Central Heating and hot water system advice needed please

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19 Nov 2013
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Buckinghamshire
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United Kingdom
Hi chaps

My first of probably many topics, so bear with me.
We have recently purchased a 1930's house which amongst other things (windows, wiring) needs a bit of a plumbing overhaul.

It currently has a working system which consists of an Ideal Mexico boiler, vented cylinder, cold water and expansion tanks and a one-pipe central heating system (which I think is from the early 70s).

Mains flow rate is about 17 l/m and pressure around 2 bar (getting this accurately checked).

Although I love a combi boiler, and I know it will run the heating system just fine, it may struggle with 2 showers (even if we went for a WB 550 Greenstar) which points me towards an unvented cylinder which is fine (although I will reconsider when I know the exact flow and pressure).

On the heating side, the system works but not amazingly, with the usual problem of some rads hotter than others (maybe balancing), some cool at the bottom, warm at the top (sludge) and just generally not being all that warm.

I know ideally a 2-pipe system is the way forward (and have been told this), however this would be v costly and involve ripping up the floors and just generally making a lot more mess.

My thinking is to do the following:
1. Replace the boiler and hot water system so we are happy with that;
2. Remove and clean all the rads individually as well as doing a powerflush (plus replace any that are truly knackered); and
3. Replace all the valves (20 rads in total) with modern TRV's (or maybe just big high-flow ones)
then see how the above works.

My questions really are this.
1. Should doing the above make a difference to performance (I am assuming so, given its a fairly thorough overhaul)?
2. If its still not good enough, have I wasted money, or will most of my initial outlay be usable (ie, boiler, tank, rads, valves etc) and will installing and connecting a 2-pipe system simply involve the additional cost (and hassle) of installing and connecting the new piping.

Tks in advance.
 
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