New boiler help please!

callmechar

Hi everyone

Need a new boiler, the one we have in the house we just moved into is quite old.

Been quoted by several companies in region of £2000. This is for the new boiler (Vailliant Eco Tech Plus 415) and to move the pump upstairs to airing cupboard and power flush. This is NOT a combi boiler, its a normal boiler with storage tank upstairs (its a vented system).

My concern is the pipe from our gas meter is 15mm wide and it was commented that this isnt sufficient and it needs to be 22mm or the Vailiant warranty void.. Only on one of the quotes was it mentioned that this isnt sufficient. The instructions for this boiler state the gas connection needs to be 15mm - so is this sufficient or does the pipe from the boiler (understairs) need to be upgraded to 22mm? The installer we want to go with said that 15mm is all we need.

http://www.vaillant.co.uk/stepone2/data/downloads/d4/42/00/ecotec_plus_open_vent_installation_and_servicing.pdf

At the moment, we have a gas fire and will soon be doing the kitchen and getting a gas hob (electric at the moment).

lifes-too-short

hi there, yeah manual says 15mm gas connection, only 22mm i see is the water connection? I would give Valiant technical service a call and get there views!

Canucklehead

callmechar wrote: »

Hi everyone

Need a new boiler, the one we have in the house we just moved into is quite old.

Been quoted by several companies in region of £2000. This is for the new boiler (Vailliant Eco Tech Plus 415) and to move the pump upstairs to airing cupboard and power flush. This is NOT a combi boiler, its a normal boiler with storage tank upstairs (its a vented system).

My concern is the pipe from our gas meter is 15mm wide and it was commented that this isnt sufficient and it needs to be 22mm or the Vailiant warranty void.. Only on one of the quotes was it mentioned that this isnt sufficient. The instructions for this boiler state the gas connection needs to be 15mm - so is this sufficient or does the pipe from the boiler (understairs) need to be upgraded to 22mm? The installer we want to go with said that 15mm is all we need.

http://www.vaillant.co.uk/stepone2/data/downloads/d4/42/00/ecotec_plus_open_vent_installation_and_servicing.pdf

At the moment, we have a gas fire and will soon be doing the kitchen and getting a gas hob (electric at the moment).

You will already have a gas fire on the supply and plan to have a gas hob fitted......the gas supply will need to satisfy the demand from 3 gas appliances in total. Your RGI must calculate the maximum demand of these appliances without excessive pressure loss.

Did your favoured RGI who said 15 mm is sufficient quote the lowest price? Upsizing the gas supply can add a considerable amount to the price depending on the length of run. Btw...15 mm only refers to the connection at the appliance and does not suggest that a run from the meter in 15 mm is sufficient.


Canucklehead

lifes-too-short

I suppose a more cost effective way could be to have the gas pressure meausered at the existing boiler with the gas fire running to see the mb pressure, after reading the manual i think this needs to be 20mb working? I am sure a calculation for the gas hob can be taken into account which in turn would give you the calcs.

Just a thought but in no way am I a gas engineer and will bow to superior knowledge!

Yolina

The first question is whether it's worth changing the boiler or not. New ones are more efficient but depending on how much gas you use, given replacement costs, it may well not save you enough to break even, let alone save you anything, over the life of the new boiler. I have a "vintage" 20+ year old boiler which is still working fine and which I am not getting changed unless I really have to simply because the figures don't work for me given my usage (at today's gas prices, a new one would need to last for over 30 years for me to break even!)

southcoastrgi

lifes-too-short wrote: »

I suppose a more cost effective way could be to have the gas pressure meausered at the existing boiler with the gas fire running to see the mb pressure, after reading the manual i think this needs to be 20mb working? I am sure a calculation for the gas hob can be taken into account which in turn would give you the calcs.

Just a thought but in no way am I a gas engineer and will bow to superior knowledge!

not exactly true, the min working pressure at the meter must be 19mb & the working pressure at any appliance must be within 1mb of this (or whatever the working pressure at the meter is), so sometimes (very rarely the pipe from the meter may need to be increased to 28mm) even with 22mm coming off the meter, if the working pressure at the meter is less than 19mb you need to contact your gas transporter, if the working pressure at the appliance is more than 1mb diff from the meter the appliance is at risk & should be switched off, the instructions only give the pressure the boiler will work at correctly some even go down as far as 15mb but this is against gas regs the above is what counts.

ginvzt

Yolina wrote: »

The first question is whether it's worth changing the boiler or not. New ones are more efficient but depending on how much gas you use, given replacement costs, it may well not save you enough to break even, let alone save you anything, over the life of the new boiler. I have a "vintage" 20+ year old boiler which is still working fine and which I am not getting changed unless I really have to simply because the figures don't work for me given my usage (at today's gas prices, a new one would need to last for over 30 years for me to break even!)

We were laughed at by previous owner of the house when we said we would replacing 20 year old boiler (ideal Elan II, I think). The house always felt cold (we rented the house for two years before). We got Viessmann 200 combi, and our gas consumption halved over the first 12 months. The house is much warmer (we had 14 degrees in the kitchen over winter before change!), our gas consumption dropped a lot, we have enough hot water pressure for shower upstairs, and someone running sink downstairs or a dishwasher. So, yes, it cost us money, but I think the savings and comfort are worth it.

Oh, and we got a new gas supply put in for the boiler to make sure the supply is sufficient. We were told that 15mm would not be sufficient for gas hob, gas fire (we got rid of it soon after) and the boiler. I thin we paid in total £2800.