Fair quote?

lostinrates

I'm hoping someone with knowledge of both oil and renewables can advise.

We are ( after a long year of renewable angst) returning to oil for heat for this winter at least, probably a few years. And probably retaining longterm as a back up to what ever else we do. On its own it only needs to be big enough for the size of the house as it is now, so we are advised that with the cylinder arrangement as planned this should be ok( though we are planning on double checking this)

We are looking at a combi oil boiler but the sort of cylinder system that future proofs for solar thermal( which we might well hook up for spring) and a gshp.

Is this quote fair? Grant vortex combi boiler 36 kw, 300 l joule buffer vessel, and 300 l twin coil hot water cylinder and 1200 l oil tank. All the fitting thereof PLUS careful dismantling of old system and putting that in my barn should the installer require its return.( that part is calculated as a day's work ). 11995 +VAT

Silent_Dancer

1) If you're installing a cylinder why install a combi? Install a heat only boiler instead and let that heat the cylinder.

2) Why do you need the buffer vessel? This is adding complexity.

3) Price seems sky high. Reckon about £5K to £7K + VAT for a heat only boiler, twin coil cylinder and new oil tank.

lostinrates

Silent_Dancer wrote: »

1) If you're installing a cylinder why install a combi? Install a heat only boiler instead and let that heat the cylinder.

2) Why do you need the buffer vessel? This is adding complexity.

3) Price seems sky high. Reckon about £5K to £7K + VAT for a heat only boiler, twin coil cylinder and new oil tank.

The buffer is to make it ready for what ever renewable system we go with for longer term provision. ( so we can decorate and complete that area of the house and not have workmen back in, its not by the boiler ). IUCN it has a bonus of being an overflow supply of hot water should we need it in times of heavy usage ( the oil boiler is not oversized fir the house with the idea its ok for now but not future development and if its back up one day it will 'feel' like back up.

I have no idea why they are saying a combi tbh, I will check.

lostinrates

Ok, the architect just said that the combi issue is because the combi will feed the kitchen and utility directly and the tanks the bathrooms and heating system. There is likely to be more bathroom demand than it would look like from that size boiler in the long run, when that boiler becomes the back up and support to other heat systems rather than the sole provider.

We're also talking about augmenting with solar thermal pipes pretty quickly, probably for the spring.

TiredGeek

Unless the boiler is very near the kitchen and the cylinder and bathrooms are a long way away then I still see no advantage of fitting a combi.
A heat only with a cylinder and a combi without, otherwise it seems to be adding complexity for very little benefit.
If you're thinking of solar thermal in the spring then I'd go for the heat only option and a big cylinder.
You could even go for a small combi near the kitchen and a seperate heating boiler for the cylinder and heating system...but that's getting complex again.

To be honest, the way systems are moving on I'd simply fit a combi now and wait a couple of years 'till you can face messing about again. The equipment that will be available will be much more advanced than now and you'll maybe find that whatever buffer / cylinder you have already fitted will be far inferior or even simply not compatible.

Decorate that bit of the house and enjoy being warm. You'll want to redecorate in a couple of years anyway

lostinrates

TiredGeek wrote: »

Unless the boiler is very near the kitchen and the cylinder and bathrooms are a long way away then I still see no advantage of fitting a combi.
A heat only with a cylinder and a combi without, otherwise it seems to be adding complexity for very little benefit.
If you're thinking of solar thermal in the spring then I'd go for the heat only option and a big cylinder.
You could even go for a small combi near the kitchen and a seperate heating boiler for the cylinder and heating system...but that's getting complex again.

To be honest, the way systems are moving on I'd simply fit a combi now and wait a couple of years 'till you can face messing about again. The equipment that will be available will be much more advanced than now and you'll maybe find that whatever buffer / cylinder you have already fitted will be far inferior or even simply not compatible.

Decorate that bit of the house and enjoy being warm. You'll want to redecorate in a couple of years anyway

The bathroom is a fairly long way from the boiler, the boiler will be next to the utility sink.:)

That however is a good point about the compatibility with advancement.

Crickets on the moon.......this is hard! :)

Thanks for helping me see the wood for the trees.




Worryingly, after the last year I feel I know less, not more about heating, as very single person says something different :rotfl:


I think we're also going to go for a bigger oil tank. While I know we hope not to use it long term, 1200l won't get us through a winter and I'd rather fill in August than in January refilling! Later in we can just half fill.

TiredGeek

lostinrates wrote: »

Worryingly, after the last year I feel I know less, not more about heating, as very single person says something different :rotfl:

LOL, tell me about it We had three years of plumbing, ripping it all out, re plumbing, ripping all that out, re plumbing, ripping all THAT out, messing with controls, replacing units that blew up in the frost......nearly put us in early graves never mind the expense.
Fortunately a couple of very clever people decided to get involved and one sorted the legal side and the other the technical, end all was we got a partial refund of our costs and then a new system which worked first time and is brilliant

There is light at the end of the tunnel.....

lostinrates

TiredGeek wrote: »

LOL, tell me about it We had three years of plumbing, ripping it all out, re plumbing, ripping all that out, re plumbing, ripping all THAT out, messing with controls, replacing units that blew up in the frost......nearly put us in early graves never mind the expense.
Fortunately a couple of very clever people decided to get involved and one sorted the legal side and the other the technical, end all was we got a partial refund of our costs and then a new system which worked first time and is brilliant

There is light at the end of the tunnel.....

Phew, not just us then? . Its been expensive getting it wrong, and impact has been significant.

Its only been a year for us, but two years with no heating. What I cannot wait for is a quick and easy run of a HOT bath in a warm bathroom. I think I might stay in there a week. :j. :rotfl: