Gas Boiler + 7 Radiators for £699?

ChuckleVision_2

Thanks. What boiler would you recommend for a 3 bed house - not sure what power we need.

EliteHeat

ChuckleVision wrote: »

Thanks. What boiler would you recommend for a 3 bed house - not sure what power we need.

With a combi boiler it's all about how much hot water you want or need. It is nothing to do with the central heating aspect. The smallest combi boiler can easily cope with double the radiators that you are planning on installing.

The first thing you must do is to measure the flow rate from your rising main. Ideally, this should be at least 20 litres per minute. This is easily done with a stopwatch and bucket.

Hopefully it is fairly obvious that the more powerful the boiler, the more gas it will use and the higher the volume of instantaneous hot water it can produce. If you want a really good shower and a bath that fills reasonably quickly then go for the biggest that you can afford.

I would not recommend that you go for a boiler with a rated output of less than 30kW - it will struggle in the winter to heat the water up.

If it were me, and assuming for the moment that I would want to install a combi, then I would go for a Vaillant - an 831 or 837 if you can stretch to it. Better yet a 937 but you won't get one from Ultimate. Having said that, I install a huge number of Baxi/Potterton/Main combis with no problems at all. These are known as Sedbuk "B" rated machines as they are based on older, non-condensing technology and have been adapted to meet the new building regulations.

The Vaillants, Worcester Boches and most Glow Worms are all "A" rated appliances, meaning that they are a totally new design.

The "A" rated boilers are slightly more efficient than the "B" rated ones, but to be honest in most situations it won't make any difference.

When planning your installation, be aware of building regs that apply to you. In your case this means:-

• The provision of an interlock - an arrangement of controls that positively fires or shuts down the boiler in response to a demand for heat - normally satisfied by a programmable room thermotat
• Thermostatic radiator valves on all rads except one the one closest to the room thermostat.

If you are planning to do the wet work yourself then it would be best to get the agreement of a Corgi bod before you start. You are not allowed to do any of the following:-

• Install the boiler hanging bracket
• Install or mount the boiler
• Install the flue
• Install the condensate waste system (it's part of the flue)
• Install any part of the gas pipe-work - even if it isn't connected at either end

I have no idea of how much experience you have, but get ready for a lot of disruption and a fair bit of effing and blinding.

ChuckleVision_2

Thanks for the information - very interesting.

No - I have decided to leave the wet work well alone

I'm just gonna get the radiators on the walls, cut planks out of the chipboad floors ready for the pipes to be laid. I've already cleared away the carpets.

I can't see any Vaillant boilers on the MrCentralHeating site, but there is a couple of Glowworm ones. Basically we are putting in the central heating in order to sell the house - so as we are only going to live there for under a year I probably won't get a super duper one.

I suppose the Glowworm Betacom 30 (or Glowworm 30 CXI ) is ok, with radiators £699 + £240 (£310) = £939 (£1009) all in.

EliteHeat

Ultimate do do both Vaillants and Wocester Boshes but just don't advertise them heavily either on their website or A3 flyers. Just give them a ring for a price.

I have looked at the Betacoms but didn't fancy them for some reason - daft I know.

The Glow Worm CXI range is a nice boiler and the GW Flexicom will fit inside a standard kitchen cupboard - the only condensing combi that will I believe. Remember that GW and Vaillant are the same company but GW's are significantly cheaper.

ChuckleVision_2

EliteHeat wrote: »

The Glow Worm CXI range is a nice boiler and the GW Flexicom will fit inside a standard kitchen cupboard - the only condensing combi that will I believe. Remember that GW and Vaillant are the same company but GW's are significantly cheaper.

Thanks EliteHeat. Great help. I'll probably go for the glow worm CXI then (it will be going in the cupboard in the midle of the house (where our electric hot water tank currently is). I'll give them a ring for the valliant price though to see the difference.

Canucklehead

ChuckleVision wrote: »

Thanks EliteHeat. Great help. I'll probably go for the glow worm CXI then (it will be going in the cupboard in the midle of the house (where our electric hot water tank currently is). I'll give them a ring for the valliant price though to see the difference.

Good evening: My OH has installed several Glow-worm Flexicoms in the past year.... it does fits nicely in a kitchen cupboard, has a decent flow rate, is value for money, and has 2 year warranty....it is a bit noisier than a Vaillant it must be said.
http://www.glow-worm.co.uk/catalogsitelet/product_detail.asp?idProduit=flexicomcx2 Glow-worm also has a new range out called the Ultracom but OH hasn't tried one yet!

Good luck.

Canucklehead

EliteHeat

Canucklehead wrote: »

Glow-worm also has a new range out called the Ultracom but OH hasn't tried one yet!

I've not heard of those - got a link?

Canucklehead

Good evening: OH picked up an info pack at PTS at the end of May...no details on Glow-worm site at the moment but if you call them they will post an installer pack. The Ultracom is now listed on the Energysmart site and appears on several online boiler sales sites. http://www.energy-smart.org/installers/default.asp

HTH

Canucklehead

Canucklehead

EliteHeat wrote: »

I've not heard of those - got a link?

Any joy on the Ultracom info? :think:

Canucklehead

EliteHeat

Canucklehead wrote: »

Any joy on the Ultracom info? :think:

Canucklehead

Can't find anything out about them.