I have a hopeless keston boiler which has been repaired so many times.need to replace with new boiler urgently.Large house 4 and half thous sq feet. 4 shower and 2 hot water cylinders and approx 21 rads.Please can anyone suggest the most suitable and reliable boiler to buy
keston 170
- Thread starter jackiemil1
- Start date
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yep. these are crap. technical answer 
.
a nice big worcester will do you nicely. an installler can tell you the size but stick with worcester. not so cheap its nasty and not so expensive that its the only one your installer will see.
.a nice big worcester will do you nicely. an installler can tell you the size but stick with worcester. not so cheap its nasty and not so expensive that its the only one your installer will see.
Personally I would get a Vaillant ecoTEC+ 6xx if your system is a sealed system.
If its a Keston 170 and 4500 sq foot you are looking at a 45Kw boiler or more.
This takes you out of the Worcester range and the mainstream Vaillant 6 series, as recommended by our new resident non plumber Vaillant enthusiast.
I'd suggest a Viessmann 200 45Kw or possibly a light commercial Buderus.
Either will be more reliable than the Keston. If Stelrad Ideal (owners of Keston) don't raise extra funding by the 15th Dec they may not be in business any more (Telegraph Business, Saturday), so parts could be an issue.
This takes you out of the Worcester range and the mainstream Vaillant 6 series, as recommended by our new resident non plumber Vaillant enthusiast.
I'd suggest a Viessmann 200 45Kw or possibly a light commercial Buderus.
Either will be more reliable than the Keston. If Stelrad Ideal (owners of Keston) don't raise extra funding by the 15th Dec they may not be in business any more (Telegraph Business, Saturday), so parts could be an issue.
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I have a keston 170 and the thing has been in now for 8 years. and with the sound of it same number of rads, my property is on three levels and its set on 3 zones. HW. zone one and zone two.
yes its had its moments the biggest problem is the relay 8 pin type but identical relay is£5.43 plus vat from rs components the other fault was the capacitor on the fan. 1 capacitor 5 relays in 8 years.
I am fortunate enough to be a RGI so diagnostics and repairs are minimum for me . heard a lot of bad press but may be I am one of the lucky ones that got one made on a tuesday and not a fri aft
the biggest problem with this boiler is its all or nothing.170000 btu (50kw) or nothing and if zoned and the by pass is not set just right, it will keep tripping on over heat as it cant get rid of all the heat quick enough.
while mines running ok it will remain and at the cost when fitted it needs a few more years to pay me back.
what makes you say you need a new boiler what is it doing or not doing to make you think its time for a change ? and what repairs have you had after what symptoms.
yes its had its moments the biggest problem is the relay 8 pin type but identical relay is£5.43 plus vat from rs components the other fault was the capacitor on the fan. 1 capacitor 5 relays in 8 years.
I am fortunate enough to be a RGI so diagnostics and repairs are minimum for me . heard a lot of bad press but may be I am one of the lucky ones that got one made on a tuesday and not a fri aft
the biggest problem with this boiler is its all or nothing.170000 btu (50kw) or nothing and if zoned and the by pass is not set just right, it will keep tripping on over heat as it cant get rid of all the heat quick enough.
while mines running ok it will remain and at the cost when fitted it needs a few more years to pay me back.
what makes you say you need a new boiler what is it doing or not doing to make you think its time for a change ? and what repairs have you had after what symptoms.
I have just looked on data tag inside boiler" I lied" not intentionally it was jan 2002 installed but still older than 5 years actually 7 and still going strong (fingers crossed) so that means I have not lived here as long as i thought i had ( so where did that lost year go
B
BigBurner
I would fit two 28kW Broag combi boilers (they are cheaper than the 24kW system boiler). They are better quality than Vaillant and much cheaper. A well priced quality boiler and they have a superb control system, superior to W-B and Vaillant. http://www.avantaplus.co.uk It is well priced and the combi DHW section need not be connected ( a combi is a system boiler with a water section). With two boilers you have backup and one can be off in summer, saving wear.
Or connect the DHW and have it as backup and isolated by a 1/4 turn valve, or connected just doing the showers only, to give high pressure from the mains. 56W of instant DHW may be all you need, and then you can get rid of the DHW cylinder if one there.
The Broags have integral weather compensation. I would have this connected up using the outside sensors and have both boilers set the same and connected to a low loss header. Off the header have the system split into zones with TRVs on each rad. One Grundfos Alpha Smart pump will do and a zone valve for each CH zone. After the pump have a flow switch and this is the control interlock. When all TRVs are closed, the flow switch switches out the boilers. No stat on the floors, just 4 cheap simple timers.
If you have a DHW indirect cylinder heated by the boiler, have this off the low loss header. It is a case of the cylinder stat switch a relay. This switches a 28mm "diverter" valve, so all heat goes to the cylinder. The relay can switch out the CH pump, but need not to as it is a smart pump. The cylinder stat connection on the boilers each go to a set of contacts. This ramps the boiler heat to maximum to give a fast DHW reheat. When the cylinder is satisfied the diverter valve moves over to CH and the boilers revert back to outside weather compensation control, giving excellent condensing economy.
If using a cylinder, only in deepest winter will two boilers need to be switched on. The summer boiler can alternate each year to reduce and even out boiler wear.
Do you heat your (Domestic Hot Water) DHW via the boiler using a cylinder?
Two 28C Broags are just under £1,300. That is with the integral weather compensation, which lowers and raises the radiator temperatures to the outside temp and saves gas. W-B and Vaillant do not have this as standard, and W-B not at all.
http://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/DEF/c.../Central Heating Boilers/Broag Remeha Boilers
The control options:
http://www.avantaplus.com/docs/Issue 5 -Avanta Schematics Booklet.pdf
See this thread also:
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1075974#1075974
Or connect the DHW and have it as backup and isolated by a 1/4 turn valve, or connected just doing the showers only, to give high pressure from the mains. 56W of instant DHW may be all you need, and then you can get rid of the DHW cylinder if one there.
The Broags have integral weather compensation. I would have this connected up using the outside sensors and have both boilers set the same and connected to a low loss header. Off the header have the system split into zones with TRVs on each rad. One Grundfos Alpha Smart pump will do and a zone valve for each CH zone. After the pump have a flow switch and this is the control interlock. When all TRVs are closed, the flow switch switches out the boilers. No stat on the floors, just 4 cheap simple timers.
If you have a DHW indirect cylinder heated by the boiler, have this off the low loss header. It is a case of the cylinder stat switch a relay. This switches a 28mm "diverter" valve, so all heat goes to the cylinder. The relay can switch out the CH pump, but need not to as it is a smart pump. The cylinder stat connection on the boilers each go to a set of contacts. This ramps the boiler heat to maximum to give a fast DHW reheat. When the cylinder is satisfied the diverter valve moves over to CH and the boilers revert back to outside weather compensation control, giving excellent condensing economy.
If using a cylinder, only in deepest winter will two boilers need to be switched on. The summer boiler can alternate each year to reduce and even out boiler wear.
Do you heat your (Domestic Hot Water) DHW via the boiler using a cylinder?
Two 28C Broags are just under £1,300. That is with the integral weather compensation, which lowers and raises the radiator temperatures to the outside temp and saves gas. W-B and Vaillant do not have this as standard, and W-B not at all.
http://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/DEF/c.../Central Heating Boilers/Broag Remeha Boilers
The control options:
http://www.avantaplus.com/docs/Issue 5 -Avanta Schematics Booklet.pdf
See this thread also:
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1075974#1075974
definately a 2 boiler job if ever there was one. Vaillant, buderus or worcester.
She does!!
Why two boilers?
The light commercial stuff build quality and potential longevity is way ahead of your diddy Broags, Vaillants and Worcesters.
The domestic boiler is fine but they are built to a very tight price point.
Would you fit 100 Avanta Pluses in an airport?
The light commercial stuff build quality and potential longevity is way ahead of your diddy Broags, Vaillants and Worcesters.
The domestic boiler is fine but they are built to a very tight price point.
Would you fit 100 Avanta Pluses in an airport?
B
BigBurner
I covered that. I also suggested that the cylinders can be removed and just use the instant combi side of the boilers, if the combis can deliver the DHW need. Or use the combi DHW as back, or use both combi and stored water. I don't know the DHW need here.
The instant DHW side of the combi is actually for free, as the 28C combi is cheaper than the 24kW system boiler.
Please read what I wrote.
B
BigBurner
Do you really need that explaining to you?
The Broag uses the Giannoni heat exchanger. The Ethos boiler uses the smallest commercial Giannoni heat exchanger.
With two boilers, the load is shared so they will not be used as much as one boiler, so will last, and backup if one is down. One can be off for 9 months of the year and alternate them the next year.
I have seen many instant water heaters banked - Rinnai do it all the time. The advantage is that they come in, in stages, and if one drops out it can be easily replaced/repaired and still DHW delivered. Modularised. Liverpool uni just put a whole raft of Broags in.
May I ask you something:
Has your company fitted anything from the Vaillant commercial range?
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