What boiler do I need?

KRB2725

Have been trying to do a bit of boiler research but am getting confused as to what type of boiler I need.

I am (hopefully) moving in a couple of months into a house that will need a new boiler.

The house is 4 bed, detached, about 1500 sq ft, with cavity wall & loft insulation.

It currently has 1 bathroom, but we will add a shower (and possibly a second bath/shower room over time so would like this factored in). Am I right in thinking a pump is only needed with some systems?

The house currently has a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard (also needs replacing, has a bulge) and a cold water tank in the loft.

Any advice as to the type of boiler/system I would need would be gratefully received.

Aquatronixjenny

For a 4 bed with more than one bathroom you will need either a regular heat only or a system boiler. They basically work on the same principle (heat the water in the rads and the storage tank rather than hot water on demand) but a system boiler will not have a feed and expansion tank in the attic and is pressurised.

If the tank needs replacing, then maybe consider getting a megaflo (a pressurised tank) along with a system boiler. You will then have all your cold taps running from mains and your hot taps from the megaflo, meaning you won't need a separate shower pump.

Sorry, I'm a bit rubbish at explaining

Basically, a combi boiler will not cope with the size of the house/number of outlets.
A regular boiler with a normal immersion tank will be ok but you will probably need a separate shower pump
A system boiler with a megaflo tank means fantastic water pressure but will be more expensive to fit (and you need to find someone with a license to fit unvented)

KRB2725

Thank you, will start investigating megaflo!

HappyMJ

emmatthews wrote: »

Have been trying to do a bit of boiler research but am getting confused as to what type of boiler I need.

I am (hopefully) moving in a couple of months into a house that will need a new boiler.

The house is 4 bed, detached, about 1500 sq ft, with cavity wall & loft insulation.

It currently has 1 bathroom, but we will add a shower (and possibly a second bath/shower room over time so would like this factored in). Am I right in thinking a pump is only needed with some systems?

The house currently has a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard (also needs replacing, has a bulge) and a cold water tank in the loft.

Any advice as to the type of boiler/system I would need would be gratefully received.

Personally I'd get an electric shower as the second shower. If the boiler is out of service for any reason at least everyone can still have a hot shower. Then you can discount the second bathroom and think about combi boilers with hot water on demand rather than stored hot water. You then don't need to replace the hot water tank as it will not be required.

HelenDaveKids

Ive got 4 bed detached and have just got a duo tech (large), old house had one (normal) and was happy. Its installed, water fab but not tried heating yet!

Aquatronixjenny

HappyMJ wrote: »

Personally I'd get an electric shower as the second shower. If the boiler is out of service for any reason at least everyone can still have a hot shower. Then you can discount the second bathroom and think about combi boilers with hot water on demand rather than stored hot water. You then don't need to replace the hot water tank as it will not be required.

You can still have a hot shower with an immersion tank... thats why you have immersion heaters.

ziggyman99

Aquatronixjenny wrote: »

A system boiler with a megaflo tank means fantastic water pressure but will be more expensive to fit (and you need to find someone with a license to fit unvented)

But only if you have fantastic water pressure coming into the house.
If you have great water pressure and flow then an alternative may be a storage combi boiler. A superb example being the Vaillant 937. This is capable of 20+ litres/min for 10 mins. More than enough for most houses. I've fitted these and managed to have the bath and shower running together no problem. They also take up less space than a unvented cylinder and don't require an unvented qualification to install. They do mean that you don't have a backup immersion heater.