Which type of new boiler?

FreeworldImpossible

Hi all. We currently have a back boiler system fitted in our house which is roughly 25 years old and have been thinking about getting it replaced in case it finally dies a death. Just wondering though, if someone could advise us on the best type of boiler to replace it with? We have a 2 bedroom semi detached house, with 3 people living in it, 1 bathroom which at the moment doesn't have a shower. Would a combi be the best route to take, or are their better solutions. We only use gas for the boiler in our house, and the gas bill from June to December with the heating set to 18 degrees was almost £300, which seem excessive to me, so something which will greatly reduce our heating bills will be very welcome.

jennifernil

I am not a great fan of Combis, but they are fine in smaller properties. I would read up on the pros and cons first.

Your bills do sound high. We are in Central Scotland, 5 bed house, conventional boiler 22 years old, and pay about £750 per annum for heating and hot water. We like about 22 degrees in the living rooms, less elsewhere. We have TRVs everywhere and good insulation. Perhaps you need to improve your insulation?

Landlord-Certificates

The best advice you will receive on here would be NOT to replace your boiler. Replace when it dies. Back boilers dont breakdown, its the new boilers which are prone to breakdown because of the all the flimsy parts fitted in them. There are also alot of incompetent installers out there and they are throwing the boilers in and running with the money. The problems come after the first year when they breakdown month after month. How many times has your boiler broken down in the past year or two?

If you do replace the boiler make sure you use an accredited gas installer. Accredited with one of the bigger names such as Worcester or Viessman. This will allow you to have a 5 year manufacturer parts and labour warranty. I think a 5 year British Gas home care agreement will cost you £780 - so thats something that you wont have to pay if you already do. If you dont current;y have a breakdown agreement with anyone - at least you will have that luxury now!

Your gas bill isn't that high to be fair - the heating cost saving with a new condensing boiler will be minimal - dont believe the hype!

AJ

muskoka

Hmm, interesting the 5 yr warranty. I'm currently purchasing a house that has NO central heating - wondering where to start AND vendor/probate prop advised gas is up to front door. Transco telling me got to lay new gas main & its gonna cost £1000.....any advice on best boiler/radiators to install would be appreciated by me too. Thanks

FreeworldImpossible

jennifernil wrote: »

Perhaps you need to improve your insulation?

The loft and cavity walls have both been insulated and we have double glazing.

Landlord-Certificates wrote: »

The best advice you will receive on here would be NOT to replace your boiler. Replace when it dies. Back boilers dont breakdown, its the new boilers which are prone to breakdown because of the all the flimsy parts fitted in them. There are also alot of incompetent installers out there and they are throwing the boilers in and running with the money. The problems come after the first year when they breakdown month after month. How many times has your boiler broken down in the past year or two?

If you do replace the boiler make sure you use an accredited gas installer. Accredited with one of the bigger names such as Worcester or Viessman. This will allow you to have a 5 year manufacturer parts and labour warranty. I think a 5 year British Gas home care agreement will cost you £780 - so thats something that you wont have to pay if you already do. If you dont current;y have a breakdown agreement with anyone - at least you will have that luxury now!

Your gas bill isn't that high to be fair - the heating cost saving with a new condensing boiler will be minimal - dont believe the hype!

AJ

To be fair to the boiler, we've lived here 11 years and it's only broken down once, which was the gas valve. The reason I was thinking about replacing it was because a couple of years ago BG came to service it and declined to and cancelled our policy claiming the boiler was too old now. :cool: It's a Potterton Housewarmer IIRC. I do hear what you're saying about replacing for replacing's sake, and to be honest, I had kind of hoped a new, more efficient boiler would reduce our gas usage.

leveller2911

Landlord-Certificates wrote: »

The best advice you will receive on here would be NOT to replace your boiler. Replace when it dies. Back boilers dont breakdown, its the new boilers which are prone to breakdown because of the all the flimsy parts fitted in them. There are also alot of incompetent installers out there and they are throwing the boilers in and running with the money. The problems come after the first year when they breakdown month after month. How many times has your boiler broken down in the past year or two?


We have a Baxi Bermuder back boiler which is 16yrs old and we don't get a year go by without something going wrong with it.I would also say that it is G rated 62% efficient so for every £10-00 of gas thats pumped into it nearly £4-00 goes straight up the chimney .If you compare that to an A rated boiler with an efficiency of over 90% then the cost difference of a copule of years is a fair amount.

There are undoubtably bad installers in the same way as there are bad Carpenters,Bricklayers etc but this should not sway someone from re-placing a boiler as the vast majority of installers are fine ..probably 98% even.

Probably the majority of people who have had their boilers replaced and have had no problems years down the line as long as they are regularly serviced ...Generally speaking you get what you pay for ...........

leveller2911

http://www.scrap-your-boiler.co.uk/do-i-qualify.php?manufacturer=2&model=2&boilertype=1&modelqualifier=


Freeworld, if you follow the link you should be able to check the rating of your boiler.The link is to the scrappage scheme but im not sure its still running ...

Reciprocater

Freeworldimpossible. If you opt for the combi/no hot water tank option I would make sure it pre-heats the hot water before it reaches the tap. I don't know if all new boilers have this facility. My combi is 7 years old and does not. Unfortunately, many of my hot water taps are not close to the boiler and I waste many litres of water every year waiting for the hot water to arrive. I think this largely explains why my metered water bill is substantially more than that for the same sized household next door.

muskoka

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Heating-and-hot-water/Boiler-Scrappage-Scheme#InformationforresidentsinEngland

Looks like the scrappage scheme has been scrapped :mad:

rustyboy21

FreeworldImpossible wrote: »

The loft and cavity walls have both been insulated and we have double glazing.



To be fair to the boiler, we've lived here 11 years and it's only broken down once, which was the gas valve. The reason I was thinking about replacing it was because a couple of years ago BG came to service it and declined to and cancelled our policy claiming the boiler was too old now. :cool: It's a Potterton Housewarmer IIRC. I do hear what you're saying about replacing for replacing's sake, and to be honest, I had kind of hoped a new, more efficient boiler would reduce our gas usage.

That is because BG a few years ago, were trying to get everyone to swap over to a combi as they had a special rate off a manufacturer for them.

I can guarantee if you had them out today, they would say,it needs scrapping, but you can now have a new condensing back boiler instead !

The new back boiler is good though it is 'A' rated and comes with a lot of new electric firefronts, as you cannot have a gas fire with it, so take that into account.

Difficult one, whether you stay with what you have, don't change it if it aint broke applies. Or if you want to update what to go for.
Remember a combi will have to go on a wall somewhere, and the pipes will most probably need re routing, a new BBU will have to have a fully pumped system and a new dual liner fitted too, make sure that is quoted in the price.

Hope this helps