Are combination boilers any good - does hot water come out the taps fast enough

money2009

Hi, I would really appreciate some advice from people with combination boilers. We are just considering changing our warm air system to a wet system and have been advised to go for a combination boiler. We have a typical 70s 4 bed detached house. We just wondered whether the hot water comes out of the taps ok - does the water still come out quite fast and does it take a long time before the water comes through hot.

Thank you very much indeed.

bristol_pilot

The hot water from my combi boiler is very hot and almost instant. The shower is the best shower I've ever had - torrents of lovely hot water, much better than an electric power shower. The bath takes maybe 50% longer to fill than a system with a stored tank of hot water.

mrs_thrifty_2

The main thing that I notice with it is that you can only draw hot water from one place at a time eg shower or kitchen; washing machine or ....... so can give some cold surprises sometimes! However, I'm very pleased with my combi.

Beluga_2

I found that hot water from the combi takes longer to come through, particularly when the central heating isn't on (e.g. during warm weather or late night/early morning), as the boiler has to warm up first before it can heat the water. The water comes through at about the same rate as from a cylinder though.

When the combi boiler broke down last year, we lost hot water as well as heating (in the last house, we had an immersion heater as backup). Lastly, when we asked about solar water heating, we were advised it wasn't suitable because it won't work with most combi boilers (not entirely sure about this though).

I think a lot of people are happy to lose their hot water cylinder and use the space for storage instead - but personally, I've found the combi boiler more of a hassle than the conventional boiler + cylinder. Then again, I never was one to follow the crowds. :rolleyes:

CFC

Your new gas efficient combi boiler can expect a life span of around 7-8 years. Yes, that's right! They are nowhere as reliable as the old type because of all the gimmickry that is in them. I'd really consider whether your hot air type can be replaced if it's dying.

Personally I have an old type gas boiler with hot water cylinder which will need replacing soon - at 15 years old - because the parts are now too difficult. I shall be sad to see it go, but my plumber tells me that the equivalent type now is not generally a good option, probably because there is such a small selection available

Canucklehead

money2009 wrote: »

Hi, I would really appreciate some advice from people with combination boilers. We are just considering changing our warm air system to a wet system and have been advised to go for a combination boiler. We have a typical 70s 4 bed detached house. We just wondered whether the hot water comes out of the taps ok - does the water still come out quite fast and does it take a long time before the water comes through hot.

Thank you very much indeed.

Good morning: for advice on central heating and DHW see here.

HTH

Canucklehead

roddydogs

But wont any Condensing boiler have a "Short" life span compared with the old type?

2010

Just lately two friends have sought advice about a new boiler and have been told get a combie,blah,blah,blah.
Is this the easiest option for the installer or are conventional boilers being phased out.
Are combis the cheaper option to install but in the long term more expensive because of servicing and more to go wrong.

What`s really the best option for the consumer and not the seller/installer?

scattycat1

Hi. We had a combi boiler installed in 2006 and honestly it was the best decision we could have made. Hot water is almost instant and it makes a great shower too. The house heats up very quickly even when we've been away for a few days and the house is very cold. Nothing has gone wrong with it in the 3.5 years we've had it, and I would definitely recommend a combi.

I hope that helps.

aliasojo

money2009 wrote: »

We are just considering changing our warm air system to a wet system and have been advised to go for a combination boiler. We have a typical 70s 4 bed detached house.

Exactly the same house/situation as us. We took out the hot water cylinder from the cupboard on the hall landing and put a small radiator in there instead....we use it as an airing cupboard where we dry clothes. The cold tank was taken out of the loft, freeing up space there too.

We've got a condensing combi in the kitchen and although it's had it's issues over time, I do much prefer the ability to have 40 baths in a day if I choose to, instead of having one bath and the hot water running out. :rolleyes:

There is no noticeable difference in sink or basin tap flow rate but the bath does take a little longer to fill. You get used to that really quickly though and it's a small price to pay for the benefits. The type of boiler you get will affect flow rate also....better to over spec than under imo.

As mentioned above, if your boiler breaks down, you will have no hot water or heat. This happened to us one winter and was an absolute nightmare for the working men in our family trying to wash. I now have a concealed shower and an electric shower plumbed in on the same wall and I can just unscrew the shower hose from the concealed shower and put it on the electric one if our boiler breaks down again and we can still wash.

On the whole, I am glad we changed from our system to a combi, it's much more 'user friendly' imo.

Sunnyday

In our last house we had the same decision to make, in the end we went with the new warm air unit as it was an awful lot cheaper and the ducting was already there so we decided to use it.

In this house we have radiators and a back boiler which is good as we also have a cylinder for back up and an electric shower but the bills seem bigger. A dry system is much less fuss, no water to leak and mess up your carpets etc.

Given the choice again if i was in the old house with ducts i would go for the warm air unit and in this house i would go for a new back boiler, i`m not a fan of combis but have never had one myself, just seem to hear a lot about problems with them TBH.

Our new warm air unit came from here
http://www.johnsonandstarley.co.uk/

My opinion is biased as i said earlier i`ve never had a combi but i did like what we used to have and i wish that we could have the warm air in this house.

HTH

SD