Thank you all for your replies.
Ok, I'm not afraid of a combi any more and I see most are available for lpg too.
Wise words regarding the wall insulation. The house is baltic. Needs new windows
All round and wall insulation. We knew this when we got the place.
I'll certainly keep in mind the advice regarding sizing the boiler to our hot water needs.

Stuart

Hi Wilco,

That was the system we had in our last house (without the solar bit) and
It was brilliant. Was wondering about having the same but wondered what the
Options were.

Stuart

archie98 wrote:

If you are going to go for a combi, go for Worcester Bosch, they have no equal in the uk
Sorry to disagree Ideal Logic+ is a far better boiler and you can get a 7 year warranty

I would second the use of a hot water tank for faster hot water, if you use a lot. Due to the time it takes to get hot water out the tap we all tend to wash our hands in cold water, which isn't exactly a big deal, but it may bother you. The WB we have jas a setting that can keep the plate hot for much faster hot water delivery, but it isn't as efficient that way.

So do you have no gas supply? Just LPG?

Hi Chuckalicious,

Yup, LPG and electric. No mains Gas available.
There are just the two of us in here so we don't have a huge load
For a boiler I suppose. As long as I have a long hot shower in the
Morning. That's my main priority. It's essentially a defribulator.
If it wasn't for that I wouldn't function.

Stuart

Instant hot water depends on the length of pipe and its diameter from the tap to the source of the hot water and its pressure. i.e how quickly can you empty the cold water in the pipe. Combis are great but even for a small houses you need a minimum of 28KW for a decent shower. There are many boilers on the market, many use the same internals, the heat exchanger being the individual one for each make. Personally I would only use a boiler wit a stainless steel heat exchanger and would never touch one with any aluminium alloys that are in direct contact with the water, inhibitor or not. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

Interestingly we have an electric shower which just heats mains cold water so the boiler is not involved in the process. Never been an issue.

But yes, the cold water in the pipe is an issue regardless of the water system. If your hot water tank is far away you still have to empty the cold before you get the hot.

When we had our boiler replaced and the water tanks removed a lot of pipework needed to be rerouted. The poor plumber was stunned at the routes some of the pipes took. Tue kitchen tap was fed from a pipe that went from the ground floor maims feed, to the top of the house (3 floors) then back down to the kitchen. Madness. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

Id probably go for a tank , then you could add solar and or immersion heater.
lpg isnt the cheapest, maybe a good time to go to oil?
Im on lpg but get it at commercial rate due to a 100m+ pipe drawing gas off the big lpg tanks at the poultry sheds 21p/l at present. with my own private gas meter to keep the tax man happy. 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

taztastic wrote:

archie98 wrote:

If you are going to go for a combi, go for Worcester Bosch, they have no equal in the uk
Sorry to disagree Ideal Logic+ is a far better boiler and you can get a 7 year warranty

Why?

Ps. 12 year old WB27cdi going strong but coming to end of life.

Use a Vaillant boiler here. Used to have a standard open cylinder and tanks in the loft. Recently had this modified with a new stainless steel cylinder in the airing cupboard and a couple of expansion vessels. No longer have any tanks in the loft. Central heating circuit is now pressurised to around 1 bar I think. Also as a result of the new cylinder the hot water is now at mains pressure.

Having a cylinder does allow the installation of an immersion heater element. Therefore in the event of boiler failure the tank can still be heated.

http://www.telford-group.com/browse/stainless-steel-unvented/364

We have an electric shower as a standby, 9.5KW and it's pathetic compared to the combi supply over five times the flow with better than small pin jets my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

I have a Veissmann combi. They have a good name. Mine is now 6 years old but broke down last year and took a week to get the part, that's the only issue I've had with it. I had 3 plumbers quote me for the boiler originally. 2 of the plumbers both said to buy German as they said you can't beat a German boiler.

Remember when buying a boiler that to keep the warranty intact you have to have a service every year. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

Like Wilco44 we have a WB Greenstar condensing boiler and a MegaFlo hot water tank. We inherited ours when we moved into our current house 2.5 years ago.

It provides oodles of hot water and is great as the flow from the hot tap is the same as the cold - fast. Great for filling the bath or a bucket for washing the Freelander. It makes for a great shower!

The only problems we have had is with a leaking valve that the controls the water pressure going into the system and the boiler filling up with crud at the bottom of the burner/heat exchanger - more a problem with lack of servicing by the previous owner (and a wiring fault I unpicked where the hot water thermostat was wired permanently as 'on' - the temperature of the water circulated by the boiler limited the hot water tank temperature rather than the thermostat). Bought the WB cleaning kit and gave it a good clean and do it every 12 months or so.

We have an immersion heater as well but have never used it - on the basis we have no Economy 7 and gas for heating water is cheaper than electricity.

It still gives us an airing cupboard which a combi boiler wouldn't. 2016 BMW X3 30d SE in red
MY2013 SD4 XS Firenze Red, 19" 10 spoke contrast paint wheels, Signature Strips, Grand Black Lacquer trim, Cold Climate Pack - gone!
2007 TD4 S Stornoway Grey - gone!

Yup, that was the point I was making about WB: They are common enough that anyone can get parts quickly. There are better boilers - I looked at the German ones too, but was made aware that they simply don't have the parts supply. Having kids, the thought of being without heat for any length of time just for a fancier boiler wasn't worth it.

But reading above, a better hot water setup would have been better for us. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

We changed our boiler system (and radiators as a result of the pressure difference) two years ago to a WB system. We had quotes from 5 local companies and all of the suggested WB by default.

Its a Combi-Boiler and no hot water tank, takes about 20s to warm the water up to taps at farthest point from the boiler and that's in the Eco mode where it doesn't continually keep heating a small amount of water to prevent this.

Edit: For reference theres only 2 of us and 1 bathroom, in a 3 bed semi. Its good enough for us and we put up with the delay to save money! Our yearly gas & electric bill is £500 for a reason.

Last edited by gingerlord on 12th May 2015 12:06 pm. Edited 1 time in total