Boiler Died

[SPG]

So its old conventional system in the house, the rads are all single panel and all on imperial centres and its on a stupid zone system that needs removing (its only a 3bed detached house) in a really stupid place in the kitchen buried under units......the previous owner must have been a nutter.

As usual this should have been the first thing to sort out when moving in 5 years ago, but you get all excited and do other things (its probably time to redecorate anyway)

So all the rads need to go but the big question is stick with the conventional system and move the boiler or go with a with combi. A system boiler would be nice but i think it would be overkill. Its crap flow rate into the house verging on 9l/m so i am concerned about losing out on the current power shower we have.

 

[pp111]

Personally I hate combi boilers. Firstly, as you say, you need decent pressure to operate them or they take years to fill a bath. You can get storage tanks for them but that kinda undermines the point of them. Combi boilers are also much more complicated and much more prone to breaking down when they get old ( no worries during the first ten years ). The only good thing here is if you are saying you are replacing your radiators I assume that means the piping too, which reduces the likelihood of a problem with a combi boiler and pressurised central heating. Plumbers also love to put combi boilers in lofts, which is great until they start to break down then it's a real pain in the ***. Personally I much prefer a standard boiler and a standard central heating system all in a standard location (not in the loft!). But you know I am sure I have not covered all the points here, and sure that other people have their preferences. You just need to know all the pros and cons to make your own decision.

 

[Simon42]

Also not a fan of combi boilers for the reasons stated.

I replaced every part of my heating system and went with a standard boiler but unvented HW cylinder. We had good mains pressure but poor flow (15l/m) due to old 1/2 internal diameter plastic supply pipework so we replaced that with 32mm MDPE (26 mm internal) and used 28mm copper to the HW cylinder and places where the cold pipes diverged and also ensured all fittings / stop taps in that pipework had similar bore. Once done we can now get over 50l/m, possibly more but that is just the bath taps on.

So its worth checking your mains pressure in case the poor flow is due to pipe sizes, isolator valves (most are not full bore), tap designs etc and not just pressure.

 

[SPG]

Thankyou that has helped my mindset a little. Stick with a conventional boiler (but it will be going in the loft , its all boarded and dead very easy to get, will build a box around it mainly for acoustics.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Also not a fan of combi boilers for the reasons stated.

I replaced every part of my heating system and went with a standard boiler but unvented HW cylinder. We had good mains pressure but poor flow (15l/m) due to old 1/2 internal diameter plastic supply pipework so we replaced that with 32mm MDPE (26 mm internal) and used 28mm copper to the HW cylinder and places where the cold pipes diverged and also ensured all fittings / stop taps in that pipework had similar bore. Once done we can now get over 50l/m, possibly more but that is just the bath taps on.

So its worth checking your mains pressure in case the poor flow is due to pipe sizes, isolator valves (most are not full bore), tap designs etc and not just pressure.

Am I reading this right? 15l/m = poor and you now have an insane 50l/m?!

 

[Simon42]

Am I reading this right? 15l/m = poor and you now have an insane 50l/m?!

Yep.

The area of the inside diameter of the new pipe is not far short of 5 times the old so the same pressure yields a lot more flow. As we ensured all new pipework/fittings after the mains supply pipe is also good size and designed to reduce flow resistance by good routing this is the result (I split 28 copper down to 22 and only 15mm for smaller taps). I also ensured the water meter was up to the same spec - older ones may need upgrading as they'll have a smaller connection to the main on internally.

As a point in case - look under most sinks and baths and you'll see isolation valves that greatly reduce flow (far less than the 22/15 pipe internal diameter). A full bore 22/15 isolation valve is around £3 and a standard one 80p hence why the latter is the usual fitment.

 

[SPG]

All sorted..... starts in week.

5.1k gulp..... new Boiler valiant 28kw, (8 yr warrenty) also moved to the loft, 6 new rads, nest control, new HW cylinder bigger than the current one) removal of the stupid zone control plumbing and sorting out the feed for the power shower.

Never get a breakdown in Novemeber

 

[pp111]

All sorted..... starts in week.

5.1k gulp..... new Boiler valiant 28kw, (8 yr warrenty) also moved to the loft, 6 new rads, nest control, new HW cylinder bigger than the current one) removal of the stupid zone control plumbing and sorting out the feed for the power shower.

Never get a breakdown in Novemeber

Awesome!

 

[SPG]

All in all it seemed a decent price, boiler is 1.3k but thats not trade prices of course

 

[Deleted member 77746]

R.I.P