Glo worm...GLOWING bill!!!!!

brewerdave

Kim Yeovil, changing a boiler could well reduce heating costs dramatically if replacing an older, inefficient model (say 60%) with a modern condensing boiler at > 95% - I know cos I did it !!

Cardew

brewerdave wrote: »

Kim Yeovil, changing a boiler could well reduce heating costs dramatically if replacing an older, inefficient model (say 60%) with a modern condensing boiler at > 95% - I know cos I did it !!

Don't agree with your conclusions I am afraid.

For a start the highest efficiency boiler in the SEDBUK tables is 91.5% and that is the theoretical maximum; in practice this is not achieved according to the experts.

http://www.sedbuk.com/

The link above gives some average savings as well as the boiler efficiencies.

Below are 3 quotes that sum up my views.

The Royal InstitutionofChartered Surveyors stated recently :

The average cost of installing one of these modern boilers is £1,720, but saves on average just £95 off people's gas bills." See:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...erts-warn.html

From the Guardian

But critics argue the switchover is unlikely to be plain sailing. The new systems cost upwards of £2,500 to buy and install - £500 more on average than conventional boilers. And if the many letters from Jobs & Money readers and heating engineers are anything to go by, the boilers come with a hidden surcharge, so high that it can wipe out all the gains for the homeowner and the environment.
Critics argue that condenser boilers malfunction easily and can cost hundreds of pounds a year to maintain. Many survive only half as long as their traditional counterparts. They are technically complex, with many more things that can go wrong than traditional boilers. It can add up to nightmarish bills.
One major independent firm of plumbers said that over the past three to four years it has made thousands of call-outs to mend condensing boilers, and that the greenhouse gas emissions from its vans were probably greater than the savings made by the shift to eco-conscious boilers.

It is the condensing technology that makes new boilers so expensive to repair.

There are scores of posts on MSE from those of us with boilers over 20 years old that rarely if ever go wrong.

There are equally scores of posts from people with newish condensing boilers who have had hugely expensive repairs - often electronic board replacement being required at the cost of £hundreds.

Plenty of evidence to suggest that the design life of condensing boilers is 10 years if you are lucky. Most guarantees are for 2 years. A few for 5 years provided you pay each year for expensive servicing.

Take the average gas consumer spending £700pa on gas. He will be extremely lucky if he saves 25% even if he has a really ancient boiler. So he might save £175 pa.


You will do well to get a boiler fitted for under £2000. That invested long term at even 5% will produce £80 a year after tax(more if compounded) so your net saving will be less than £100 a year.

Only a City banker could not understand those economics

So we are forced into buying complicated equipment, expensive to repair and with a limited life and that's progress?

hermum

Poorbird, I take it that you've checked the comparison sites to see if you can get gas & electricity supplied cheaper.
Have you contacted the plumber who installed it for you, to ask his advice, or Glo worm
http://www.glow-wormheating.co.uk/contact/contact-us.php
just in case there's actually something wrong with your boiler?
Kim Yeovil, £151 for 28 days gas X 4 months if I've done the cals right is £655.78 -£250.00= £405.78 for gas for the winter after winter fuel allowance. That is just the gas, sounds mighty expensive to me. £325 for electricity in the same period.