at home with Sarah Beeny - August 2012 - (Page 164)

beaten track A STAGGERING 3.6 MILLION UK HOUSEHOLDS ARE NOT CONNECTED TO MAINS GAS NETWORKS. HOW DO YOU HEAT YOUR HOME IF THAT’S YOU? WORDS: Georgina Maric | PHOTOGRAPH: Shutterstock Off the F or those of you who live in cities and towns, the thought of not being connected to a national system that provides you with gas 24 hours a day seems a bit alien. But for 3.6 million households, living in remote and rural areas, this is a reality. So if you’re not connected, what can you do to ensure you have all the heat you need? Most people use liquid petroleum gas (LPG) instead of normal gas, which is composed of butane and propane, both easily liqueﬁed gases. It is used in a ‘wet’ heating system and an LPG-ﬁred boiler will heat the water which provides central heating through radiators and hot water which comes out of the taps. Natural source for a year, according to Which?, for running a three-bedroom, semidetached, well-insulated house. First produced in 1910, LPG is almost entirely derived from fossil fuel sources, being manufactured during the reﬁning of petroleum (crude oil), or extracted from petroleum or natural gas streams as they emerge from the ground. Stored in a big tank which can either be rented or bought from a supplier, LPG is delivered to a property by road. It is not a cheaper alternative to having mains gas (at the moment, anyway) and costs more than £1,300 for heating and hot water Take advantage What is good about using LPG is that it is a highly efﬁcient fuel which means you get a great return on every unit of energy. It is also a cleaner-burning fuel with high combustion efﬁciency. If you have a modern condensing boiler installed, the hot ﬂue gases that are wasted in a standard boiler, achieve efﬁciencies of 90% and more, making it well worth investing in an updated boiler, rather than sticking with a standard LPG boiler. It also generally produces less 164 | AUGUST 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of at home with Sarah Beeny - August 2012

EDITOR’S LETTER
WELCOME FROM SARAH
NEWS
AWESOME AUGUST
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
TABLE TALK
THE THRIFTY FIFTY
TRENDS ON TRIAL
BEENY UNCUT
ESSENTIAL HOME-BUYING GUIDE
SURVEY SAVVY
WHAT’S THE SCORE?
THE NEW FACE OF PROPERTY?
SELLER SECRETS
LOCATION LOCK-UP
SOAP AND GLORY
OPEN UP
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
TOP SHOP
THE BRIGHT STUFF
GET THE JUNGLE LOOK
WARDROBE WARS
A ONE OFF
MOSAIC MAGIC
GLASS ACT
TAKE TO THE FLOOR
FRAME GAME
IT’S A BLINDER
SNUG AS A BUG
BURNING QUESTION
THE A-TEAM
QUICK FIX
BEAT THE BUILDING BLUES
LET THERE BE LIGHT
GOING DOWN
GARDEN GREATS
DIRTY DEALINGS
ALIEN INVASION
JUMP RIGHT IN
LITTLE WONDER
OUT OF SIGHT
PROFESSOR GREEN
ECO EXCLUSIVE
TALKING TRASH
PRO PLANET PROJECTS
HELLO, SUNSHINE
CARBON-NEUTRAL COVER
STAR GLAZER
EARTH HOUR
HOT TOPIC
MASS REDUCTION
WASTE NOT
SWITCHED ON
ETHICAL INTERIORS
YOU LIVE WHERE?
COMING SOON
WINNING SPOT
LUXE LINEN
CATCH-UP
STOCKISTS

at home with Sarah Beeny - August 2012