To keep my old Glow Worm boiler?l

JoHo7

Advice needed about an old boiler Glow Worm Space Saver 38.
Please could anyone advice. I have a 36 y.o. Glow Worm Space Saver 38. I have had it for the last 6 years when bought my current house. I serviced it for two years but then stopped servicing on fear that it could be condemned just for being old an inefficient or no spare parts. I did not have any problems with it and it works at the moment. I also don't use it much, only in freezing temperatures for 1 hour twice a day. I would be very happy to keep it until it dies as in my previous house with a modern boiler i had nothing but trouble repairing it.
Please advice how safe it is to use it unserviced. Could it ever explode? - this is my major fear as i heard of cases of boilers blowing up and killing people. Could it explode if the water in the system runs out? Or there is a shut down mechanism for this case? Is this mechanism likely to fail? Could it explode under any circumstance at all or will it just safely shut itself down eventually if left unserviced.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

AndyPK

I wouldn't worry about it exploding

wavelets

I'm more concerned about the OP themself.

Someone, obviously is significant distress, who elected to join MSE and a wet & windy Autumnal Saturday night at 10:24pm to ask for clarification on the alarming thoughts they were having, only to immediately disappear, never to be heard of since.

I do hope the OP is ok.

Mister_G

JoHo7 wrote: »

Advice needed about an old boiler Glow Worm Space Saver 38.
Please could anyone advice. I have a 36 y.o. Glow Worm Space Saver 38. I have had it for the last 6 years when bought my current house. I serviced it for two years but then stopped servicing on fear that it could be condemned just for being old an inefficient or no spare parts. I did not have any problems with it and it works at the moment. I also don't use it much, only in freezing temperatures for 1 hour twice a day. I would be very happy to keep it until it dies as in my previous house with a modern boiler i had nothing but trouble repairing it.
Please advice how safe it is to use it unserviced. Could it ever explode? - this is my major fear as i heard of cases of boilers blowing up and killing people. Could it explode if the water in the system runs out? Or there is a shut down mechanism for this case? Is this mechanism likely to fail? Could it explode under any circumstance at all or will it just safely shut itself down eventually if left unserviced.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Well, I have a 35 year old Baxi Bermuda Back Boiler. I do get it serviced by an Gas Safe RGI every year (very simple) and parts are still available for it.

It's probably only 60% efficient, but it's a very simple design (like your Glow Worm - I had one of those in a previous house). My advice would be to get it serviced by an RGI. He will tell you whether or not it is still safe to use, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be.

I'm certainly carrying on with my Baxi until it dies, because changing it out is going to require a major replumb. I also know, from experience, that the modern condensing boilers do not last anywhere near as long.

LadyDee

If you are really concerned about the boiler, there are various government initiatives and grants available to replace old, inefficient boilers. Check with your local Council and look up Happy Energy Grants.

matelodave

what has suddenly caused this outbreak of angst - has the boiler died or have you been reading something somewhere.

If it's still working then it's probably a good idea to get it serviced. There's hardly anything to go wrong in a boiler of that age as there's only a gas valve, burner and thermostat. None of which are expensive and are probably still available (even second hand).

It will cost you at least £2k to get it swapped out for one that is probably a bit more efficient. However it will probably take between 10-15 years to recoup the outlay in reduced gas bills and will be less reliable and cost you more in spares & servicing.

My advice would be to wait until it has finally died before changing it

ariba10

Newer is not is not always better.

If it’s not giving you problems I would leave well alone.

bris

Getting it serviced could save your life. It's not about it blowing up but at some point it's going to need the heat exchanger cleaned and seals (among other things) checked before it becomes dangerous.

spot1034

I have a Glow Worm which is 28 years old - it's a Fuelsaver Mk II - which I have serviced every year by the same plumber/heating engineer. Apart from this, it has never needed any attention. He has told me that 'the gas board' would have condemned it years ago, but in fact there is no reason not to keep it as most of the parts that might be needed in the event of a breakdown are still available.


You just need to find someone like this who is always in demand and therefore doesn't need to try to persuade customers to have work done that isn't strictly necessary.

JoHo7

Thank you for reassuring me Andy. But boilers do explode although rare. I wonder what causes them to do so?

JoHo7

wavelets wrote: »

I'm more concerned about the OP themself.

Someone, obviously is significant distress, who elected to join MSE and a wet & windy Autumnal Saturday night at 10:24pm to ask for clarification on the alarming thoughts they were having, only to immediately disappear, never to be heard of since.

I do hope the OP is ok.

It's very nice of you to be concerned! Yes we both are still ok (myself and the boiler )
I wonder if anyone else still have Glow Worm Space Saver 38 or am i the last one?