New boiler needed - Size type advice

willywinki26

Our current Ferolli Combi boiler needs replacing and i'm in need of some advise on type and size.

We have a large 4 bedroom house, 1 bath, 1 shower room and downstairs wc. 16 radiators in total. Current issues we have is the bathroom/shower room is at the other end of the house to the boiler and it can take ages for the hot water to come through. Not a major problem, but it's just waste of water :eek:

I'm clueless on this stuff. Would it better to get a a Combi if so what size? Or one the new condensing and cylinder set ups?

We are mains gas and have good water pressure.

Thanks

Typhoon2000

For a house of that size, now would be a good time to fit a system boiler and an unvented hot water cylinder.

fezster

System or heat only boiler with an unvented cylinder will allow multiple hot outlets to be used together. If the cylinder can be located closer to the bathroom, this will reduce the amount of water wasted before the outlet gets hot.

Or you could fit a secondary return to have hot water constantly circulated and available at hot outlets. Just make sure the pipes are well insulated if you go down this route.

willywinki26

Thanks Typhoon and jezster,

Sounds feasible as we still have the air cupboard on the stairs landing which used to house the old water tank before the current combi was installed.

Roughly what kind of cost do you think i'd be looking at for that set up? I've read a little about these systems, one thing i am still not clear on, would we always have continuous hot water, or does it heat a tank at a time, then need to be heated again once emptied?

Alex1983

You will only have a set amount of water stored in the unvented tank but they are very quick at reheating the water, some can reheat in as little as 20mins.

A lot of people with this set up will leave the hot water on all day and have it controlled via a cyclinder stat to keep it topped up as necessary, there also very well insulated so don’t loose heat quickly.

If you go the unvented route you will need a G3 qualified plumber to install the unvented and a gas safe person to install the boiler. Most decent gas safe people will be G3 qualified as well.

Mutton_Geoff

I've just had a new system boiler, unvented cylinder (Megaflow 250litre) and secondary return hot water pipe/pump to the most remote bathroom (main bed ensuite). This was all done as part of a complete reinstall of a very old heating system. Very pleased since I have quite high water pressure at my house and now all showers and taps work really well. With a mains cold water system, the bathroom tap water is fresh. Also worth considering a filter/descaler on the mains incoming if your water is hard. I used a Scale Stop system from Next Filtration (no salt needed). Not connected to the company, just a happy customer.

willywinki26

Thanks for that Mutton. Do you mind me asking what system boiler you had fitted and what you paid? Did it include all new radiators?

Mutton_Geoff

I chose the Worcester Bosch Greenstar 35CDi system boiler. I have a large, solid walled, poorly insulated grade 2 listed coach house (4 beds, 4 bath, kitchen and separate utility). All of upstairs radiators new, most of downstairs are refurbed existing cast iron radiators in keeping with house.


I control it all with a Tado stat.


Cost is part of a large rebuild budget, but I reckon around £6-7k but I'd have to examine the invoices to find out. Best to get quotes for your own situation since mine involved removing lots of old steel pipework from the 65 year old single pipe system.