Gerneral advice please re:boiler

gilligansyle

Hi, I am not after technical advice as such, just wanted opinions.

We have a small boiler and a hot water storage tank. This tank only stores hot water from the boiler, the switch to make it an immersion has been disabled. It's also quite a small tank, only about 4ft hight and not very wide.The boiler was fitted when my mother lived here under one of those energy warm grant schemes, and is fine for the central heating, but does not produce enough hot water for a bath. The water starts to run cold before the bath is half full, it then takes around an hour before there is enough hot water to top it up again.

The cost of a combi boiler is prohibitive at around £2000 fitted, so can anyone suggest alternatives?

EliteHeat

Try reading this, but parts of it are technical

Canucklehead

Hi

What height from the base of the cylinder is the stat fitted and what temperature is it set at? How wide roughly?

GSR.

gilligansyle

As far as I can see there is not stat on the cylinder, it is fed purely from the boiler. The cylinder is actually on a shelf so is only about 2' 6" high x 18" wide, so is no way big enough for a bath.

Is it easier to replace the cylinder and have it set as a proper immersion?

Canucklehead

Hi
A photo would save asking a huge list of questions.


GSR.

EliteHeat

A standard cylinder is sized at 36" * 18" so yours sounds quite close to that. These are easily capable of filling a bath.

If you do not have a cylinder thermostat fitted, it is extremely likely that your cylinder is quite old, so the previous thread might be pertinent to you also.

All replacement cylinders, as far as I know, have a boss for an immersion heater fitted as standard.

gilligansyle

Although the boiler is new, the cylinder was in the house, as an immersion when the house was bought in 1985. It worked as an immersion heater fine until the boiler was put in and all the immersion controls disabled.

gilligansyle

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi
A photo would save asking a huge list of questions.


GSR.

Will try to borrow a camera to take a photo of it, my phone isn't posh enough to have a camera.

ormus

i find it very odd that the warm front peeps have not fitted a combi boiler?
the tank you have is very old and is rarely seen these days, it needs changing for a modern regular cylinder. with two immersion heaters. (200/250 quid).
do you have the space to fit it?

certainly cheaper than replacing the boiler.

bambibashercol

A lot of firms that do warmfront work will just do a straight boiler swop.
If they fitted a combi to a non pressurised system and it leaks they have to re-pipe at there cost.
They don't really want full install jobs if they can help it as a lot of the time they go into large excess payments that people cannot afford.
You could always apply for the grant in your own name and try and get a new cylinder out of them. The grant is for the person and not the house.

gilligansyle

ormus wrote: »

i find it very odd that the warm front peeps have not fitted a combi boiler?
the tank you have is very old and is rarely seen these days, it needs changing for a modern regular cylinder. with two immersion heaters. (200/250 quid).
do you have the space to fit it?

certainly cheaper than replacing the boiler.

Apparently we are on a 'common main' and the pressure is not good enough for a combi, or at least wasn't at the time, things may be different now. A replacement cylinder seems the best option as much cheaper than new boiler which is fine for heating. The airing cupboard is huge, with a little tiny cylinder in it, so at some point a larger cylinder must have been taken out.