New Boiler Advice (merged)

The_Selfish_Gene

We have and old Baxi boiler that has been recomended by BG for replacement. We want a new, efficient, combi anyway so we got a quote from them. A massive 6K for the whole shabang. We were informed that our water pressure was low and we should get a standard boiler and complete system (water tank and other tanks). Is this water pressure think right??

TSG

Lorraine_Turner

Hi

I'm not a plumber so you should check what I'm saying here, but I've been told in the past that a new boiler won't necessarily sort out your water pressure. There are, I believe, a number of different reasons for low water pressure. For example, where I used to live, the water pressure was low in the whole street. At that time all the plumbers I spoke to said a new boiler would sort it out, but when I had a new boiler installed, it didn't get any better. I was then told by numerous different plumbers that the low pressure was coming in that way from the pipes in the street and was down to the water board to sort out. When I phoned the water board they said it was because our street was on a hill and there was nothing they could do about it!

Having a water tank in the top part of your house, e.g. the attic, hooked up to a standard boiler is supposed to help the water pressure, but not everyone can accommodate a big water tank. And of course that also means that you don't have instant hot water.

Pipes that are full of limescale may not be letting the water through fast enough either, or if you've got a leak in the system.

I'd check all the options first, preferably with several qualified people who have nothing to gain by selling you a new boiler! Try your local boiler spare parts dealer - they usually have a lot of knowledge and they make money from selling parts for boiler repairs rather than selling replacement boilers, so there will be no conflict of interest when you ask them for advice.

Good luck!

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: If you have low water pressure/flow then a combination boiler isn't a suitable option for your property. Boiler manufacturers set a minimum mains water pressure required for each model. More info on mains water pressure is available here
Less conscientious installers would not hesitate to install a combi where the mains supply is inadequate (several posts on MSE bear witness to this practice).

HTH

Canucklehead

Longalion

Question:- What is the difference between A RATE and B RATE? The difference in price was not much £438.89 (b) to £595.64 (a) Biasi combi, however does the A rate make a difference with the bills compared to the B rate one? Which one would be good for a 3 bed flat?

khimg

I have a boiler contract with Homeserve.
My Glow-worm Enerygysaver 60 boiler started playing up so I contacted Homeserve.
They sent a engineer to take a look.
He found a leak and said he will order a part.
A week later I got a call from Homeserve saying that the parts will cost too much and they offered me £200 towards a new boiler and they would cancel the contract.
The parts they said it needed were: Main heat exchanger 2000800525 £446 , sec heat exchanger 2000800472 £465 , burner S203154P £165 , gas council number 4131994.

SO, BEWARE IF YOU HAVE A CONTRACT WITH HOMESERVE. THE MOST THEY WILL COVER IS £200!!