Ideal Concord CX170 question

lifebegins

I am looking at our energy costs for the first time. We have a 20 year old Ideal Concord CX170 with the following statistics:
input 62.3 kWh
output 49.82 kWh
170 000 Btu/h

It seems to work fine but our gas bills are pretty high, we had a quote for £6000 to put in a new boiler which seemed very high and would take a long time to pay for itself even if my bills were cheaper.

My question is, can anyone advise how efficient is this old boiler , how much would i save on my gas bills having a new one? Last year I used 62000 kWh of gas. How much longer is it likely to last?

Thanks guys!

albyota

If the figures of input and output are what is on the badge plate then that would suggest about 80% efficient, due to age possibly 70% however if you have had it serviced regularly and recently it may be a little higher. That said the overall efficiencies could be calculated from the age of the heating system pipe work and radiators, i.e. have they been chemically flushed through to remove the 20 year old build up of sludge and crud, are the pipes insulated well, does the house have double glazing, cavity and / or roof insulation, is the hot water storage cylinder insulated, (age) thermostatic radiator valves, controls, all these things add up to a very efficient system, you may find that if you can sort all this out, you may not require such a powerful boiler, that would bring the cost down considerably, I suppose you should give details on the size of your house before I go on and on and on and on and.................yes you should save quite a bit on your bills.

Cardew

The SEDBUK website lists all the obsolete boilers, and your model is not shown although there is plenty of mention of the model on the internet. Installers have better access.

However it does list several Ideal Concord CX 50 models(ie 170,000 btu) and they are all around 80% efficient which corresponds to your input/output figures.

There really is little on these old boilers that causes efficiency to drop off - have a look at the manual and there is little to adjust.

You could initially get 90% effeciency from a new condensing boiler, so you are looking at perhaps a saving of £200 to £300pa on that huge consumption of 62,000kWh - no wonder you need such a big boiler!!

There are plenty of posts on the wisdom of changing old boilers, and the strong concensus is that it is madness to change a working boiler.

Mine is a little older(an Ideal mexico) than yours and not as efficient and I wouldn't dream of changing it. - I also have heavy gas consumption.

Apart from the economics - £6000 invested earns £240pa @4% so payback time is never! - modern condensing boilers are stuffed full of electronics and plenty of experts say 10 years is a reasonable life for these boilers.

I would soldier on with your current boiler and spend any available money on insulation.

albyota

Evening Sir!

lifebegins

Thanks to both of you for your good advice, I will definitely soldier on then. We had loft insulation fitted a couple of months ago (previously none) and new radiators and TRVs but deferred on the boiler because the quote seemed so high.

Albyota, the details you were wondering about: the house is 4700 sq ft, solid stone walls, no double glazing (none allowed) and 17 radiators. We currently heat our water in the Summer via electric immersion , which isn't cheap, as we need to have something done to the valves apparently to allow the hot water to go on independently, but this will be a lot cheaper than £6000 I hope! Thanks again, that was really good news.

Canucklehead

Good morning: your current boiler is from Ideal's commercial range and wouldn't be listed on SEDBUK (Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the United Kingdom). When you do replace it I'd recommend a Viessmann .

Make sure your RGI holds registration for commercial boilers. Have appropriate controls installed for your DHW and investigate further energy saving options...more on the Energy Saving Trust website.

HTH

Canucklehead

Cardew

lifebegins wrote: »

We currently heat our water in the Summer via electric immersion , which isn't cheap, as we need to have something done to the valves apparently to allow the hot water to go on independently, but this will be a lot cheaper than £6000 I hope! Thanks again, that was really good news.

I am no plumber - ("but I know a man who is" at least on the internet Canucklehead!)

It sounds like the motorised valve on the Y plan is inoperative. This is a relatively inexpensive job to replace. (the valve diverts hot water from the boiler to the radiators or tank or both as required)

I believe many of these valves can be moved by hand with a lever.

Canucklehead will correct me if I am wrong.

Canucklehead

Cardew wrote: »

I am no plumber - ("but I know a man who is" at least on the internet Canucklehead!)

It sounds like the motorised valve on the Y plan is inoperative. This is a relatively inexpensive job to replace. (the valve diverts hot water from the boiler to the radiators or tank or both as required)

I believe many of these valves can be moved by hand with a lever.

Canucklehead will correct me if I am wrong.

Hi..sorry to disappoint but my OH is the plumber/RGI.;) What I can say is the system could be on a 'S' Plan as it is a larger system. Replacing the motorized valve or changing the valve head if it is a Honeywell is usually a cheaper fix. I'm assuming the wiring is ok. Excellent wiki here

HTH

Canucklehead

Cardew

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi..sorry to disappoint but my OH is the plumber/RGI.;)
Canucklehead

I knew that, but didn't want to confuse the OP!!!

Am I correct about all or some valves being able to be operated manually?