Replacing Potterton 'Neataheat' boiler?

omnipeta

Advice please, our Potterton 'Neataheat' boiler is now 40 years old, we have never had any issues with it but feel it will not obviously last much longer.
What do people recommend we should replace it with? if indeed that is the course of action we should be following?
Any advice appreciated, thank you.

teddysmum

Ours lived for over 30 years and it was only he fact that the pump failed which caused us to change (though we had to tap a pipe to make it ignite , after the last service man said the necessary part wasn't worth replacing; some 10 years before).


We have had a WB combi and are very pleased with it, but 'they don't make them like they used to', so we don't think we'll have the same long service.

footyguy

omnipeta wrote: »

Advice please, our Potterton 'Neataheat' boiler is now 40 years old, we have never had any issues with it but feel it will not obviously last much longer.
What do people recommend we should replace it with? if indeed that is the course of action we should be following?
Any advice appreciated, thank you.

If it's not broke, don't fix it

If it is broke, get at least 3 quotes from local installers (get one from BG too if you want a laugh!), and see what each propose, why and at what cost.

vm2pensioner

Agreed. Old boiler likely to outlast new condensing types and cost less in services etc.

stevegrass777

You will find you will save a load of money in bills if you change to a new condensing boiler,I have used intergas boilers and find them very robust.
Most plumbers try and package the boiler and labour together but I prefer to buy my own boiler and get a price for the job,so many want 2k + for a two day job and want to stick you with the cheapest £550 or less boiler.

bubblegun

The British Gas engineer who last looked at my boiler said it would last for years more or I could pay a fortune to get a less reliable boiler which would be a bit more efficient - but wouldn't last as long.

The new boiler in energy efficiency terms wouldn't save me any money because it would likely need a chargeable engineer visit before the old one is likely to fail.

Therefore my decision was to keep my existing boiler until it fails and then I will look at alternative options.

stevegrass777

Well it depends how old your boiler is and if it has a piolet light,and also what new boiler you fit,I saved around £200 in my first winter quarter with my new boiler.
Some boilers like the intergas are designed for 20 years service,I have 6 and they are all older than 6 years now,I have had 1 central heating pump,1 gas valve with 1 spark generator and that is for all 6 .
I don't think that's bad,and they still look like they will last a long time to come.
Sedbuk used to have a searchable database that would compare your old boiler with your proposed new boiler to show the saving,and it was really good for this,but I can't find it now.

thozza

stevegrass777 wrote: »

Sedbuk used to have a searchable database that would compare your old boiler with your proposed new boiler to show the saving,and it was really good for this,but I can't find it now.

The old SEDBUK database is now found on the Building Energy Performance Assessment support website under Product Characteristics Database (PCDB) - Boilers, so not nearly so easy to find. This is the direct link:-

http://www.ncm-pcdb.org.uk/sap/pcdbsearch.jsp?pid=26

There are two Netaheat boilers (16bf & 22bf) under Potterton International Heating, both rated at 68% efficiency.

stevegrass777

I have looked but before you could compare your old boiler with a new one and it would give a figure you would possibly save,I think it used to be much better,you could also see all the boilers ranked together to help find the most efficient.
Don't know why they have destroyed the functionality of it.

omnipeta

Thank you all for your valuable advice, I'd like to keep my 'Neataheat' going and have a brand new 'Grundfos' pump which I purchased years ago when I thought the original had broke( friend said 'give it a tap' it's worked ever since) :-)
Problem is I believe that if it wasn't the pump then other spares are 'impossible' to find?

Cardew

The principle of 'if it ain't broke etc' still applies!

With a boiler that old, a modern boiler might save 30% - 40% as your boiler will have a pilot light which can consume a surprising amount of gas.

Also you need to get quotes for both the boiler and fitting. The regulations have changed a lot over the years and it will not be simply a case of slotting in a new boiler in place of the old boiler. There will be changes to the flue, and it might need bigger diameter gas pipes.

Some of the new boilers have a 10 year guarantee, subject to correct servicing.