is often seen as a more effective than gas, but it can also cost more. This is dependent on the time of year and geographic location. Oil price also fluctuates depending on availability, which in turn can increase the price of heating your home. As well as this type of heating having circumstantial elements, another issue faced is that homes that wish to use oil heating must have a tank installed, as well as being responsible for their own oil deliveries. Furthermore, oil furnaces require cleaning the most often, as well as having added filter changes that must be taken into account. 

Electric Heating

The final type of heating worthy of comparison is that of electric heating. This converts electrical energy into thermal energy (heat) through a resister unit, spreading through ducts. Pros of electric heating is that it is compact, easily installed, and long lasting, with the ability to heat appliances such as your electric towel rail for years to come. Electric heating also has the added bonus of being easily upgradable, giving you the opportunity to convert this into solar heating, with easily installed solar panels. Many people now consider electrical heating systems as the most convenient, cost-effective, and efficient heating alternative. Just some of the advantages of choosing electric include:

Other bonuses of electric heating include:

• They are easy to fix
• They are much quieter – less noise pollution
• Electrical heating can be used as a supplement to an existing system
• Electric heating systems are much faster than oil or gas.