Replace Old Baxi Bermuda C/H Boiler

BLB53

I have moved house this summer and it has a baxi bermuda back boiler which is around 25 years old. I had the gas man to service it and he said it was in good condition but not very efficient compared to modern boilers so to be prepared for higher bills in the winter.

Should I replace it, and if so, do I go for the more efficient baxi back boiler which, I think would be a straight replacement in the chimney brest with the option of a modern looking electric fire front.

Alternatively, I could have a wall hung boiler (not combi) re-sited in the kitchen which would include extra pipework and cost more. In my other house I had a worcester bosch greenstar boiler which seemed very good and the bills were very reasonable. Since then the gas prices have gone up 30% so I am a bit concerned about the bills for the coming winter.

Any advice greatfully received.

Canucklehead

Good evening: as you say your BBU is in good working order... keep it but start putting aside funds each month to fund its replacement. If you don't have one yet get yourself a CO alarm. If you haven't yet, take other energy saving measures e.g. insulation, TRVs, programmable room stat. More here .

HTH

Canucklehead

leveller2911

Baxi Bermuda back boilers were, when new around 59% efficient , move on 25 years and your Baxi is more like 50% so for every £10-00 of gas that goes in £5-00 goes straight up the chimney.On the flip side modern boilers are around 95% efficient .

Owain_Moneysaver

leveller2911 wrote: »

Baxi Bermuda back boilers were, when new around 59% efficient , move on 25 years and your Baxi is more like 50% so for every £10-00 of gas that goes in £5-00 goes straight up the chimney.On the flip side modern boilers are around 95% efficient .

And that disregards the cold draughts that whistle through the ginormous hole in the wall required for combustion ventilation.

I'm sure I'm able to not have the heating on for several months more each year without that draught.

Yolina

Whether it's worth changing it or not will depend on how much gas you use... I've got a 22 or 23 years old Potterton boiler (D rated if I remember correctly) which is working perfectly well, been serviced every year etc... There's no way I'm changing it until it dies because even with gas prices consistently going up, and given that I don't use much, I simply cannot make back the money I'd spend getting a new one in over the expected lifespan of a new boiler (at today's prices, it would need to use over 50% less gas for me to break even). I *do* have money saved up to change it when it eventually gives up the ghost, but for now it's staying and my gas guy always jokes that he'll have retired by the time the boiler needs changing :rotfl:

ormus

you can buy a combi boiler for the price of a baxi gas fire alone.
never mind a new baxi back boiler. total price is about 1300 quid.

you can buy a decent combi for nearly half that cost.

BLB53

Baxi Bermuda back boilers were, when new around 59% efficient , move on 25 years and your Baxi is more like 50% so for every £10-00 of gas that goes in £5-00 goes straight up the chimney

So, compared to my previous house with the new boiler, this old baxi is likely to use 45% more gas and furthermore, the gas prices have gone up 30% since last winter so as a rough estimate, I will be looking at paying 75% more this year than last year!

I paid around £300 for gas last year so can expect to pay £525 this year. The extra costs however due to the inefficiency of the older boiler are still only 45% - an extra £135, so maybe it would be best to stick with the old boiler.

I think the cost of re-siting a new c/h boiler in the kitchen would be around £2,500.

BLB53

So your costs actually double compared to this time last year.

I am with Ebico and the price has increased to 4.56p per kWh ( compared to 3.5p last year). I suppose I had better increase my monthly DD from £25 to £50 to cover the increased inefficiency and increased prices. I had thought maybe £40pm would cover it but clearly this will not be the case.

Thanks for all the calculations!

I will stick with the old boiler for the time being and try to make the savings on the cost of a new boiler work harder to offset some of the inefficiency increases.

C_Mababejive

Think about preventing heat escaping first rather than supplying more of it...

Yolina

Have a look at the Sedbuk database http://www.sedbuk.com/index.htm to get more info about your boiler, there's also an explanation of how the efficiency ratings are calculated and what they mean. Ignore their section about "estimated costs" because the gas price figures they use are totally out of date!

pmlindyloo

Have exactly the same dilemma - very old baxi back boiler and a really ugly gas fire and fire surround. Recently bought the house and was looking to replace, either with a new boiler and new fire and surround or replacement baxi back boiler. plus new fire front and fire.

Heating engineer came round and was very up front (refreshing to find one!) - keep it until it stops working - was happy to come out and repair old baxi too if needed.

Very disappointed as I loathe the ugly fire (but enjoy the heat!). OH was delighted as he gets to save some money!