Advice needed on New Oil Boiler

Cliddy

Have currently got a Trianco Eurostar Oil Boiler. What with its age (about 15 years), state of old radiators etc. lack of effective heat around the house, we feel the time is right for a total replacement to total system. Gas is not an option, have had coal in past so also not an option. Therefore need advice on what current types/method/makes of efficient oil boilers are. Aware of all the terms, but not sure what they mean !! Basically need an up to date replacement. 11 rads, 3 bed semi bungalow, well away from gas supply. Rough cost of total replacement ??? I can then go out for quotes. Help ??

david29dpo

Have you thought about LPG? Most suppliers will provide a rented tank free of charge.

Cliddy

Thanks for idea. Is there any way of comparing the 2 costs (oil v LPG) ?
Also concerned about long term benefits it's not like petrol versus diesel car where you can change after a couple of years. Also do boilers cost more or less ?

Debt_Free_Chick

Oil fired boilers are pretty expensive - especially compared with gas - simply as there is less demand. I would imagine the same applies to LPG

The market for oil fired boilers is pretty limited, especially with Bosch bought up by Worcester (or was it the other way around?) some years ago. I think they pretty much have the market cornered and this is where you are likely to find a deal.

My first point of call here would be my current boiler engineer - he will have seen & serviced all manner of boilers in recent years and can tell you what he would buy, based on his servicing experience. Provided - of course - that you have an engineer you trust. When I considered replacing mine, my engineer suggested that I stick with what I had (a 20 yo Worcester) as it was "more serviceable" - newer boilers tend to be built to be replaced, rather than built to be repaired

Now, the cynics might suggest that the engineer was simply giving himself more work, but my boiler is pretty basic and would have cost a total of £3k to replace. I pay him £80 a year to service it, so that's a lot of years of work before I break even It serves a five bed detached house and we've recently added an extension with underfloor heating, which the current boiler serves with no trouble.

I'd be talking to my service engineer first .....

paceinternet

LPG boilers can cost exactly the same as mains gas boilers to buy. Some include different jets to run on LPG, some have an adjustement inside.

Oil fired boilers are a little more complex inside due to the oil firing burner.

If you haven't understood the changes in LPG supplier regulations due to come in next year, you must search the forum and get familiar. You shouldn't consider entering into an LPG supply contract until these new regulations are in force. Their objective is to make switching supplier possible, which it isn't at the moment, so creating competition and lower pricing.

owned_by_2_Siamese

Well - opinions will differ but: Many oil boilers to chose from! I have a Worcester Bosch (condensing A rated) and I'm very happy with it! It was not the chapest - but reputation is good. There are many manufacturers to chose from but Worcester is probably the biggest.
As for complexity - at the risk of not being an expert - oil boilers are in fact much simpler than gas (simply a pump, a chamber to burn in and then the usual radiator/pump kit) Servicing is much cheaper - all that needs to be done is the burner nozzle replaced each year ( circa £30).
In terms of running cost, oil is usually cheaper, the price of lpg and oil rise (and fall) in line with the market. KW per litre you get more from oil. A quick glance on this site will reveal lots of threads about the issues of the lpg tank which belongs to your supplier - so restricting you to purchasing only from one source. With oil the tank is yours and you can shop around. In my village the view is that oil costs more to install - but is cheaper to run (and vice versa lpg cheaper to install - costs more to run)
I chose oil over lpg - and for me I'm pretty certain it was the right choice - but as with everything in life it's never that easy!

Good luck !

(PS have a look at OFTEC website for oil - and Calor gas for lpg - they link through to all sorts of info - but beware they are quite biased!)

thechippy

Cliddy,

Also have a read of this thread.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1310449

A._Badger

In case it's any help, when I moved into my current house, the previous owner had just fitted a Grant oil boiler. I had it serviced this year by the firm the locals say is the best in the area and the engineer looked at it, nodded and said 'you've got the best there - they're the only ones I fit'.

I know next to nothing about oil systems, but that's what I was told. One year on and no grumbles.

Cliddy

Thanks for all the above advice. A response above hinted at the information I'm really after. Detail like condensing, direct, combi, with and without tank. That sort of thing. More plumbing details rather than fuel type. Currently have water heated by boiler into a loft tank. But understand (well nearly understand !) that different systems are available these days and more economical. I'm sticking with oil, so don't need any help on alternatives, many thanks though.

Supercali

We had a new extension built and earlier this year fitted a new Grant Vortex Utility 26kw (condensing) boiler. It si not the combi sort as my FIL (builder and plumber) is quite old-fashioned and still wanted us to have a hot water cylinder. We had to change a lot of old pipework to fit bypass valves, aerator and 2 pumps and the radiators needed TRVs fitting.

We paid about £1500 for the boiler from Plumbcenter but that probably includes discount that my FIL gets.

The difference the new boiler makes over our old Trianco is amazing - it is so efficient!

Cliddy

Thanks that really helpful, I can start to get a feel for what's needed for my replacement and "act" a bit knowlegable to my plumber !