Need a new boiler

alex2004

Dear All

My boiler went off, it's 18 years old (Saunier Duval), it will cost £300 to change pump only or however £1300 for a complete new one.
Any advice whether to get a new one or to fix.
Thank's

anskills

if buying a new one, get a condensing boiler to maximise long term savings. they are highly efficient compared to standard system boiler and will pay for itself in fairly few years

alex2004

Would you kindly explain what is a condensing boiler and where to get them from?
Thank's in advance

anskills

more info here:

http://www.corgi-gas-engineer.com/condensers.htm

they are the next big thing in boilers, been about for a while but technology is increasing so problems such as the slightly acidic condensate that it collects eating the steel heat exchanger have been sorted by plastic HE's.

definitely will cost more to buy and install, depending on your current boiler location but it will definitely save you a huge amount of money if you look to the same timescale as you had your last boiler for. to be honest a good boiler such as 'ideal' should last 25 years plus if serviced annually

anskills

the more i read that site that i just posted, the more i get a negative feel for them from that guy. i work in the industry and we stick them in as standard on every old and new job. no matter the size as there are plenty of manufacturers to choose from. as always you get what you pay for so dont scrimp too much. if your house is small and you have say a dishwasher and electric shower your need will be small for hot water, a condensing combi would be ideal and very cost efficient. get rid of that old cylinder you no doubt have also

alex2004

Thank's a lot for your advice.
I will try to get few quotes for both type, as know I have got better idea.

RedOnRed

I read recently that what you save in efficiency expect to have to pay out extra in servicing. The same could be applied to a diesel car etc.

Aren't condensing boilers more problematic and involve more in servicing?

MarkyMarkD

I read recently that what you save in efficiency expect to have to pay out extra in servicing. The same could be applied to a diesel car etc.

The same could be applied, but incorrectly.

Diesel car servicing costs are not materially different to petrol ones.

My wife's diesel car was just serviced and MOT'd for £85. Same price would have applied to a petrol car at the same garage.

RedOnRed

We might be drifting off the point here but...

OK, well the false economy would be in the fact that a diesel car cost more, as does the fuel and generally speaking so does the servicing. To make one pay apparently you have to do at least 25000 miles a year.

Until recently diesel cars also needed servicing more often too. I think Mitsubishi ones, for example, needed servicing every 6000 miles.

I've had diesel cars for the last six years - thanks to the company I work for.

MarkyMarkD

You are generalising quite a bit and your facts are somewhat out of date. Whilst there are manufacturers who charge/charged a large diesel supplement, this is still trivial compared to the savings in fuel costs.

E.g. (randomly chosen vehicles).

Mondeo 1.8 Zetec £17,080 37.2 mpg (combined)
Mondey 2.0 TDCI Zetec £18,080 50.5 mpg (combined)

Extra initial cost £1,000. Over 100,000 miles vehicle life (estimated) = 1p/mile. Or over 50,000 miles vehicle life (exceedingly under-estimated) = 2p/mile.

Fuel cost per mile petrol 10.5p (@85.9ppl)
Fuel cost per mile diesel 7.8p (@86.9ppl)
Diesel save in pence per mile 2.7p.

The break-even point on fuel vs purchase cost is a vehicle total life mileage of 37,000.

Service/Maintenance/Repair costs from https://www.fleetnewsnet.co.uk for the two models on a 4 year 48,000 mile life:

Petrol = 3.71 pence/mile
Diesel = 3.56 pence/mile.

So the servicing costs are cheaper too.

Apologies for continuing the off-topic thread!

lohwj

Bringing the discussion back to topic..... ;D

I guess a condensing boiler is only cost efficient in a larger house? I live alone in a 1 bedroom flat, and am thinking of chaning my 15yr old Saunier Duval as well.

One of the BG engineers also mentioned that sometime next year, all newly installed boilers HAVE to be condensing boilers, so if I wanted a normal one, I had to get it done soon. Was he just talking rubbish, cause I haven't heard it anywhere else?