Condensing Boiler

cheesypuff

Hi looking for some advice please

Our boiler is very old and needs replacing last yr we were out a fortune on oil so we are looking to replace it. A friend of ours told me about a condenser boiler that she has had installed and how her oil bills have greatly reduced. Has anyone else had one fitted and would be able to give me an idea of the cost to put one of these boilers in? At the moment we have to turn our heating on to heat the water and in the summer I have to turn the immersion heater on which costs a fortune. Would I be able to get a system in that has a water heating switch?

Not very up on these things sorry:eek:

cheesypuff

Anybody:silenced:

Plumbers_Shop_Lee

The cost of installation is going to vary depending where in the country you are and how much work is involved in the upgrade. You can potenially look at an oil fired combi to replace your existing system however without additional information about your property it's very difficult to assist you further. I would advise that you get an oftec approved installer to advise you with regard to what can and can't be achieved

HTH

sheerdelight

To heat water only may require extensive replumbing with any boiler. Mine is the same. In summer it is probably easier and cheaper to use immersion. Great if you have Willis type that heats water at top of tank rather than immersion that heats the whole thing. Of it is presumed you have your hot tank well insulated!

A.L.D.A

For Boiler efficiency google SEDBUK.

If you have an old boiler change it, there may still be grants for doing so, (they keep changing energy related grants to confuse us!!!!) You also need proper controls by both time and temperature for the hot water and heating.

Cost as mentioned above is difficult to guess.

If you have a very old and inefficient boiler it should make a big difference!

Ben84

If you're installing a new boiler (oil or gas) it now has to be a condensing model to comply with regulations. However, even if they weren't mandatory now, I think it's extremely sensible when buying a new boiler, particularly for oil which is expensive, to take the opportunity to install one of the highest efficiency ones available. Boilers can last 20 or 30 years, possibly longer. We just replaced one that's from 1972 (older than I realised!) that was still running, so a bad purchase could cost you a lot of extra money for many years.

The basic principle of condensing boilers is that when you burn fossil fuels you produce mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour. This may surprise you that fire makes water, but this is a significant product of combustion. There is also a significant amount of energy in water vapour that it can release when condensed on a cool enough surface, you'll observe for example when you first place a pan of cold water on a gas burner that droplets of water condense on the outside for a while until it heats up and goes past the condensing point. Condensing boilers try to keep the heat exchanger at the condensing temperature as much as possible to extract the energy in the water vapour, giving them a large boost in efficiency.

HappyMJ

Ben84 wrote: »

If you're installing a new boiler (oil or gas) it now has to be a condensing model to comply with regulations. However, even if they weren't mandatory now, I think it's extremely sensible when buying a new boiler, particularly for oil which is expensive, to take the opportunity to install one of the highest efficiency ones available. Boilers can last 20 or 30 years, possibly longer. We just replaced one that's from 1972 (older than I realised!) that was still running, so a bad purchase could cost you a lot of extra money for many years.

The basic principle of condensing boilers is that when you burn fossil fuels you produce mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour. This may surprise you that fire makes water, but this is a significant product of combustion. There is also a significant amount of energy in water vapour that it can release when condensed on a cool enough surface, you'll observe for example when you first place a pan of cold water on a gas burner that droplets of water condense on the outside for a while until it heats up and goes past the condensing point. Condensing boilers try to keep the heat exchanger at the condensing temperature as much as possible to extract the energy in the water vapour, giving them a large boost in efficiency.

Boilers "should" last 20 to 30 years. The current advice from the energy saving trust is that new boilers have a lifespan of 12 years. That's how you should long you should calculate costs and savings over. I don't see the value in replacing an old working boiler unless it fails and must be replaced. Yes I know it's 65% efficient compared to the ones now which are 90% efficient. I did a calculation for someone one here on another thread here and the payback time is about the same as the new boilers life.

I'll see if I can remember what it was. Spend £2,750 per year on Oil. 65% efficient boiler replace with 90% efficient boiler reduces Oil bill to £2,000 but new boiler costs £4,000 dividing by 15 years costing £267 per year. Plus cost of capital at 3% on £4,000 costing £120 per year. Takes 12 years to be " in profit".

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements-and-products/Heating-and-hot-water

36square

HappyMJ wrote: »

I'll see if I can remember what it was. Spend £2,750 per year on Oil. 65% efficient boiler replace with 90% efficient boiler reduces Oil bill to £2,000 but new boiler costs £4,000 dividing by 15 years costing £267 per year. Plus cost of capital at 3% on £4,000 costing £120 per year. Takes 12 years to be " in profit".

You're looking at this the wrong way, Happy MJ. Based on your own figures, you are expecting a return of £750 pa in reduced oil bills from an investment of £4,000. That is 18.75% per annum which should exceed the cost of borrowing to instal the new boiler by a signficant margin. So, unless you know another way of obtaining a secure annual return of more than 18.75% over the next 15 years, it's an easy decision.

blueberrypie

Ben84 wrote: »

If you're installing a new boiler (oil or gas) it now has to be a condensing model to comply with regulations.

We replaced our boiler last year and this is what one plumber told us, so I asked Building Control. If you're replacing the whole heating system, it has to be a condensing model, but if it's just the boiler, there is no such requirement and you can install what you like.

rexel

how important is it to get these boilers serviced every year My old boiler was only serviced every couple of years

GlynD

I'm from NI and I had my 30 year old boiler replaced in February. It's certainly more efficient in heating the place but we haven't got a yardstick yet on oil consumption although we've been told it's the bees knees. Our fitter did a very good job and was reasonable with his price. He's in Richhill.