boiler only lasted 3 years

Gloomendoom

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

The more i read about these condensing boilers the more I'm put off ..
can anyone name a reliable regular non condensing one ..still being made ..about 75 percent efficient or there abouts..that costs in the region of £700 or less..that hangs on a wall ...24kw ..one that i will get more than 15 years out of it.
I'm prepared to loose 15 percent in efficiency ..to gain on reliability and it lasting perhaps 4 times more than a condensing one

I dont care if they are 90 percent efficient .if you have to spend hundreds on keeping them going ..then thousands replacing them ..they ain't worth it ...your savings go out the window.

all the best.markj

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Ours has been there since 1975 doing it's job. I'm reluctant to spend thousands on something that will save me at most £100-£200 a year. Especially if it's only likely to last 3-5 years before it needs replacing.

It isn't likely to save me any money and, when the bigger picture is considered, it isn't very 'green' either.

This piece in the Telegraph is interesting...

BOILER OFF THE BOIL

Q Condensing boilers are supposed to be good for the environment and save money for the owner, but surely they are supposed to last longer than two years three months before incurring great expense? My Glow-worm Betacom 30 boiler was three months outside the guarantee period when I noticed a dripping pipe. It has cost me more than £700 to repair it, including a heat exchanger which cost £345, and another part costing £160. I inquired of the makers why the parts cost so much, and pointed out that it is costing me more to maintain than its intrinsic value, but have not had a satisfactory reply. They do not seem to be very proud of their product. Are these modern boilers supposed to be so short-lived? SF, Cleckheaton

A I have been warning readers for some years that because of their design, and the large amount of electronics used in them, condensing boilers have a life expectancy of five years. In your case, you could have bought an identical new boiler for just over £500, and the labour costs to fit it would probably be comparable to what you have paid for fitting the spares.

Unfortunately our Government insists on peddling the myth that buying a new, allegedly more efficient, boiler every five years is somehow using less energy than keeping an old boiler ticking along. What the Government and the manufacturers do not tell us is that the “carbon footprint” of making the new boiler – including mining and extracting the aluminium, copper and steel, transport, building and running the factory etc – is far greater than that of keeping an old, reliable, but marginally less efficient boiler running for five years. My advice to other readers, as always, is keep your existing boiler running as long as possible, and don’t believe that other myth that spare parts are no longer available.

Source

macman

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

The more i read about these condensing boilers the more I'm put off ..
can anyone name a reliable regular non condensing one ..still being made ..about 75 percent efficient or there abouts..that costs in the region of £700 or less..that hangs on a wall ...24kw ..one that i will get more than 15 years out of it.
I'm prepared to loose 15 percent in efficiency ..to gain on reliability and it lasting perhaps 4 times more than a condensing one

I dont care if they are 90 percent efficient .if you have to spend hundreds on keeping them going ..then thousands replacing them ..they ain't worth it ...your savings go out the window.

all the best.markj

You can't fit domestic non-condensing ones, except in very limited circumstances.

aboard_epsilon

macman wrote: »

You can't fit domestic non-condensing ones, except in very limited circumstances.

Cant a gas safe trained plumber fit one ..and fore-go the gas safe certificate.

so it could be fitted by competent plumber ..but no bit of paper.

this is just a rumour Ive heard

all the best.markj

macman

I'm sure it could. But since it would be a breach of the building regs it would be illegal, no responsible RGI would do that.
And no commissioning certificate would invalidate the warranty.
No paperwork should you want to sell the property.
And you still have to find one...

keystone

a) you must have a Compliance Certificate whatever.

b) theres a separate form the installer has to complete to justify his "non-condensing" decision and which must be kept with the Compliance Certificate.

Rumour control got it wrong!

Cheers

bengalknights

Speak to Viessmann or even more a competent person such as someone gassafe accredited or even british gas who should be able to diagnose the problem with your boiler.

keystone

bengalknights wrote: »

as someone gassafe accredited

Anyone who is NOT GasSafe registered should not be touching it.

or even british gas who should be able to diagnose the problem with your boiler.

Should being the operative.

Cheers

aboard_epsilon

macman wrote: »

You can't fit domestic non-condensing ones, except in very limited circumstances.

can you get around it ..and how ..

yes i know that baxi back boilers were exempt .

would limiting circumstances be, me proving, i cant afford to have something, that is going to put me in dept, in the future

all the best.markj

keystone

Funnily enough cost does come into it but only on the basis that the installation would be uneconomic or technically challenging compared to a non-condensing one. That is not the same as client simply can't afford a condenser. If one can be fitted the installer must fit one.

See HERE for details of the assessment process the installer must go through.

Cheers

aboard_epsilon

HERE

Office of the deputy prime minister ..
i hear it was prescot, at the time these rules were drawn up, and him that brought it in .

£7........do they have to make money on everything !

all the best.markj