New Boiler - which type?

redrabbit29

My boiler is really old and no longer made. The parts are, however it's quite often drips water and I believe it is close to breaking down.

I have a tank in the loft, a big drum thing in the airing cupboard and the boiler unit in kitchen.

I think maybe a combi is most effecient? Plus if get more room in loft and cupboard. Any advice on this?

Also I plan on re doing bathroom at some point and want a really strong power shower. Is this dependent on what type of set up I get?

I'm arranging for SWALE HEATING to come and do a quote.

Also my house is 2 bedroom, with me and GF living here. Both work full time and NOT eligible for any grant

I_have_spoken

The house I bought has been converted to rely totally on the combi. So header and expansion tanks taken out of loft, cylinder removed from airing cupboard and the shower is mains pressure, heated on demand by the combi.

It's all fine, but your eggs are in one basket - no HW and no CH of the combi fails.

NB, when fitting a combi, expect some hassle in arranging for the flue and condensate pipe fitting due to regs about flue and opening window separation.

Also, if retro-fitting to an existing system lot of suppliers won't guarantee the boiler unless a power-flush is done and you probably ought to fit a 'magnaclean' type unit to catch corrosion coming off the rads.

I_have_spoken

Is it good pressure from the shower?

Yes, but it'll get cooler if someone runs the hot tap in kitchen

Does it seem effecient?

My bill is less than average for a three bed, but no kiddies in the house. I do use a programmable roomstat (Digistat RF3+) to optimise the CH.

EssexExile

I_have_spoken wrote: »

NB, when fitting a combi, expect some hassle in arranging for the flue and condensate pipe fitting due to regs about flue and opening window separation.

Any new boiler, combi or not, will need a condensate pipe & the flue position will need to meet regulations.

redrabbit29

I'm a bit worried about the cost as we have £0 in savings, however financially we are OK as we were just about to start saving up some money. If we do a loan we can easily pay it off.

Just hope it's less than £3000. From what I've read, average seems to be about £2500.

daveyjp

You can't use a power shower with a combi, so you will need to keep the water tank system. It does mean the boiler can be less powerful so you should save money on the boiler cost.

redrabbit29

Is a water tank system more susceptible to issues though? My dad has a combi and he has a very powerful shower. Not doubting what you say, but just asking for confirmation.

I currently have an electric shower.

I think I would go with the best system, the shower comes second.

Effeciency, reliability comes first.

mrsjaw

I'm no expert but we use a combi boiler every day to shower and it really is a good powerful shower!

I_have_spoken

Your options are -

1) Combi boiler and rely on mains water pressure to create a decent shower, with a combi that can heat the water on demand. YOu can't run two showers from this, and turning on the HW tap in kitchen may cause the shower to cool.

2) System boiler with hot-water cylinder from which you draw off the HW, using a pumped shower unit to get a decent flow. Downside is you need to have set the timer to heat water in the tank in advance of your shower. If plumbed correctly, running other taps won't affect the shower.

daveyjp

redrabbit29 wrote: »

Is a water tank system more susceptible to issues though? My dad has a combi and he has a very powerful shower. Not doubting what you say, but just asking for confirmation.

I currently have an electric shower.

I think I would go with the best system, the shower comes second.

Effeciency, reliability comes first.

Hot water flow on a combi is down to mains cold water pressure and matching a boiler to the mains pressure.

No point having a 15l of how water a minute boiler if mains pressure is only 9l a minute. Similarly if you have 15l a minute mains and fit a 9l a minute boiler the mains water pressure through the boiler will have to be reduced, otherwise it won't get hot.

sparky260500

All the people on here that say you get a powerful shower from a combi, have not tried a power shower. There is really no comparison. also most shower are thermostatic so opening another tap will not make the shower to go colder it will just reduce flow