does a new boiler mean new bathroom taps?

[ashdale]

I am thinking of having a new kitchen. The existing boiler (Ideal Mexico, annually serviced) which sits beside the kitchen sink is ten years old. Although I have no problems with it, the new kitchen will need a new boiler position, therefore perhaps a new boiler because of space restrictions. I gather that by law, any new boiler MUST be a condensing boiler and condensing boilers do not use a hot tank.

My upstairs bathroom fitted last year has gravity-fed taps (from the adjacent hot water tank and attic-based cold water tank) and they work fine. But with no hot tank to supply them, will they have to be replaced by electrically pumped taps or will the condensing boiler have a pump to get the hot water to the upstairs hot taps?

 

[oldbuffer]

All new boilers (with very few exceptions) must be condensing boilers. However, these come in three main "flavours".

a. Combination ("Combi") boilers, which provide hot water by directly heating the incoming cold water. Therefore they do not need any hot or cold water storage tanks or any little "header" tank for the central heating side. Generally considered most suitable for smaller properties with good water pressure and flow, but with limited simultaneous demand for hot water.

b. Heat only boilers, which can be sealed or open vented. Sealed ones don't need a header tank (the small tank in the loft), but all will have a cold water storage cistern and a hot water cylinder. They will also have one or more motorised valves, a pump to circulate the hot water and various other external bits and pieces.

c. System boilers are essentially the same as heat only boilers, but with the pump and valves inside the boiler casing.

The above is not absolute, but a general picture of what is normally available.

By the sound of it, if you want to retain the existing tanks etc. you could go with a heat only or system boiler.

The best approach would be to talk to two or three recommended, gas safe registered, installers, and discuss the pro's and cons of each type of system, get them to provide quotations and then decide what sort to go with.

 

[ashdale]

Many thanks, that is a very concise and clear explanation of the options.