Old oil boiler replacement

Annie1612

Hi
I am buying a house - small detached bungalow - which has oil central heating. I have no experience of using oil, only gas. Went for a second viewing today and it struck me how old the boiler looked. It was pretty ancient. The elderly owner has lived in the house for about 30 years so may be older than that (certainly looked it). I think the brand was green star. When I commented on it the estate agent went on about how oil boilers last for decades but I’m aware they won’t be very efficient or economical if older. I am used to fairly small heating bills so this worries me a little!

It is sited in the kitchen which I want to extend and renovate anyway so it would need moving. I also have plans to extend the downstairs and put a bathroom in the loft room. This will probably be a year or two in the future. 

Question is : do I just leave the boiler for now and hope it isn’t too expensive to run (noted that the owner had a couple of electric heaters about) or have a new one fitted and move it into the garage before extending. Or incorporate the replacement in with extending… or even look at an air source heat pump instead. Heat pump will probably have to incorporate insulation as there is no cavity wall insulation so might not be doable?? (To be fair, I would prefer to not be on oil and to have the heat pump but don’t know how efficient it would be in this particular house - sixties pebble-dash bungalow until it’s investigated). 

tacpot12

The fact that the bungalow is detached means that it will be easier to properly insulate. You are planning to extend the bungalow, and do work in the loft, so it may be better to install a new roof that can cover a thick layer of insulation fitted to the outside walls of the house -  external insulation projects often have problems because the roof doesn't overhang the thicker walls by the correct amount. The outside can be rendered or pebbledashed if you like the look.

Under the circumstances I think you have to stick with the oil boiler while getting you plans and finances into place to overhaul the property. Investment in insulation will save you money whether or not you get as far as fitting a heat pump.  

Annie1612

tacpot12 said:

The fact that the bungalow is detached means that it will be easier to properly insulate. You are planning to extend the bungalow, and do work in the loft, so it may be better to install a new roof that can cover a thick layer of insulation fitted to the outside walls of the house -  external insulation projects often have problems because the roof doesn't overhang the thicker walls by the correct amount. The outside can be rendered or pebbledashed if you like the look.

Under the circumstances I think you have to stick with the oil boiler while getting you plans and finances into place to overhaul the property. Investment in insulation will save you money whether or not you get as far as fitting a heat pump.  

Thank you - that is helpful information. I don’t think I want to rush in to replacing the boiler if I don’t have to but at the same time I don’t want heating bills to eat into my savings in the long term. From the first viewing I had a memory of the owner telling me it was a brand new boiler so I thought “great I can use that for the time being and move over to a heat pump system at some distant point in the future” but my memory was obviously wrong, and now I’m fretting about it a bit.

lohr500

If it is Green Star, then the chances are it's a Worcester Greenstar which is good news. 
Without knowing the model, it does look as though that range of Worcester oil boilers are of a condensing design.

https://www.homeheatingguide.co.uk/efficiency-tables?make=Worcester

Condensing boilers are more efficient than the older designs they replaced. So until you decide what to do in the longer term, you can at least rest easy that the existing boiler should be pretty efficient.

Don't be fooled by the looks. Even the newest oil boilers look like antiques compared to modern wall mounted gas boilers.

Longer term you have a few choices. 

If you decide to stick with oil, as well as looking to locate any new boiler in the garage, you could consider an external boiler which would leave you more space in the garage.

A heat pump is also well worth considering particularly if you are making lots of changes to the layout. Typically heat pumps need higher output central heating radiators compared to oil as the water flows at a lower temperature. The radiators don't necessarily have to be physically larger than the existing ones, just better designed.

Improving the insulation is just as important if you stick with oil rather than going down the heat pump route. The more heat you can keep in the property, the cheaper it will be to heat. 

I agree with tacpot12. Stick with the existing boiler for now, especially if it is a more recent condensing design.

But when planning your extensions and modifications make sure to involve a reputable heating design engineer to help design and build in the best future proof options whilst a lot of building work is taking place anyway.

Reed_Richards

I replaced an oil boiler with an air source heat pump.  I think you will find that if your oil boiler has decent efficiency it will have a similar running cost to a heat pump.  The heat pump might do a bit better but there won't be a huge difference unless the oil boiler you inherit is very inefficient.

What this means is that either your new bungalow will be suitable for a heat pump or  your heating costs will be huge.  The biggest heat pumps readily available can give you about 18 kW of heat.  If your home needs more than that in cold weather then it will cost a lot to heat.  Whatever you decide to do, I strongly recommend that you find out about heating bills before you finalise the purchase.  

Annie1612

lohr500 said:

If it is Green Star, then the chances are it's a Worcester Greenstar which is good news. 
Without knowing the model, it does look as though that range of Worcester oil boilers are of a condensing design.

https://www.homeheatingguide.co.uk/efficiency-tables?make=Worcester

Condensing boilers are more efficient than the older designs they replaced. So until you decide what to do in the longer term, you can at least rest easy that the existing boiler should be pretty efficient.

Don't be fooled by the looks. Even the newest oil boilers look like antiques compared to modern wall mounted gas boilers.

Longer term you have a few choices. 

If you decide to stick with oil, as well as looking to locate any new boiler in the garage, you could consider an external boiler which would leave you more space in the garage.

A heat pump is also well worth considering particularly if you are making lots of changes to the layout. Typically heat pumps need higher output central heating radiators compared to oil as the water flows at a lower temperature. The radiators don't necessarily have to be physically larger than the existing ones, just better designed.

Improving the insulation is just as important if you stick with oil rather than going down the heat pump route. The more heat you can keep in the property, the cheaper it will be to heat. 

I agree with tacpot12. Stick with the existing boiler for now, especially if it is a more recent condensing design.

But when planning your extensions and modifications make sure to involve a reputable heating design engineer to help design and build in the best future proof options whilst a lot of building work is taking place anyway.

Thank you, this is a great reply. I can’t be sure it said Greenstar but it was definitely green in colour!

Annie1612

Reed_Richards said:

I replaced an oil boiler with an air source heat pump.  I think you will find that if your oil boiler has decent efficiency it will have a similar running cost to a heat pump.  The heat pump might do a bit better but there won't be a huge difference unless the oil boiler you inherit is very inefficient.

What this means is that either your new bungalow will be suitable for a heat pump or  your heating costs will be huge.  The biggest heat pumps readily available can give you about 18 kW of heat.  If your home needs more than that in cold weather then it will cost a lot to heat.  Whatever you decide to do, I strongly recommend that you find out about heating bills before you finalise the purchase.  

Yes, I agree with you about the unknown quantities of a heat pump. I know it will cost a lot and might not live up to its promise. I am currently in a well insulated modern house with a modern gas boiler and a wood burning stove and my heating bills are very affordable. I am taking a bit of a risk oil and alternatives as my income isn’t huge. Good shout to ask about heating bills. 

Badwheezer

Hi, I'm a Senior Communty Energy Champion for Rossendale Valley a Communty Benefit Society (Not for profit) that provides free (forever) advice, support and assistance to Rossendale residents that includes grant funded schemes to increase energy efficiency of homes.
The schemes we assist residents who, like yourself are owner/occupiers and private tenants as social registered landlords receive grant funding for improvements directly.
The grants are via a Lancashire wide initiative "Cosy Homes in Lancashire " that is a partnership of local authorities.
Similar initiatives are available in all areas and have grants that if eligible (I will explain), cover the full cost and installers that are required to be registered with Trustmark or Microgeneration Certification Standards (MCS) to carry out work.
The reason for my comment is the huge amount of information on social media, cold callers, doorstep sales and junk mail is confusing, misleading and in some cases money scams. Quite rightly this has resulted in poor take up of the Government grants that are available. It's also created misinformation around eligibility, when in fact it has simple requirements for each scheme and not benefits dependent.
A main aim of all grants is to improve energy efficiency of homes and the measure used is Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating scale A being highest to G (lowest) with C the target for all that are presently below.
HUGS (Home Upgrade Grant Scheme) is for properties without gas heating systems and in Lancashire if a property without gas central heating has a postcode included in a specific postcode list it is eligible for up to a potential £30,000 improvements irrelevant of household income.
I don't know if this applies to schemes nationally as I only cover Rossendale under Lancashire schemes.
I would recommend checking your local authorities initiatives as you have nothing to lose but possibly lots to gain and at an ideal time as planning an extension. If you are not eligible the this type of initiative in your area, you will also have the correct information from a reliable official source to confidentiality turn down cold callers, doorstep sales and other offers from the large number of businesses offering grant funded improvements that may not be reputable.

Annie1612

Thank you Badwheezer. I have just googled and I found a local scheme that I sadly am just a bit outside their pre-tax income threshold of £36k to be eligible. It looked ideal though with help and advice for insulation and solar etc for anyone with off grid in preparation for phasing out fossil fuels. This is in Cumbria. It does make me wonder how we are going to get all these houses off fossil fuel boilers and onto heat pumps in the next decade. Every house I look at in this area seems to be rated D or less on the epc with very few insulated. How are people going to afford these home improvements I don’t know since they are all so expensive. I have savings I can put into some of this but someone with an income of 36.5k won’t necessarily afford the thousands needed. 

Reed_Richards

There is a grant of £7,500 available towards a heat pump installation which is not income dependent.  Octopus, the electricity and gas supply company seem to give very good quotes but their installers don't operate in all parts of the country.  

FreeBear

The other thing to consider is the oil tank - It may not be compliant with current regulations, and if you are forced to replace it when doing a boiler swap, that is going to add significantly to the cost.