Love or Hate your Combi Boiler?
mickeyb102
Posts: 3 Newbie
Hi, I am looking to replace the warm air heating in my home and would appreciate any views. We have a 70's style detached house with 4 bedrooms, single bathroom and downstairs cloakroom. The heating engineer has given us 2 options
(1) Vailant EcoTec 832 combination bolier
(2) Vailant ecoTec 630 boiler with a Main unvented hot water cylinder.
Both would have 11 radiations and we were thinking that we could remove the electric shower over the bath and run this off the new system as well.
The engineer is trying to push us towards option 2. He said that combi boilers are more complicated and so less reliable. He said, in winter, the water flow will be slow as the mains water will be colder. Is this really the case? We like the idea of the combi and would be most grateful for any advice from anybody who has one of these. Has it been reliable. is the flow ok when say running a sink tap and bath, does it work well with a shower. Thank you very much.
(1) Vailant EcoTec 832 combination bolier
(2) Vailant ecoTec 630 boiler with a Main unvented hot water cylinder.
Both would have 11 radiations and we were thinking that we could remove the electric shower over the bath and run this off the new system as well.
The engineer is trying to push us towards option 2. He said that combi boilers are more complicated and so less reliable. He said, in winter, the water flow will be slow as the mains water will be colder. Is this really the case? We like the idea of the combi and would be most grateful for any advice from anybody who has one of these. Has it been reliable. is the flow ok when say running a sink tap and bath, does it work well with a shower. Thank you very much.
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Comments
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Both boilers are very reliable and will come with good garuntees.
A combi boiler is generally 1 hot tap operation but as this is a 1 bathroom house it shouldn't cause much issue for you. You will have as much hot water as you need as it will just run constantly until you turn the tap off.
Winter months will affect you hot water temperature, a combi increases the temperature by a set amount usually about 35-40 degrees but will vary from boiler to boiler. So if your cold water is coming in at 5 deg then you will get around 45 deg hot water. The flow rate also affects the temperature of the water.
The hot water tank option will give you the same temperature water all year round as it's stored hot water but you will need to heat the tank up everyday.
I would go with the unvented system but that's just my preference.0 -
Worth noting that unvented systems are subject to compulsory annual safety checks.
Also remember with combis that your heating goes off while water is being drawn, and baths can take longer to run with a combi.
Personally I've hated combis I've experienced but others love theirs.
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mickeyb102 wrote: »Hi, I am looking to replace the warm air heating in my home and would appreciate any views. We have a 70's style detached house with 4 bedrooms, single bathroom and downstairs cloakroom. The heating engineer has given us 2 options
(1) Vailant EcoTec 832 combination bolier
(2) Vailant ecoTec 630 boiler with a Main unvented hot water cylinder.
Both would have 11 radiations and we were thinking that we could remove the electric shower over the bath and run this off the new system as well.
The engineer is trying to push us towards option 2. He said that combi boilers are more complicated and so less reliable. He said, in winter, the water flow will be slow as the mains water will be colder. Is this really the case? We like the idea of the combi and would be most grateful for any advice from anybody who has one of these. Has it been reliable. is the flow ok when say running a sink tap and bath, does it work well with a shower. Thank you very much.
Cannot comment on the combi option but when we first married 45 years ago we had a council house with ducted warm air heating,hated it with a passion,never got the house hot and made colds and sore throats more common:eek:,got a combi now and love it.ITS NOT EASY TO GET EVERYTHING WRONG ,I HAVE TO WORK HARD TO DO IT!0 -
coffeehound wrote: »Worth noting that unvented systems are subject to compulsory annual safety checks.
Does that apply to heating as well as hot water?0 -
mickeyb102 wrote: »we were thinking that we could remove the electric shower over the bath and run this off the new system as well.
If you keep the electric shower you will still have some backup hot water when the boiler fails.
I have a multipoint, not a combi, but they work the same way as the electric shower: the faster you run the water the cooler it gets. I like the flexibility, you can choose between sacrificing time for hotter water or sacrificing temperature to fill the bowl quicker just by adjusting the tap.0 -
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I've had house with combi boilers since forever and have always loved them. The one time we had a hot water cylinder, it didn't matter how many bathrooms it would service at a time when we somehow always managed to run out of hot water. We're a water greedy family. Combi works best for us.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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coffeehound wrote: »Hopefully someone in the industry can confirm but I believe it's the hot water cylinder that has the potential to explode if the safety valve doesn't release due to excess temperature/pressure.
Yes but if the heating is sealed (I thought new systems had done away with the vent pipe and header tank) then they will also explode if there's no working device to limit the temperature/pressure.
BTW, my multipoint has no safety valve, and it exploded several times when it had a recurring fault that caused the gas valve to jam open when the water tap was turned off.0 -
Blimey, what exploded exactly? I'd *guess* that the relative severity of a 200-litre superheated cylinder letting go is worse than the distributed nature of a heating circuit, but I'm not qualified to give the answer.0
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All sealed system heating systems and unvented hot water have pressure relief vavles and unvented has additional temperature pressure relief. On going maintenance would be visible check, clean filter on cold main, check expansion vessel and operate relief vavles.
Unvented is dangerous if not installed correctly and additional qualification are required to install and maintain. Search for the myth busters episode when they make one explode. In real terms when installed correctly there is very little that beats main pressure hot water. Also most unvented tanks have 2 electrical immersion heats as for of back up.0
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