Replacing an old gas boiler......if not now , then when??

[Deleted User]

5k? Oh my word. I had my elderly relations swapped out for £1800 only a couple of years ago (just boiler swap)

When my Biasi finally croaks, if it's in the middle of winter, i have 2 gas fires to fall back on, plus an electric convector heater to tide me over. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Bozo the Bozarian seems to forget the last part...

What matelodave said tbh.

boliston

i would always try and keep something going as long as possible rather than replace - the block i live in had all flats fitted with baxi 105e boilers and after 16 years i was the only tenant with the original boiler even though it was on 'borrowed time' for about the last 5 years - i have just 'bitten the bullet' and swapped it for a baxi 800 but i was very reluctant to swap it

jimjames

Mister_G said:

There's no expensive unreliable PCB to go wrong.  It may only be 65% efficient, but certainly not worth replacing until it becomes unrepairable.

That was my thinking. When we moved in 20 years ago the boiler was nearly 20 years old. It lasted another 18 years and was replaced in 2019 for approx £2k. I suspect if it had been replaced the replacement wouldn't have lasted 20 years.

QrizB

jimjames said:

Mister_G said:

There's no expensive unreliable PCB to go wrong.  It may only be 65% efficient, but certainly not worth replacing until it becomes unrepairable.

That was my thinking. When we moved in 20 years ago the boiler was nearly 20 years old. It lasted another 18 years and was replaced in 2019 for approx £2k. I suspect if it had been replaced the replacement wouldn't have lasted 20 years.

OTOH my Worcester Bosch was fitted in 2005-ish and has had nothing replaced in 16 years. I've had to clean the condensate trap three(?) times but that's all.

Armengar

boliston said:

i would always try and keep something going as long as possible rather than replace - the block i live in had all flats fitted with baxi 105e boilers and after 16 years i was the only tenant with the original boiler even though it was on 'borrowed time' for about the last 5 years - i have just 'bitten the bullet' and swapped it for a baxi 800 but i was very reluctant to swap it

good old 105, swap the expansion vessel for an external one and all you need to do is change the diaphragm every other year and they are good bullet proof.  Ive worked on many of those over the years.

[Deleted User]

As Armengar said, Or get rid of the expansion vessel altogether, cos they are a totally crap idea, and change it to gravity fed.

C_Mababejive

My boiler is just over 40 years old and im not bothered

calleyw

QrizB said:

jimjames said:

Mister_G said:

There's no expensive unreliable PCB to go wrong.  It may only be 65% efficient, but certainly not worth replacing until it becomes unrepairable.

That was my thinking. When we moved in 20 years ago the boiler was nearly 20 years old. It lasted another 18 years and was replaced in 2019 for approx £2k. I suspect if it had been replaced the replacement wouldn't have lasted 20 years.

OTOH my Worcester Bosch was fitted in 2005-ish and has had nothing replaced in 16 years. I've had to clean the condensate trap three(?) times but that's all.

You are lucky.  I had worcester bosch fitted in 2004 and had a couple of new parts in that time. The condensate trap I have had to pay someone to empty 3 might be 4 times.  So far this year I have a new pump and on another occasion a new filling loop. So that will be approx £315 spent on the thing this year alone. And its yet to be serviced.  Not that I have the money to replace it.  I have been told approx £2.5K

Doc_N

QrizB said:

jimjames said:

Mister_G said:

There's no expensive unreliable PCB to go wrong.  It may only be 65% efficient, but certainly not worth replacing until it becomes unrepairable.

That was my thinking. When we moved in 20 years ago the boiler was nearly 20 years old. It lasted another 18 years and was replaced in 2019 for approx £2k. I suspect if it had been replaced the replacement wouldn't have lasted 20 years.

OTOH my Worcester Bosch was fitted in 2005-ish and has had nothing replaced in 16 years. I've had to clean the condensate trap three(?) times but that's all.

Much the same here with a Worcester Bosch, though it has had a few quite expensive repairs in that time. A very comprehensive overhaul, complete with heat exchanger, was done a couple of years ago, and the advice of the Worcester Bosch employed engineer is that it should give several years more service. It’s 16 years old now, a condensing boiler. WB make excellent, reliable boilers, and always head the Which? reliability tables.

[Deleted User]

I have a new build WB system boiler which in 3 years has had a new heat exchanger; fan and syphon trap. I can only conclude that it was built late on a Friday afternoon. In my view there are better boilers on the market. My preference would be Atag or Intergas. Both are Dutch boilers and built to work well with Opentherm controls. Intergas boilers are favoured by many Councils and Housing Associations as they have fewer components than most boilers.

Combi boilers work well in small homes but are not suitable for homes when there are simultaneous demands for hot water. A system boiler with an unvented cylinder is a much better option.