Complete central heating system upgrade.

[stevebamford]

Thanks Steve.

Did you get BG to do it?

Have not really thought about getting them around?

JON.

PS: Was it worth all the expense to go unvented /totally modern system etc.

Hi Jon, not actually got the system yet ! But have hopefully found a plumber to install it (its been a long drawn out process)

No didn't get BG to do it as we had a slightly complicated spec and their quote made no mention of any of the details apart from the number of rads... But they were pretty competitive price-wise

The main problem is that there are so many options about what exactly to install. powerful combi, unvented cylinder, thermal store, heat bank etc etc etc.

The concensus seems to be that the unvented cylinder is the way to go but I was nearly swayed by a thermal store. (loads of threads about this)

It may also depend on how long you are going to be living there. We're just buying a large family home we are planning to be in for a while but if we were not planning to stay that long we would have gone for a combi.

And finally I suspect that most of the installers you talk to will have a favoured solution almost preplanned, e.g. a specific manufacturer of boiler. Whether this is because they are most familiar with them, or because they make more markup on them is debatable.... Not necessarily a bad thing if they can install them cheaper and more reliably - as long as its a decent boiler ...?

Good luck

Steve

ps There is a bit of an attitude between some of the posters on here but if you can skip over that then people are generally very helpful

 

[BigBurner]

Thanks Steve.

Did you get BG to do it?

Have not really thought about getting them around?

JON.

PS: Was it worth all the expense to go unvented /totally modern system etc.

Hi Jon, not actually got the system yet ! But have hopefully found a plumber to install it (its been a long drawn out process)

No didn't get BG to do it as we had a slightly complicated spec and their quote made no mention of any of the details apart from the number of rads... But they were pretty competitive price-wise

The main problem is that there are so many options about what exactly to install. powerful combi, unvented cylinder, thermal store, heat bank etc etc etc.

The concensus seems to be that the unvented cylinder is the way to go but I was nearly swayed by a thermal store. (loads of threads about this)

It may also depend on how long you are going to be living there. We're just buying a large family home we are planning to be in for a while but if we were not planning to stay that long we would have gone for a combi.

And finally I suspect that most of the installers you talk to will have a favoured solution almost preplanned, e.g. a specific manufacturer of boiler. Whether this is because they are most familiar with them, or because they make more markup on them is debatable.... Not necessarily a bad thing if they can install them cheaper and more reliably - as long as its a decent boiler ...?

I have nothing against unvented cylinders, however there are better, and cheaper, ways of doing it in most cases. When things fail on an unvented cylinder the parts are expensive to replace. The only unvented cylinder I would recommend is an ACV tank-in-tank and run your CH off the cylinder too. Excellent design and quality. The others are just cylinders full of hot water, requiring a yearly service charge, with expensive to replace controls on them. If you are paying a yearly service charge get one that adds value like the ACV.

Many of those who recommend unvented cylinders recommend nothing else and press the case to extraordinary lengths. That should ring alarm bells, indicating a lack of design knowledge with some posters. Or a good markup for themselves on certain products.

 

[Softus]

Softus, I think you should increase your prices now that fuel has gone up so much

It's not a problem - I have one million pounds worth of fuel stockpiled, that I bought out of the profits of a couple of recent installations.