Heat geek design consultation worth paying £250 for?

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119813#Comment_82119813

Well, if that's referring to me, then I never said that I didn't expect a payback from other potential updates/replacements, so you must be referring to some other "people".

The topic of this thread is the Heat Geek quote, not all of the alternatives (which would be a different topic & thread, see below).

However, my baseline is keeping the current system and it produces all the heating I need (via its single-pipe system); I would like to replace it and am considering the options and therefore the question of cost & ROI are very much on-point.

Are you suggesting to just ignore the outlay and ROI? That's not very good advice in a money-saving forum, is it?

On a comment you made there, actually I can run my existing system off solar, as it has an immersion switch (a smart one); over the summer I've had the gas completely off for periods of time; after I did the calculations it turns out that heating my water via immersion costs almost exactly the same as via my gas system. However, that doesn't include central heating too.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119882#Comment_82119882

That's a good point regarding Octopus Cosy; I'm on Flux but hadn't considered the two other cheap periods.

Thanks!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119891#Comment_82119891

That is an interesting perspective, yes.

But that wasn't the scope of the Heat Geek survey & quote.

I am also looking at other options and costing them too, but this is a Heat Geek thread and they don't cover them all; the only thing on-topic here is the Heat Geek survey.

(I will be creating another thread asking the overall question which will then be open to all of the options.)

QrizB

@prowla do you know what flow temperature your current boiler runs at? You might already know this, or it might have come out of the Heat Geek survey.

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119957#Comment_82119957

Actually it didn't say much and it appears to have some mistakes:

• Your Current System
  FUEL SOURCE: Mains Gas
  EFFICIENCY & AGE: 85%, 12 years old
  HOT WATER PROVISION: Cylinder
• Water System Assessment
  OUTLETS: 1 baths, 2 shower(s)

Actually my existing system is a Baxi back-boiler & cylinder which is more than 36 years old (possibly 50) and if it's 85% efficient then it'll be the most efficient back-boiler ever produced!
As for the outlets I have one bath, no showers.

It doesn't mention the water temperature, but I can say that the water which comes out of the bath tap is too hot to hold your hand under.

TBH, I wasn''t that impressed with the Heat Geeks report and proposal: there's the above errors in the report and the proposal doesn't give a clear breakdown of the costs.

QrizB

Thanks for the reply; the info from the report isn't great, is it?

It doesn't mention the water temperature, but I can say that the water which comes out of the bath tap is too hot to hold your hand under.

You could probably save a bit on your gas bill (at least in the summer) by turning down the HW temperature, assuming there is a tank thermostat that you can tweak.

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120262#Comment_82120262

Well, regarding the OP's question and thread title, I'd have to say "not really".

I've had a reply to my comment on Heat Geeks' YT channel and said I'd be happy to have a second opinion; I haven't yet checked back to see what they've had to say.

On your other observation; yes, the boiler has a dial from 1 to 5.

Actually, in the Summer I've had weeks where I've turned off the gas completely and just used the immersion heater powered by my solar system to do it for free, but that's digressing from this thread's topic.

FreeBear

Actually my existing system is a Baxi back-boiler & cylinder which is more than 36 years old (possibly 50) and if it's 85% efficient then it'll be the most efficient back-boiler ever produced!

I had one of those Baxi back boilers - Around 70% efficient. There are things that you can do to increase the perceived efficiency. Fitting a smart thermostat that can be set to different temperatures throughout the day/week is one. Zoning the system so that hot water doesn't circulate through the radiators when the boiler is just heating the hot water tank is another - I could have fitted a zone valve on mine, instead, just turned all the TRVs off in the summer. Turning the pilot light off when heating (or water) isn't required is probably the biggest saver.

Baxi did go on to produce a condensing back boiler between 2009 and 2015 - The Burmuda BBU 15HE was intended as a direct replacement for the old back boiler with the minimum of alterations required. Comparable efficiency to a conventional wall mounted condensing boiler.

Magnitio

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120260#Comment_82120260

If you're not happy with the quality of the survey, then drop them a note at issues@heatgeek.com

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120381#Comment_82120381

Interesting. My parent still have their original Baxi back boiler that is now almost 59 years old. I don't think it's ever been serviced, and may have had remedial repair work a couple of times in my lifetime. They seem to just run forever. I've recently estimated it to be ~50% efficient.

Interesting what you say about the pilot light. I remember Dad fiddling with it back in the 70s when it wouldn't always stay alight. When checking their smart meter data recently, I note it seems to be using a background amount of ~4.8kWh per day even when the heating and hot water are off (when the property is empty), which equates to around £130-140/year of usage!

Magnitio

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120793#Comment_82120793

Do they have a carbon monoxide alarm or a natural gas detector? As these boilers get older, especially when not serviced, the risk of issues increases such as leaks around the flue or the pilot light going out and the automatic gas valve not closing properly.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120982#Comment_82120982

Yes, there is a carbon monoxide alarm installed right next to the fire, which sits in front of a back boiler. I don't know when it was installed, but I know it wasn't there as a kid growing up.