combi boiler or not

*j*

It would help to know what your current annual gas bill is. Then some calculations can be done to see if a new boiler might make a saving over it's anticipated lifespan.

My Glowworm ultimate is about 22 years old and still working reliably. If a new boiler used 30% less gas it would make a saving of about £120-£140 a year. At that rate the new boiler would have to last at least 20 years just to cover the purchase and installation cost.

I decided to keep my old but reliable one!

Gloomendoom

dave23 wrote: »

Presumably a like for like replacement would be cheaper than installing a combi? No pipework to change, until the Potterton actually dies I won't replace it just to save money on the gas bill but I want to explore options now. We have a service contract with BG and they have said it is now on
limited parts.

BG ended the service plan on my early 1970's boiler in 1999 for the same reason. 17 years later I'm still using the same boiler.
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.
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Chrishazle

Our daughter has a combi boiler, and when her hubby is spending too long in the shower, she turns the hot tap on in the kitchen - the shower goes cold and hubby jumps out of the shower!!

We've just had to change our 13 year old Baxi conventional boiler due to a hole in the firebox, parts no longer available. We were 17 days without CH as a result, so having the hot tank and immersion heater meant we still had hot water, the wood burner and electric heaters covered the rest. Had a condensing boiler and filter installed and the system flushed, all seems good so far! Personally I would not touch a combi boiler, much prefer a conventional hot water system with a decent sized hot water tank.

merrydance

We have a glo worm combi, this has broken down a couple of times in the past 2 years. Just thank our lucky stars we have an electric shower, so we can at least keep clean when it does.

MrWillyWonka

We have a 24 year old combi boiler, Worcester brand and it is brilliant considering its age. We will be replacing when we have a new kitchen next year. We've had a modern combi boiler at our previous house and I will always prefer a combi as you never run out of hot water.

If there is only two of you, then a combi will be perfect. It is only an issue if you have a large family who will use 2 bathrooms at the same time all the time but even then, a bigger boiler will fix that.

wildmandy

combi, Combi, COMBI.

Did I say "combi"?

No contest, go for combi!

[Deleted User]

My boiler I think is the original that came with the house 30 years ago. It still works with minimal servicing (touch wood) and our gas bill is under £500 a year so must be efficient enough.
If it ain't broke don't fix it There will always be something else to spend money on. The odd time when our boiler has failed, the hot water tank and Emerson heater have been a godsend.

dave23

Yes the dilema is if it is still working why change it. Current use is around 14000 kWh

greenbee

Why not just replace the current conventional boiler with a condensing system boiler? More efficient but still giving you the hot water tank and stored hot water.

*j*

dave23 wrote: »

Yes the dilema is if it is still working why change it. Current use is around 14000 kWh

At that usage "if" a new boiler gave you a 30% saving as some suggest you would be "saving" less than about £140 a year...... but you would have spent how much on the new boiler??