Combi Replacement Advice

[scholesy]

Hi All

I'm just after some sound advice from all the experts on here.

I'm planning to do a lot of work on my 1950's house during the Summer including re-wiring, insulation, bathroom renovation & swapping rads. As part of the bathroom renovation I'm planning on installing a mixer shower and getting rid of my old electric shower.

My current combi-boiler is a Glowworm Swiftflow 80 and is about 12 years old. Would you advise installing a new boiler at the same time as the renovations? Or do you think this boiler will be good enougth to carry on using for the forseeable future?

The background for my boiler is it's worked fine for the last year (since I moved in), but this Winter I've had to re-pressurise the expansion vessel. Also the pressure keeps dropping so I think the PRV needs changing.

Thanks for any assistance

Andy

 

[drboilerfix]

If you are looking for a new combi the best one on the market is a Viessmann Vitodens 200W up to 35kw + 5 year guarantee.
Go to viessmann.co.uk
In my opinion the DOGS ******

 

[Doctor Drivel]

If you are looking for a new combi the best one on the market is a Viessmann Vitodens 200W up to 35kw + 5 year guarantee.
Go to viessmann.co.uk
In my opinion the DOGS ****

Wat is the all important flowrate?

Look at this thread re: Vaillant 937, Alpha cd50 & Ethos
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=102568&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

 

[scholesy]

thanks for the replies.

Does this mean you both think it best to replace my current boiler during the house revamp? Is 12 years old, old? Would their be issues adding a mixer shower to the current system.

(My current boiler fits in a small store room in the kitchen. Their are no additional storage tanks but thats never been a problem as only 2 of us live here.)

 

[Agile]

My current combi-boiler is a Glowworm Swiftflow 80 and is about 12 years old. Would you advise installing a new boiler at the same time as the renovations? Or do you think this boiler will be good enougth to carry on using for the forseeable future?

Andy

Thats getting a bit old. I dont know what you consider the forseeable future to be but it might be expected to break down within the next three years. You cannot assume that spares will necessarily always be available.

Tony

 

[scholesy]

Cheers, you've helped me to decide. I will change my boiler.

I've just looked at the boilers in the link and the Ethos 54C does look great. I would be willing to pay around £1200 for the boiler if I believed I was getting a great product. But I'm a bit worried it may be a bit overkill if you like. I live in a medium size, 2 floor, end terrace with 3 bedrooms. I can get by with just using 1 hot water source at a time, although using 2 would be a bonus.

What do you think? Would £1200 be a good price for a combi boiler for this type of house? And of upmost importance to me would be reliability but obviously this is a difficult one to call with any product of this type. Thanks

 

[Nixt]

If spares and service are available it looks a good boiler. I think there is a smaller 36kW model. In any case have your installer check that your gas pipe is adequately sized as it's likely to need upgrading from your old 24kW demand.

 

[Doctor Drivel]

Cheers, you've helped me to decide. I will change my boiler.

I've just looked at the boilers in the link and the Ethos 54C does look great. I would be willing to pay around £1200 for the boiler if I believed I was getting a great product. But I'm a bit worried it may be a bit overkill if you like. I live in a medium size, 2 floor, end terrace with 3 bedrooms. I can get by with just using 1 hot water source at a time, although using 2 would be a bonus.

What do you think? Would £1200 be a good price for a combi boiler for this type of house? And of upmost importance to me would be reliability but obviously this is a difficult one to call with any product of this type. Thanks

If the flowrate is not that great an issue then a 38kW Glow Worm (owned by Vaillant) or a 837 Vaillant - with weather compensation. You will appreciate the difference...and lower bills, although the Swiftflow is economical enough, not like these old cast-iron lumps around.

 

[Nixt]

By the way OP- The Ethos combi does not include the sealed system kit components (standard on all mainstream combis). I like the idea, but you will have to cost the supply & fit of this to add to price. Also this may freak out the low end 'combi only' installer so ensure whoever fits this knows how to put a simple kit together.

 

[scholesy]

Sounds like the Ethos might be a bit too much for my needs. So it looks like its between:

Viessman Vitoden 100\200
GlowWorm Ultracom 30 or 38 cxi
837 Vaillant

If I buy one of these boilers how much would you estimate the installation to cost? Pennies are tight at the moment so i'd be looking to do as much of the prep for it as I can, ie drain current system \ change the rads.

 

[bengasman]

Glowworm is a piece of junk, the old ones lasted, new ones should go straight to scrapyard without stopping to be hung on customer’s wall.
Veismann appears to be good, but rare and may have issues finding approved engineers or parts.
Vaillant is good though not as good as they used to be partially due to absorbing second raters like glowworm and heatline
Worcester Bosch is decent boiler and their customer care is generally considered to be the best of all makes, also offer 5 year warranty.

 

[scholesy]

Can anybody give me a very rough guide as to price of having a combi boiler fitted. It will be going in the same location as my existing combi. I'll also be doing as much of the prep as i'm able to do ie drain down etc...

I know its difficult to give this kind of advice but I'm just putting a budget togethor so understand it would be just a guide. Thanks.


As for the replacement boiler it looks as if Glow Worm is out then. Will now consider the following...

Worcester Bosch Greenstar 27CDi OR 30CDi
Viessman Vitoden 100\200
837 Vaillant

Cheers

 

[ChrisR]

Can't really give much of a guide to cost as there are so many variables.
Your system needs to be clean - it might already be so, or it might need a day or more's work and some or all new rads.
Flue, condensate, electrical, gas pipe and other issues can all add many hindreds in the worst cases.

 

[mehran]

Price is always depends of many factors from where you live to the colour of carpets

I have fitted a few viessmann 100's but never a 200 but I must say the 200 looks a technically very nice boiler, it really is a high end boiler which I would love to fit.

 

[Doctor Drivel]

By the way OP- The Ethos combi does not include the sealed system kit components (standard on all mainstream combis). I like the idea, but you will have to cost the supply & fit of this to add to price. Also this may freak out the low end 'combi only' installer so ensure whoever fits this knows how to put a simple kit together.

The kit is cheap. Also the system should be cleaned and a Magnaclean filter fitted on the boiler return.