Whole new heating/hot water system for my house (see pics)

[Deleted User]

We have a purchase going through on our forever home yay!

The vendor told us already that the heating/hot water system needs replacing. Radiators are blocked and at least two don't work. Hardly surprising given the house was built in 1970s and is to be expected I guess.

The house generally needs modernising and it's an unusual one as the living arrangements are basically on one floor so bungalow style but there are stairs down to the garage/utility from the hall or you can also go up to the house from the garage.

Given that Autumn will be heading upon us when we move. Our priorities is to work out where we want to knock walls out (likely to be dining/kitchen and then make the bedroom 3 into a main bathroom and the ensure and master bedroom bigger with dressing area so losing a bedroom). We need to do this so we can work out pipes/radiators even if we don't actually replace both bathrooms initially and then we need to sort out a whole new heating and hot water system, move radiators etc.

The old boiler is currently housed in the garage and the hot water tank is in the storage cupboard in the hall. We currently have in our current property a very efficient condensing boiler but kept the water tank. Whilst it is energy efficient it frustrates me that sometimes we can use a whole tank of water when we have a bath each (we do like a big bath as we have a jacuzzi) and then there is no water!

My parents are dead against combi boilers and 'they are only for small houses and can no way heat a big house' (their words not mine)!

So, this is a forever home. We want something that will last and be really high energy efficiency. Let's face it the more we invest now hopefully the cheaper the bills will be and heating is one of the most expensive things.

So, can anyone make any suggestions? Is there any particular systems that are better than others? I've enclosed a picture of the house and plan.

[Deleted User]

Hoploz

I'm in a similar position - we plan to do an extension and want to renovate our heating and water system at the same time as old extensions have meant the system is all over the place.

My plumber is going to sit and do a plan for us when we are ready. He agrees that a combi is only for a small property. He has suggested we get a megaflo type hot water system which takes the mains feed and pumps it around the house (we will end up with four bathrooms all nowhere near each other) This, I'm told, will store plenty of hot water for peak times, more efficiently than our current header tank/cylinder systems. We will reduce our current 2 boilers to one and use this to run the radiators as well as the megaflo hot water.

This is my understanding so far, although it hasn't been properly planned out yet, so I haven't gone into it in depth. I'm now considering adding air conditioning, so wondering whether a different system altogether might be worthwhile.

Waterlily24

We have quite a large 4 bedroomed 3 reception room house with three bathrooms and have no problems with the heating at all. It heats up very quickly too. We hardly ever have baths at the same time though.


Meant to say it's a chalet bungalow.

nofoollikeold

The issue with combination boilers is not their ability to heat a house (of any size compatible with the size of the boiler) but to provide sufficient hot water, particularly if two or more outlets are in use at one time.

You could look at fitting an unvented hot water cylinder, but for this you would need adequate dynamic pressure (I'd look for a minimum of 2 bar) and flow rate (I'd look for 20 litres per minute, preferably 25 or 30). You might well find this could be fitted in the garage, as it affords the hot water mains pressure.

No matter what system you fit, your greatest gains will come from fitting high levels of insulation to the loft (if not already there) and you might consider insulating the ceilings of the garage and utility to reduce downward heat loss.

MX5huggy

If you want a combi boiler you can get a big floor mounted on such as the Worcester Bosch 440 and 550 CDi models. Most combi boilers easily heat the house because they have to have more power to heat the water instantly than required to heat the house. But a small to medium combi could take too long to fill a large bath. And really struggles if 2 draw off are on at the same time.

So as said if you have the pressure an unvented (Megaflow being on brand) cylinder could be the best solution.

Running out of hot water with your current setup seems like you need to adjust the running times of the boiler. If the boiler is on as the first bath is taken then it should have gone along way to heating the cylinder back up by the end of the second.

fezster

As said, a combi will heat a house in exactly the same way as a conventional boiler. It's only the hot water which differs. A combi heats water on demand, which means it is limited in how much hot water it can deliver. You can get very large combis which will deliver to 2 outlets, but if you have a large rain head shower, it is unlikely you could run that and another shower simultaneously.

With an unvented cylinder, the water is stored, and you can get varying sizes of cylinder depending on your requirement. You must ensure your incoming mains pressure and flow are adequate. Get a professional in to measure and recommend a suitable system.

[Deleted User]

Thanks!

I'd read slot more about combination boilers and am steering away from them now and thinking a similar system to what we have in our current property is going to be better for a large house. We downtime our airing cupboard too and dry washing in it.

Once we get the keys we will have to get professionals in and then see what they come up with. The vendor also said the loft needs insulating as it needed more and not only that all the windows need replacing. Old wooden windows and fascias in a bad way. This will be another job and the long process of finding a reliable installer.....

getmore4less

You will have the space just get a bigger hot water tank and run the boiler longer when using lots of water.

Get the tank down with the boiler in the garage free up the space in the living are.

Hoploz

If the tank is down in the garage then I think you'd need to have one of these new systems rather than a traditional hot water cylinder with header tank - best if the copper cylinder on old fashioned system is not two storeys below

lstar337

Also, if you are getting a tank then you might want to think about a PV solar array with power diversion switch to send excess generation to a immersion heating element.