Replacing our 28 year old boiler help?

lisa110rry wrote: »

Any suggestions fora sensible replacement that would run our radiators?

Any combi will run your rads because if you need more than the lowest combi's output then a combi isn't the right choice for your house, you need to look at your mains flow rate & hotwater requirements the higher the output the faster you will be able to run the hot water, I'd look at 28kw as a min, plus Vailliant aren't the same quality today as yours was 30 yrs ago

Personally I would look at Intergas, Atag, Vissmann (not the 050) or Baxi

I've recently researched combi boilers and decided to go for ATAG Economiser. It is supposedly the most energy efficient combi boiler available. It is a big boiler (350 cm by 70 cm by 44 cm) but everything is contained inside, including pump and expansion vessel. They have outside weather sensors which improve efficiency and a really cool thermostat which ATAG throw in for free until the New Year. It's a smart thermostat, so you can even control it remotely via computer or a smartphone, should you wish (we do because it's so much fun )The boiler is also very quiet.
ATAG also offer very good 7 year guarantee which can be extended to 10 years at an extra cost. The guarantee is only valid if the boiler is serviced once a year, and you have to pay for this. You can also buy these boilers only through an approved engineer who's been trained to install these boilers (if you call ATAG they will give you several firms to call). Only had ii for a few weeks so cannot comment on its longevity, but the engineer had only good things to say about the company and so far we have been very pleased with it.

I've been also considering Intergas, Viessman and Vaillant. Intergas has a very simple construction, which means it is less likely that something goes wrong. It also works on super low water pressure.

If it is important for you how big the boiler is (for instance you want it to easily fit into a kitchen cabinet) pay attention to the dimensions- some models are surprisingly small.

Apparently you can only expect combi boiler to last 10 years. A conventional boiler can go on forever, but we live in a shoe box and simply have no space for all the extra water storage required.

We needed to change the size of the gas piping, had a Magna filter installed, had a powerflush of the system, also had to get rid of our old conventional boiler, hot water tank, change the water pipes, so it was all a lot of work.

Ben84 wrote: »

My back boiler is from the 70s and still runs great. Despite the age, we do have very low energy bills because we have good insulation in the loft and walls.

As for boiler longevity, some people think I'm crazy to rely on a boiler from the 70s. But it's gone this far without breaking, so why worry now? Besides, there's no promise the new boiler won't stop one day. Old things and new things fail, and breaking down doesn't seem to have any favourite time to strike. I've had anywhere from minutes to decades out of a device. You really need a backup option if heating is essential. A plug in electric fire is a cheap backup option that will heat any room with a socket if needed. But if the electric is out then neither the boiler or the electric fire will do you any good. So getting a gas fire installed would be a safer option. Personally, I've never had the gas supply stop, but the really prepared might even have a plan for that.

I don't think you are crazy as I have a Baxi back boiler that had been in the house about 20 years before we moved in 20 years ago!!! We've had money put to one all these years in case we need to replace. Last service BG told me I could save £250 a year with a new, more efficient boiler. I told him if I had changed the boiler 20 years ago I would be on second replacement by now. Also as I will need quite extensive work to relocate a boiler to outside wall I estimate it will cost around £5k min so the pay back period is 20 years assuming the new boiler would last 20 years which it won't!.

Cheers southcoastrgi

Would they both be suitable to run the upstairs radiators as well once installed? The total amount of rads would be:

Downstairs - 3 large rads, 1 towel rail and possibly 1 small rad.
Upstairs - 2 large rads and 1 small rad

Regards
Phil

Thanks scrgi and sorry for the hijack once again to the OP.

Regards
Phil