heating: electric or oil

[skelter]

I am looking at renovating a long farm building into three accomodations. We will insulate the roof (at least 20cm), walls (probably 5cm) and install double glazing. Eventually, all three of them will be rented out. The property is in Brittany, so the winters are pretty mild.

What kind of heating should I use? I could go with electric heaters (no maintenance, easy installation, but expensive to run) or oil fired central heating (cheaper to run, maybe a bit more expensive to install, but adds value to the property). We will be installing everything ourselves, so the difference in cost is not all that great.

Where I'm from, nobody in their right mind uses electricity for heating, but I read that 70% of houses in France do.

How expensive is electric heating? What do you pay per month in winter on electricity?

What if tenants run the electric heaters on max for the whole week?

I understand that there is no definitive answer to these questions, but some of you may be able to share your heating costs to give me (and others) an idea...

Thanks!

[zeb]

Hi, it may help to know whether the houses are going to rented out long term or are you planning holiday lets; if long term they will all need separate meters I should think, then they'll have their own bills to pay.

If holiday lets, do you intend to control the heating (if central heating) from your house? Otherwise, install woodburners (and supply wood), and put electric heaters upstairs and in bathrooms. Then, whatever method you use, you could add a heating charge for winter lets.

[skelter]

Thanks for the response. I think installing electric heaters and charging the (short term-weekly) tenants for the usage will be the most economical (at least for me).

I will have to get used to the fact that a central heating system does not really add value to a property in France! Strange.

[NickP]

[quote user="skelter"]Thanks for the response. I think installing electric heaters and charging the (short term-weekly) tenants for the usage will be the most economical (at least for me).
I will have to get used to the fact that a central heating system does not really add value to a property in France! Strange.
[/quote]

A friend of ours who has a B&B has always said "make them pay for what they use, otherwise they put the heating on and when it gets too hot they open the windows".