British Gas raising boiler insurance cost again. Options?

FreeBear

housebuyer143 said:

FreeBear said:

Few people really need a 30Kw system boiler unless you want ultrafast reheat times of the DHW. And for that, you need a tank with a real big coil.

An average 3/4 bed house can be heated quite effectively with just 12-18Kw, and that is also plenty of power to heat a water tank. OK, you may have to wait 30-40 minutes to heat from cold, but unless you are having multiple hot baths in quick succession, the wait is not an issue.

When looking at a boiler, once you have selected a size to give maximum heat, you need to consider the minimum it will modulate down to. The lower, the better as it will reduce short cycling (which is bad for efficiency and long term reliability).

In a fairly typical 3 bed semi and have instrumented boiler output. Currently generating 6-7Kw of heat initially, and once the system is up to working temperature, output is dropping to 3-4Kw. This is sufficient to maintain a temperature of 20°C. The total number of radiators (9) limits me to 10-12Kw for heating.

100% agree but you can range rate Worcesters down, so you can reduce it down to 50%, so it doesn't draw 30kw, only 15kw. It does everything in between as well.

Most modern boilers can be range limited (currently got mine set to ~30%), not just WB. But smaller boilers are often cheaper.

1404

Hi all,

Which setting should this switch be at, please? My boiler guy set it to 3, but that's quite noisy. I set it to 2 just because it's quieter.

ThisIsWeird

1404 said:

Hi all,

Which setting should this switch be at, please? My boiler guy set it to 3, but that's quite noisy. I set it to 2 just because it's quieter.

Which speed? The slowest speed that still works. 
How many rads are typically heated at the same time?
You could try it on '1', and check that your rads heat up just as quickly, especially those furthest away from the boiler. Back up to two if 1 isn't good enough.
If that a new pump? If so, why isn't it 'smart'? Current pumps will automatically adjust their speed to suit demand; as rads shut off, the speed drops. 

FreeBear

1404 said: Which setting should this switch be at, please? My boiler guy set it to 3, but that's quite noisy. I set it to 2 just because it's quieter.

Pump speed only needs to be high enough to circulate water around the entire system. More often than not, the lowest setting is adequate.

When my boiler was installed, the "engineer" left everything on default settings. So pump speed was set at maximum. Spent quite a bit of time banging my head trying to balance the radiators and failing to get the correct temperature drop. Close the lockshields down far enough to get the right temperature drop, hardly any water was passing through the radiator. Crack open the lockshield a tiny, tiny smidgen to allow water to flow, temperature drop ended up being totally wrong.

Turned the pump speed down as far as it would go, and can now balance the radiators to get the right temperature drop and with a decent flow of water through each one.

I'd suggest turning your pump speed down to 1 and balance the radiators to suit the lower flow rate.

1404

ThisIsWeird said:

1404 said:

Hi all,

Which setting should this switch be at, please? My boiler guy set it to 3, but that's quite noisy. I set it to 2 just because it's quieter.

Which speed? The slowest speed that still works. 
How many rads are typically heated at the same time?
You could try it on '1', and check that your rads heat up just as quickly, especially those furthest away from the boiler. Back up to two if 1 isn't good enough.
If that a new pump? If so, why isn't it 'smart'? Current pumps will automatically adjust their speed to suit demand; as rads shut off, the speed drops. 

The pump, I don't believe, has been replaced in at least the 7 years I've been here. Seems quite dusty so I think has some age to it. So may well be smart when that one packs in. 

The motor (?) was replaced this week. That seems to be the white box and the grey metal box as they seem clean and no dust on them. 

There are 10 rads in the house. It's a 3 storey townhouse. The tank in the pics is on the top floor. 

I've turned it down to 1 and will see how things get on over the next day or two. It's certainly a lot quieter on 1. 3 is rather noisy.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: If that a new pump? If so, why isn't it 'smart'? Current pumps will automatically adjust their speed to suit demand; as rads shut off, the speed drops. 

A cheap, basic Grundfos pump can be had for as little as £70. Shop around, and you can get similar fixed speed pumps from £40. A smart(er) pump that can do constant pressure and vary speed & delivery volume will cost £150 or more.

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: If that a new pump? If so, why isn't it 'smart'? Current pumps will automatically adjust their speed to suit demand; as rads shut off, the speed drops. 

A cheap, basic Grundfos pump can be had for as little as £70. Shop around, and you can get similar fixed speed pumps from £40. A smart(er) pump that can do constant pressure and vary speed & delivery volume will cost £150 or more.

I thought Smart was compulsory due to the supposed energy savings?

ThisIsWeird

1404 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

1404 said:

Hi all,

Which setting should this switch be at, please? My boiler guy set it to 3, but that's quite noisy. I set it to 2 just because it's quieter.

Which speed? The slowest speed that still works. 
How many rads are typically heated at the same time?
You could try it on '1', and check that your rads heat up just as quickly, especially those furthest away from the boiler. Back up to two if 1 isn't good enough.
If that a new pump? If so, why isn't it 'smart'? Current pumps will automatically adjust their speed to suit demand; as rads shut off, the speed drops. 

The pump, I don't believe, has been replaced in at least the 7 years I've been here. Seems quite dusty so I think has some age to it. So may well be smart when that one packs in. 

The motor (?) was replaced this week. That seems to be the white box and the grey metal box as they seem clean and no dust on them. 

There are 10 rads in the house. It's a 3 storey townhouse. The tank in the pics is on the top floor. 

I've turned it down to 1 and will see how things get on over the next day or two. It's certainly a lot quieter on 1. 3 is rather noisy.

I'm guessing by 'motor' you mean the motorised valve, and it's common for the 'head' - the actuator - to fail before the actual valve itself.
Anyhoo, with a three storey hoodie, the pump may require more than speed 1, but no harm at all in trying.
Please report back.

1404

ThisIsWeird said:

1404 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

1404 said:

Hi all,

Which setting should this switch be at, please? My boiler guy set it to 3, but that's quite noisy. I set it to 2 just because it's quieter.

Which speed? The slowest speed that still works. 
How many rads are typically heated at the same time?
You could try it on '1', and check that your rads heat up just as quickly, especially those furthest away from the boiler. Back up to two if 1 isn't good enough.
If that a new pump? If so, why isn't it 'smart'? Current pumps will automatically adjust their speed to suit demand; as rads shut off, the speed drops. 

The pump, I don't believe, has been replaced in at least the 7 years I've been here. Seems quite dusty so I think has some age to it. So may well be smart when that one packs in. 

The motor (?) was replaced this week. That seems to be the white box and the grey metal box as they seem clean and no dust on them. 

There are 10 rads in the house. It's a 3 storey townhouse. The tank in the pics is on the top floor. 

I've turned it down to 1 and will see how things get on over the next day or two. It's certainly a lot quieter on 1. 3 is rather noisy.

I'm guessing by 'motor' you mean the motorised valve, and it's common for the 'head' - the actuator - to fail before the actual valve itself.
Anyhoo, with a three storey hoodie, the pump may require more than speed 1, but no harm at all in trying.
Please report back.

Hi - well, I've had the pump on #1 ever since and I've not noticed any ill affects or problems. So I guess that's where I'll keep it. 

1404

Hi all,

Just wondering which setting (1-6) this should be? 

It's a 23 year old boiler serving a 3 storey townhouse, if that makes any difference.

Just had the boiler serviced by British Gas and noticed it was on #5, which seems high? So I put it on #3-ish.