Is it possible to install a central heating system that would use gas, solar panels or any other economical and efficient way to heat all rooms in an apartment in Kunming? Has anyone tried it?

Central heating is never economical or efficient relative to just heating the space you currently occupy, for an apartment anyways. If a city or block decides to pipe central heating, then it can be, depending where they generate or get there heat from.

The most practical and efficient apartment heating would be to use an electric oil radiator and make sure windows and doors are well insulated as opposed to letting in drafts.

The most economical is a good robe and electric blanket. Foot and hand warmers are nice too. Caihong brand more reliable than caiyang.

The government control all central heating up North.They turn it on and off at a specific time each year and you have no control over the temperature. So i am not sure you would even be allowed to install your own?
When I lived in Hebei last year, i had to have the windows open cos it was too damn hot in the house. Go figure!

We installed our own central heating in Shanghai. If you have mains gas and can find a company that does gas central heating, it is feasible.

In the UK gas central heating is seen as the most economical choice. Using a central thermostat and timer, combined with thermostat valves on each radiator, it is possible to reduce the gas consumption considerably.
One main advantage, over heating just the space that you are in, is that it gets the cold and moisture out of the walls.
Retro fitting can be done, but have yet to see micro-bore pipes in China. This means that you will have large conduits running around the room.
Underfloor heating is not as efficient, and retro fitting is not really a good option.

@yankee00
We had gas-based floor heating in the TV/Living/Dining Room in Japan, which basically heated almost the entire Lilliputian apartment with the wafer thin hollow walls (versus brick walls here in KM). We tended to spend more time together in that space - so it also contributes to more spouse & family face or group time, with everyone doing their own thing off-and-on - TV, reading, computers, toys, snacks, dozing, etc. Each room also had it's own wall unit (heater/aircon).

In Korea - it's much the same - except they pipe hot water through pipes in the concrete floors - so most Korean apartments that I visited or stayed in were saunas in the winters...nice...don't need to bundle up in heavy winter clothes just to go to sleep, but then you need to add humidifiers to keep the air humidified so we don't develop dry crocodile skin - my wife currently looks like some kind of furry bear right now.

When we first arrived in KM - I had the preconception that gas was clean, inexpensive, and convenient based on life in the USA & Japan, but the gas delivered in our neighborhood is SOOOO dirty (filthy) we were constantly having the gas water heater guy out every 2-3 months, to clean all the ash sediment out of the heater - so we're in the process of switching to electrics and solar. If the water heater is collecting that much sediment every 2-3 months, I'm guessing our gas stove is probably similarly heavily carcinogenic...so that's the next appliance ejection.

Problem is, we live in an older (some might say ancient) apartment complex - so the entire neighborhood's lights flicker during periods of high electricity (electric heater) usage - although I noticed China Power upgrading the neighborhoods central wiring and transformer substations(?), possibly in preparation for that gigantic mega development popping up out of the gigantic vacant lot across the street.

If you look at electric water heaters in the stores, they're sold right next to the water filter section...so I suspect we'll be turning over the electric water heater every 1-2 years as the heating elements degrade from calcification - but that beats every 3 months on the gas water heater. We couldn't install the flash (pseudo-instant electric water heaters) as they'd blow both our main home circuit breaker and possibly the neighborhood's main breakers also...go figure - plus our main electrical system in the apartment definitely isn't wired for all these new energy sucking appliances of comfort.

So - in conclusion - you may wish to consider an electricity-based in-floor heating system unless you live in the newer apartment complexes - unless you also want summer-time central air conditioning also...in which case you're back to the original supposition of central HVAC (don't forget to add the HEPA filters to the whole thing).

If you go with a centralized HVAC - where are you going to site that huge noisy fan and the gas burner for heating? The fan is usually sited outside the house/apartment and it's seriously noisy.

I've yet to see convection based centralized HVAC.

Yes, the UK system was exactly what I wanted to replicate. My girlfriend also suggested electric floor heating, but I was worried about the consumption. We have used portable electric heaters last year for us and the dogs and that has almost tripled our electricity consumption.

Is the dirty gas neighbourhood specific, or is delivered all around Kunming? We live in a relatively new complex and haven't checked the quality of the gas that is used for the stove yet.

Newer developed areas with newer apartments "should" have cleaner gas - so I've heard (hearsay). The best way to tell - if most of your neighbors are using gas - they'll have gas "chimney" vents/pipes sticking out of their kitchen windows. If they're NOT using gas in the kitchen - you should seriously consider avoiding it also.

As for house-wide heating - you should expect your electric bill to triple...which sounds about right.

An alternative is to simply install an inline filter to trap particulate matter - but then you run the risk of gas leaks...shoddy craftsmanship, crappy materials...you'll have to do most of the research yourself, so you'll know what brands you want, how to install (check out the Black & Decker series of home craftsmanship), maintenance, troubleshooting, etc ad infinitum.

Also - if the apartment is a rental...I wouldn't bother. If you own it - consider how long you plan to live there.

An alternative is heated rugs or carpeting (not a great idea with dogs). For the poor man - just shove an electric blanket under the rug...and crank it up...

Excellent. Thank you!

Last year I had underfloor electric heating installed in three rooms of my flat. I am not happy with it. It doesn't seem to be very warm, but it sucks a lot of electricity.

Gas water filled radiators is probably the way to go unless you want to risk a sloppy installation job with underfloor.

@yankee00
On the electric blanket thing...if not insulated from the floor, the e-blanket will pump heat into the local area underneath. If the floor is tile - you'll run the risk of cracking the marble - if it's wood - the floor may (will) warp locally from the constant expansion from heat and compression from cooling down, so you MAY wish to consider the risks prior to throwing down an electric blanket on the floor.

We have a THICK padded mattress for floor sitting, although (if you're into it) tatami mats also work great, without the slippy-slidey risk

Also, be aware anytime one uses dry heat - it sucks the humidity out of the air - so you'll need to supplement the dry heat with a room-sized humidifier..