If you have mains gas, a gas boiler is likely to be the cheapest heating option. Our average fuel prices as of April 2018 show gas to be the cheapest heating fuel per kWh, compared to oil, economy 7, LPG and house coal.

If you don’t have a gas supply to your home, it might be worth considering a form of low carbon heating such as a heat pump or biomass. With the renewable heat incentive, these may be cheaper overall.

Most old gas and oil boilers are regular boilers that have a separate hot water cylinder to store hot water, rather than providing it directly from the boiler. When you replace your boiler you can buy a new regular boiler, and keep your hot water cylinder, or buy a combi boiler that doesn’t need a cylinder.

A regular boiler is more efficient than a combi at producing hot water in the first place, but then some heat is lost from the hot water cylinder, so a combi may be more efficient overall. Which is better for you will depend on different things.

Large families using lots of hot water are likely to be better off with a regular boiler, whereas smaller households using less may be better off with a combi boiler.

Combi boilers don’t need hot water cylinders, and therefore require less space in your home.

If you’re thinking of installing solar water heating, it’s worth noting that many combi boilers are not compatible with this heating system or cannot use it so effectively.