are new oil boilers cheaper to run

gamston

hi folks
I've got an old oil boiler running our central heating and hot water,
its been in around 15 years, and never been serviced, so think it must be due one soon
last couple of loads of oil have run out quite quickly, it has been colder so there could be a good reason
I've looked at the price of getting someone in to service boiler, and wonder if money would be better put towards getting a new oil boiler
are the new oil boilers cheaper to run, our is a large one think is an 80-120 model feeding 15 rads and hot water
just having a look at ebay, wonder if it would be just as good if I good a new burner complete and bolted that in the old boiler casting
any suggestions please

macman

A modern boiler will certainly be more efficient. But it will still take you many years to recoup the capital investment.
If your existing boiler is still working OK then it would be more cost-effective to upgrade the controls; TRV's, programmers etc.

G_M

I agree with macman but with a caveat:

it depends how many years life the current boiler has!

It may last another 15 years, so saving you several £000 replacement cost (even though a new one will use less fuel).

But a good sevice/clean could also improve performance.

edit: do you have a CO detector? Wise have one, but especially if you do not service regularly!

SailorSam

When we got our last gas boiler changed it was only about 7/8yrs old and the parts weren't available any more, the engineer said that wasn't unusual and that was the usual lifespam. I told him the one in our previous house was about 25/30yrs old and worked fine, he said the older ones were less complicated and would run for ever. So it seems to say keep your old one for as long as you can.

gamston

thanks for the replies
think I will look round to see if there are any local service guys and have it serviced

G_M

http://www.oftec.co.uk/Consumers/FindTechnician

reeac

gamston wrote: »

hi folks
I've got an old oil boiler running our central heating and hot water,
its been in around 15 years, and never been serviced, so think it must be due one soon
last couple of loads of oil have run out quite quickly, it has been colder so there could be a good reason
I've looked at the price of getting someone in to service boiler, and wonder if money would be better put towards getting a new oil boiler
are the new oil boilers cheaper to run, our is a large one think is an 80-120 model feeding 15 rads and hot water
just having a look at ebay, wonder if it would be just as good if I good a new burner complete and bolted that in the old boiler casting
any suggestions please

We get our 16 year-old oil boiler serviced annually at a cost of £55-60 so it's not big money compared with ca. £1000p.a. for fuel. Of course, if yours hasn't been serviced for 15 years then you might well face a bigger bill but if it's actually running OK then it's worth getting it serviced.

gamston

thanks all
was told services are about £150 + parts so thought that was high
now looking into getting someone round to service it

reeac

gamston wrote: »

thanks all
was told services are about £150 + parts so thought that was high
now looking into getting someone round to service it

I chose our service man by phoning the boiler manufacturer [Thermecon] who are local [10 miles away] and asking about servicing. They recommended a former employee who had gone self-employed. That was 15 years ago and we're still with him.

kkgree1

I had our oil boiler serviced last Friday - total was just over £90 but that included a new nozzle.

Our boiler is 9 years old but our servicer has warned us that it will need replacing in the next 5 years. It's a "Grandee" which apparently were cheap and not built to last.

At least we know so we can put money aside for when it eventually gives up!

bobmedley

"just having a look at ebay, wonder if it would be just as good if I good a new burner complete and bolted that in the old boiler casting any suggestions please"

A new burner could be a good idea (in old boilers they are all pretty standard e.g. Sterling burners) so you shouldn't have issues finding the appropriate one. They cost from around £250 upwards.

Non-condensing oil boilers are incredibly simple - generally just the burner, a thermostat and a water jacket with some baffles in the combustion chamber.

This usually means that the only problem that would condemn it would be a corroded and leaking water jacket, everything else is replaceable.

If you do want to swap it out, it would have to be a new condensing boiler & you can just Google for the potential problems there.

I pay £96 for an annual service with Team Energy.