House renovation - New central heating system

dopester

Harry_Powell wrote: »

I'm wondering whether to fit a combi boiler or a traditional boiler with hot water storage tank and I think I've made my mind up but was wondering if people who have had experience of the two systems could give their opinion on which is best?

I like our combi boiler - that's all I know. It's on the setting for hot-water now, so you get hot water when tap is on hot. When the weather gets cold we set it to heat up the radiators in the morning and at evening.

The combi boiler has not had any problems since it was installed in 1996. Plus it gave a lot of nice space reclaimed for where the old hot-water-storage-tank used to be in the bathroom.

Harry.. I'm no expert but would encourage you to take a look at this (educational imo)
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=26919097&postcount=3

EliteHeat

Or are you trying to suggest that all tradesmen are angellic and don't rip off people?

No, and neither am I suggesting that all customers are dim witted morons who mindlessly believe everything they watch on the telly after a hard days paper pushing.

No offence.

Harry_Powell

EliteHeat wrote: »

No, and neither am I suggesting that all customers are dim witted morons who mindlessly believe everything they watch on the telly after a hard days paper pushing.

No offence.

none taken

BTW, I added a ps to the above just as you were posting this, so you may have not seen it....

olly300

Combi boilers are great if you live in a house:
1. Where there are not a lot of people
2. The people that are there tend to be out in the day

Combi boilers are bad if:
1. You have more than one bathroom as you can't use the hot water at the same time. (Lots of older homes have their traditional boiler fitted like this but newer ones definitely allow you to use two bathrooms at once.)
2. There are people in during the day who need hot water as it's more expensive to heat

googler

EliteHeat wrote: »

Just out of idle curiosity, are you aware of just how insulting this comment is?

It's quite mild compared to what some people here say about Estate Agents.....

Jowo_2

I went through a process of getting quotes for a new boiler for a 3 bed house with a bathroom and shower room. Some quotes were for combis and some for storage systems. 90% of plumbers contacted did not return my call or email enquiry - the best plumbers are booked up weeks in advance.

The plumbers quoting for combis said that storage systems would be double the price and would be an overkill, insisting that the right size (KW) combi would run a bathroom and a showeroom together and that storage systems often required the replacing of pipes. In their opinion, older combi boilers could not cope with 2 bathrooms but newer condensing models can, plus a shower room places less demand than a bathroom.

The plumbers quoting for storage systems said a combi is unsuitable for a house with 2 bathrooms.

One plumber maintained Worcester/Bosch offer the best boilers. Another said Worcester/Bosch are the worst...

The forums I used frequented by plumbers made clear that they needed to know how many radiators, how many people, how many rooms/bathrooms, plus an idea of the adequacy of the water pressure.

Make sure visiting plumbers are accredited to Gas Safe (replacement for Corgi) and that they measure water pressure (litres per minute).

googler

blckbrd wrote: »

No cold water storage tank to overflow and flood your house either.

Is it worth pointing out that the cold water 'header' tank for the non-combi central heating system is different, and additional to, the cold water tank that might be in place for supplying stored water to bathroom basins and WCs ...?

jhe

we have had a combi for 15 year with a family of 5 it was great, previous boiler was a traditional type with hot water tank, there used to be a stampede every night to get a bath before the hot water was used up. the unlucky ones had to wait for the tank to reheat. only 2 of us at home now and i still appreciate instant hot water whenever we need it.

Harry_Powell

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post/clue me up on heating. I'll do a spot of googling and read the links that people have kindly posted and then see if I can find a plumber.

Apologies again to any honest tradespeople frequenting the forum!

googler

Harry_Powell wrote: »

Thanks guys, I was thinking about a combi but was wondering if it used more gas to heat water instantly from mains temperature (5 degrees?) to a comfortable showering temperature (35 degrees?) than to gently heat the water over a longer duration while it is in the cylinder?

If you heat the water in the cylinder to a certain temperature, then leave it, then regardless of how well the cylinder is insulated, it will lose heat, and tend to cool to the air temperature around it. Heat is therefore required again after a while to raise its temperature again, and a lot of the time you'll find yourself paying to heat the same volume of water again and again

With a combi, you just heat the water you use as it passes through the boiler. Once.