Thanks people - A standard 'condensing' boiler has it so far

You can't fit combi boilers that ain't condensing nowadays

Last edited by dunroof on 14th Feb 2013 8:48 pm. Edited 1 time in total

dunroof wrote:

You can beat an oil fired Rayburn!

Makes you sound like Basil Fawlty with his Austin 1300

I know what you mean though, great piece of kit

I would use several small (5-10kW) inline tankless instant how water boilers.
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Stiebel...09/Cat/474
or
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Stiebel...20/Cat/474
Will be more efficient from power consumption point of view (you won't be using hot water in more than 2-3 places one time) and you won't have problems with temperature and pressure as the whole thing is localized.

Last edited by dunroof on 16th Feb 2013 8:25 am. Edited 1 time in total

Couple of thoughts on the subject:
When changing from cylinder fed to combi the hot water plumbing is subject to much
higher pressures i.e. mains pressure. I have known cases where leaks have appeared
usually ! ! in inaccessible places, under floor or in stud walls, due to the higher pressure.
I am not sure about soft water being a problem, I would have thought hard water more likely
to fur up the heat exchanger.

A couple of years ago, I had a condensing boiler fitted.

I decided to keep the hot water tank just in case the boiler broke down, as the (hot) water tank has an electric heater. Expensive to use, but at least I would have hot water.

Good point wingit. It should only cost about 20-30p to heat the average
cylinder of water up in an emergency.

mcphersonstrut wrote:

Thanks people - A standard 'condensing' boiler has it so far

Couple it with a pressurised system and you get mains water pressure for your shower and hot water supply. Need a certified G3 (I think) plumber to install but well worth it. No more header tanks in the roof cavity and no more risk of frozen pipes  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

Upper price range but Vaillant are one of the best makes of boiler you can fit, also if you have are fitting the boiler to an older system consider and extra £75 and have a Magnaclean or Fernox Magnetic filter cartridge fitted in line you will be amazed at how much crap they collect even if you though your system will be power flushed before installation. 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

I have a valliant 6 years old now, a gasket failed once thats it (so far)

I think it needs a service as it has a mini explosion side now when it fires up, instead of a gentle woosh.

two wood stoves do most of the work warming the house. and keep me warm chopping and fetching the logs. although no packaging gets binned this time of year it all help fight global cooling in my front room  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Pm'd you.

we had a valiant boiler fitted just ove r12mts ago the old gloworm gave up after 30yrs service the valiant is brilliant and i would highly recomend we also looked at worcester bosh but on the newer one we was told that they have replaced an internal part that was made out of metal to one made out of plastic and it has given problems with leaks it does take a little longer for the hot water to come through but you soon get used to it  rainy-city
xs

And the decision is.......a 2 stage conversion

Stage 1) Timing: asap - Replace the hot water tank to an unvented pressurised system which will give hot water at (almost) mains pressure. Next to the mains pressure cold this will give powerful showers and speedy bath fills. Junk all the tanks/pipework in the loft. Powerflush, stats to almost all upstairs rads. Magnaclean. Keep existing boiler until it dies, ok it's not efficient but if a new boiler is +/- £600/£800 and newer boilers are 'supposed' to save you about £100 per year payback in 6 - 8 years
Stage 2) Timing: when the boiler dies - Fit new condensing boiler, Valliant gets the first thumbs up, then WBosch. Glow worm and Ideal also seem to get good feedback.

While a combi might be good for some, I know it would have been a huge mistake for us. Huge thanks to all including ad123456789, tenet for mentioning the pressurised system (Like many did) and MartinB for the Magnaclean (Again like many did).
But special thanks goes to freel2novice who is a Gas safe registered engineer (he's not advertising that, I am ) who took time out to send me numerous pm's with clear explanations including for/against in all cases + website links
I hope the above helps anyone else in a similar situation