Change from oil boiler to a chaudiere electrique

[Wilbro]

I am looking at changing from oil to electric and the electric boiler is cheap to buy and easy to install. However we would need to remove the old Viesmann boiler 12 years old and serviced annually, and I wonder what this would cost along with two 1,000 litre plastic fuel tanks which would need degassing. Any ideas anyone? I can't find anything online and would need to get devis but before that happens I would, if possible, like some idea of the costs involved.

[niemeyjt]

Sell it secondhand. When the sale of new boilers becomes unlawful those wanting to repair an old boiler will be interested in parts.

[Wilbro]

I have thought it may have some value. The local company that installed it are Veissmann specialists. I will be contacting them to find out. However, I would like to find a company to remove and install but looking at their website they don't seem to deal with electric boilers.

[Biloute]

To sell the old boiler and the tanks, why not try "Le Bon Coin" by specifying in the advertisement that the person must disconnect and take away (all or nothing) ? There are always some brave and resourceful do-it-yourselfers with little money who will find friends to help them. I sold like that, for a small price, a very old fuel boiler whose hot water tank was even pierced. The guy came with 3 muscular buddies and they took everything apart neatly, even the old iron pipes to reclaim the fittings. I also sold an old wood-burning cooker for €50 in the same way, which must have weighed 300 kg (20 persons called me !).
For the installation of the electric boiler, it is very simple to install for a handyman. I replaced my old gas boiler for an electric one (KOSPEL ECKO €850 on the manomano website) 2 years ago: 1 working day. If you are not a handyman, in France, you should rather ask an electrician. For ten-year insurance reasons, many plumbers/heating engineers do not want to touch electricity.
Have you checked that your electric meter will support the additional power ? An 8 kW boiler takes nearly 40 additional Amps in single phase: I had to install a load shedder to avoid problems.

[Nomoss]

When I bought the present house, the previous owner had replaced the old oil-fired boiler with an electric one.
I thought how strange to heat water with electricity, and then pump it around the house through ancient piping, half of which was in the loft, and not well insulated. I considered the consequent losses were unacceptable.
It seemed to me, if using electricity for heating, it would much better to put thermostatically controlled oil-filled radiators in each room, only switched on when the room needs to be heated. We already had several of these which had followed us on our travels, and that is what I did.
I sold the boiler on Leboncoin to someone who wanted one for an underfloor heating system.
I then added insulation to the ceilings, outside walls and floor of the house.
Now, with all-electric heating, according to our smart meter figures for Nov 30th, our daily electric consumption is 36.3 kWh, only 1.5 kW average over the day.

[Biloute]

@Nomoss: You're right, the most important thing is to isolate! However, replacing an oil or gas boiler with an electric boiler rather than installing electric radiators may be a reasonable decision in certain specific cases. I myself replaced an old propane boiler with an electric boiler for the following reasons:
- it was only in a well-insulated and recently decorated part of the house: changing the radiators would have led to unsightly exposed wiring (and I had to buy new radiators)
- the water radiators were modern and equipped with thermostats
- propane costs almost as much per kWh as electricity
- the efficiency of my old boiler should not exceed 75% and it was expensive for me in maintenance. An electric boiler is almost maintenance free and its efficiency is 100%
In the rest of the house, which needed complete renovation, I installed electric radiators because I was insulating well. On the other hand, rather than oil radiators, I preferred "radiant panels" (infrared) which heat people by radiation instead of having to heat the air in the room. I set them to 16°C but, by the radiation, it looks like it's over 20°. In addition, the sensation of heat is instantaneous.
My invoices speak for me:

bilan conso nov 2022 1.png

comparatif énergies chauffage.jpg

[Wilbro]

Interesting stuff. We are like you Biloute, our pipework is good and I do not want the grief and expense of removing and replacing with different types. We have thermostatic controls on the radiators anyway so I still feel electric is the best option. We are going to have the insulation brought up to scratch before we do it and to my mind the biggest hassle will be removing the oil fired boiler and tanks.
Also when I see what the oil fired boiler is discharging into the atmosphere I'm not happy!

[hughnique]

I wouldn't mind just having a boiler, this wood fired burner is getting hard work, and I am sure it is detrimental to our health, I just can't get anyone to go through any of this heat pump for a euro business, it all sounds too good to be true.

[Biloute]

@Hughnique: I'm not a big fan of heat pumps. As you say, the bride is too beautiful... So, in good French: "dans le doute, abstiens-toi"
Our neighbor has one:
- it was installed too close to our home without respecting the standards (minimum 20 meters)
- when it starts, it looks like a jet plane preparing to take off, so much so that our neighbor, not wanting to be a nuisance, had a wall built to reduce the noise: not perfect but better than nothing
- I often see a van of technicians throughout the day to repair breakdowns (4 times a year). Even if you spend little on installation thanks to government aid, you may end up spending a lot on maintenance.
From what I've read, heat pumps no longer work below a certain temperature. Their built-in plan B is then to heat using resistors, like a radiator. Geothermal or hydrothermal pumps work well in cold weather, but the majority are aerothermal and are only interesting if the indoor/outdoor temperature difference is small. In other words, if it's -5°C outside, they consume a lot or, at worst, don't work at all. You need a good technical knowledge to analyze the specs before deciding which one to buy...

[L Austin France]

I don't just read about heat pumps, I live with air/air heat pumps & have done for 17 years with units fitted in our kitchen/dayroom.
Maintenance...... The first was a self installed Brico Depot 'old school' Airton split unit which lasted 13 years without anything but a self administered filter vaccuum twice a year until I had it replaced by a pro. installed Mitsubishi inverter MSZFH -MUZFH 4kw (heating ) split about 4 years ago. This unit has never needed any breakdown assistance & has also performed faultlessly.
Noise levels outside/inside are minimal & even my bat eared missus thinks they're quiet.
The temperature here rarely drops below zero but hovers close during the colder months. The units are rated at 7 deg dry bulb outside temp but I can't measure any appreciable drop in leaving air temp when this occurs. They are guaranted to operate down to -15 outside temp although the output obviously drops off at these temps.
Running costs for an average 12/14 hr day have been about 1€/day for a nicely warm 3.5m x 11m single story room with about 10m2 of windows.
I'm an H & V design engineer by profession but you don't really need to be an expert to understand the things. Just an ability to RTFM.
There's an awfull lot of nonsense talked about heat pumps & unfortunately a lot of this is by ''expert' installers who are making serious money from government handouts. I am in the market for 2 more splits but have yet to find a local installer who I can agree with & whilst they are busy installing very expensive systems for folk who don't have to pay much for them they are loath to answer any questions I have about their very expensive quotations & specifications.
Heat pumps are good technology & work fine if chosen well by reputable installers.