New boiler ?

cathcrops

Hi !
Hope I've posted in the right place as I am new on here to posting !
Our gas boiler (for hot water and heating) is 16 years old and we live in a hard water area.
Boiler servicing guy has warned us that the boiler might not last too much longer, so we must consider the next step.
Does anyone have any advice as to whether we go for a new gas boiler, and what type (4 beds & 2 bathrooms) ?
Or electric boiler with a view to having solar panels to provide electric for it ?
Thanks in advance

southcoastrgi

better to re-post your thread here

Andy_WSM

cathcrops wrote: »

Does anyone have any advice as to whether we go for a new gas boiler, and what type (4 beds & 2 bathrooms) ?
Or electric boiler with a view to having solar panels to provide electric for it ?
Thanks in advance

If you have a gas supply then go for a new gas boiler. Electric heating costs approx 2.5 times the cost of gas.

Solar panels are great for providing a regular income on the FIT scheme and for running appliances during the day (or if you work from home, running your home office lighting & equipment), but no use at all for heating. Reason - when you need heat the sun is generally either not shining or too low in the sky to be useful.

I have solar, I work from home, I have Air Conditioning. My electricity bills have dropped a lot as I rarely pay for daytime electricity now and still have the luxury of AC. In the Winter though I can easily outstrip the electricity the solar provides and that's without heating on.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Agree with above!

I would also hang on to your old non-condensing boiler as long as possible; 16 years is a mere youngster - lots have 30 year old models.

Lots of threads on this subject.

victor2

Also agree with the above.
We are in a hard water area, our gas boiler, which does hot water and heating, is over 20 years old. It's serviced once a year, is simple according to the people who service it but would cost a fortune to replace with a condensing boiler. New flue, condensate drain etc. etc.

It will die one day, but until then, there is absolutely no point replacing it with one that will last maybe 10 years?

MoneyMate

victor2 wrote: »

Also agree with the above.
We are in a hard water area, our gas boiler, which does hot water and heating, is over 20 years old. It's serviced once a year, is simple according to the people who service it but would cost a fortune to replace with a condensing boiler. New flue, condensate drain etc. etc.

It will die one day, but until then, there is absolutely no point replacing it with one that will last maybe 10 years?

Great to hear your boiler is still going strong, but what about the extra cost of using it compared with the new generation of "A" Rated boilers available now surely it would be more cost effective ? :beer:

Andy_WSM

MoneyMate wrote: »

but what about the extra cost of using it compared with the new generation of "A" Rated boilers available now surely it would be more cost effective ? :beer:

Let's assume you use £150 of gas a month for 4 months through the Winter. So, £600. (I'm being very generous here!)

If you manage to achieve a 20% increase in efficiency you would save 20% of your £600, so approx £120 PER YEAR. (Remember, this is generous).

How many years would the boiler have to last to pay for itself? Assume a boiler change costs £2,500, then over 20.

I and many others on here would bet money that a modern condensing boiler will not last 20 years, i.e. It won't pay for itself in energy efficiency savings alone during it's lifetime.

ic

Bare in mind that you will rely most on heating in the cold, dark winter months - certainly early morning and late evenings. Solar panels will produce no power at the times when you're demanding the most heat - so could never pay for themselves. Perhaps for powering air con in the summer, but then you'd need to get the use to justify the outlay - most probably never will.

southcoastrgi

MoneyMate wrote: »

Great to hear your boiler is still going strong, but what about the extra cost of using it compared with the new generation of "A" Rated boilers available now surely it would be more cost effective ? :beer:

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Let's assume you use £150 of gas a month for 4 months through the Winter. So, £600. (I'm being very generous here!)

If you manage to achieve a 20% increase in efficiency you would save 20% of your £600, so approx £120 PER YEAR. (Remember, this is generous).

How many years would the boiler have to last to pay for itself? Assume a boiler change costs £2,500, then over 20.

I and many others on here would bet money that a modern condensing boiler will not last 20 years, i.e. It won't pay for itself in energy efficiency savings alone during it's lifetime.

spot on Andy

diywhynot

Old boilers are nice earners.;)

MoneyMate

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Let's assume you use £150 of gas a month for 4 months through the Winter. So, £600. (I'm being very generous here!)

If you manage to achieve a 20% increase in efficiency you would save 20% of your £600, so approx £120 PER YEAR. (Remember, this is generous).

How many years would the boiler have to last to pay for itself? Assume a boiler change costs £2,500, then over 20.

I and many others on here would bet money that a modern condensing boiler will not last 20 years, i.e. It won't pay for itself in energy efficiency savings alone during it's lifetime.

Based on a saving of 25% gas usage, the Energy Saving Trust estimates the average saving per household on energy bills after installing a new boiler to be £310. This does not take into account how much installing a new boiler will cost.

The table below illustrates just how much a modern condensing boiler could cut your gas bills by, depending on the size of your house (a boiler that's 15 years old or more is classed as 'old' in these calculations. A lightweight boiler can be attached to a wall; a heavyweight boiler is floor standing.)

Annual fuel costs with different boiler types (source: Sedbuk)
Boiler type Efficiency Semi-detached Detached
Old gas heavy weight 55% £1204 £1705
Old gas light weight 65% £1019 £1442
New non-condensing 78% £849 £1202
New condensing 89% £744 £1053