Oil boiler replacement advice

beezkneez

Hi

We need a new boiler, it’s bad timing as everywhere is shut and cannot advise me

I have spoken to our usual heating engineer but just need some additional advice

We are oil only as have no gas supply and are planning on replacing our grant boiler with another grant one

To save future hassles with a Combi boiler we are have bought a cyclinder tank that needs fitting too. We are aiming to use the boiler to heat the water to store in the cylinder tank but will have the option to by pass that with an immersion if the boiler fails 

We are planning on getting a grant vortex pro 26/36 but there seems to be a couple of different ones

Does anyone know there difference between the grant vortex pro heat only and the grant vortex pro system?

Grant are shut til 4/1 so I can’t ask then and I need to buy one ready to be fitted

Thanks

fenwick458

https://hasslefreeboilers.com/whats-difference-system-heat-boiler/

Rodders53

https://www.grantuk.com/products/oil-fired-boilers/vortex-pro-internal/

Download and read the brochure.  It's all in there.

Pro Heat only models are for open/unvented heating systems (but they do kits to make them sealed).
Pro System have the pressure vessel, gauge etc.,. factory fitted for sealed heating system.

Is it sensible to buy the items to be fitted yourself?  It may be better to get an OFTEC installer to supply and fit for guarantees and to ensure all the correct necessary parts are supplied.  (Flue?)

Perhaps consider the Blu versions? 10 year vs 5 year warranty from Grant?  Ideally seek the advice from a reputable / your favoured Oftec installer / service person?

canaldumidi

Get your 'usual heating engineer' to supply and fit. If you buy it yourself and there are any issues, you end up with "It's not my fault it's a problem with the boiler"; "But you fitted it." ; "Yes but you bought the boiler"......

And of course get another identical supply/fit quote for comparison.

https://www.oftec.org/consumers/find-an-oftec-registered-technician

beezkneez

Hi

Thanks for you replies

We will be getting someone to fit it, I think I may have made it sound like we weren’t

Oil engineers are very rare in the area we live and we’ve been let down by most of the ones we’ve used so we have to do the research ourselves so we know where we are heading. We’ve spent most of the year without hot water as have had to wait weeks between visits and for parts 

We now have a hot water system fitted so have started the new year with hot water😄

Does anyone know if the Pro version will be more reliable than the Eco? I think they are using the term ‘Eco’  as it has more cost effective parts/ casing rather that Eco meaning it’s more economical to run

Unfortunately the nearest G1 engineer is 60 miles away and doesn’t seem keen to on the 120 miles round trip travel to us to allow us the option of the extended 5/10 year warranty. Bit of a nightmare but our last grant boiler has lasted 10 years so we are hoping the separate systems with be less hassle

ispookie666

We replaced a 40ish year old oil boiler with a Firebird Heat only boiler 18Kw (for a four bedroom house)   
You need  far less heat output boiler when moving from a Combi to heat only system. 
 
Do you have a tank in the loft?  If not, then I guess System boiler would be your option.  If yes, then you can have either. 

Were you planning to install the Hot water cylinder next to the boiler ?  

beezkneez

ispookie666 said:

We replaced a 40ish year old oil boiler with a Firebird Heat only boiler 18Kw (for a four bedroom house)   
You need  far less heat output boiler when moving from a Combi to heat only system. 
 
Do you have a tank in the loft?  If not, then I guess System boiler would be your option.  If yes, then you can have either. 

Were you planning to install the Hot water cylinder next to the boiler ?  

We’ve just  had a water tank fitted literally 2 days ago, it an 200 litre unvented Indirect one. At the moment we are using electric to heat the water but the aim is that we can attach it to the new boiler and that will heat the water and if the boiler fails we can by pass it and heat with electric again

We’ve had a firebird in the past but replaced with a Grant. Because we’re building an extension we were going to get a a bigger boiler so 26/36 but maybe we don’t need one that big? 

I wish our boilers lasted 40 years! 

nofoollikeold

1. The right way to start is to work out what size of boiler you need.  This is based on:
1a. A heat loss calculation for your property. There are various ones on-line.  The more questions you have to answer, the more accurate it is likely to be.  
1b. The power (kW) required to heat your hot water.  This should be on the web site of the supplier of your new cylinder.
1c. The power you need is the sum of the two.  However, if you arrange to have the central heating and water heating on at different times, not difficult with modern, well insulated cylinders, then you can use the larger of the two figures.
1d. Add 10 to 20% to the calculated size to allow for extensions, harsh winters etc and get a boiler that size.  If there isn't one that size, go next size up.  
2. My preference is for a heat only boiler fitted to a sealed CH system.  This way:
2a. The boiler itself is as uncomplicated as it can be.
2b. Ancillaries like pump, motorised valves thermostats etc can be chosen by you.  When they fail you can buy them from anywhere, not just from the boiler manufacturer.

ispookie666

@beezkneez
A good heating engineer would be able to size your oil boiler up.  As @nofoollikeold mentioned heat loss would be a good place to start (a rough guide would be to look at EPC rating) 

The Myson was working okish but was very thirsty, cannot complain about the age. 

If you have TRV's and Programmable TRV with smart home thermostat, you probably do not need a higher output boiler as the oil boilers are not modulating (like the gas boilers) and can result in frequent cycling.  

When I ran the math/model of having the ECo vs Bluesupreme for Firebird, there was no way to breakeven for the difference is cost(which was around 2k).  

canaldumidi

beezkneez said:

Hi

Thanks for you replies

We will be getting someone to fit it, I think I may have made it sound like we weren’t

No- I was clear that you intended to get someone to fit it. But my understanding was that you intended to buy the boiler, then get an installer to fit it. If I misunderstood - apologies. My advice was to get your installer to supply and fit.

ispookie666

+1 
My heating engineer was very clear, to get 10 years warranty - he had to supply, fit and yearly servicing.