New boiler or not?

[keen2learn]

Hi,
we currently have an ideal mexico super RS 3/40, it works fine, but with its age its not very efficient, however there is very little to go wrong, in the 13 years we have lived here we have only had to replace the thermocouple once a couple of years ago, one minor downfall with the setup is the hot water is heated all year round as there are no separate controls for hot water so I guess what I'm wondering should I keep it and get it converted to s plan, y plan c plan etc ( I have no idea what these mean) or should I upgrade to a combi, My main concern with this is combi's are a lot more complicated with lots more to go wrong.


what are the experts thoughts

Thanks in advance

 

[gasmanstu72]

sounds like you have gravity hot water, that's state of the art heating technology for 1970 but incredibly inefficient in todays world.
if efficiency is important to you then get a new condensing boiler and convert it to fully pumped, either Y or S is good C is still gravity but with a zone valve.
you can still convert your existing boiler, but if you're going to do that my advise would be to get a new one.
combi's are good, pros and cons to getting them are well documented, as too are the best ones to get, most are very reliable nowadays and some come with extended guarantees

 

[keen2learn]

Thanks for your response gasmanstu72, do you have any particular recommendations as to the best combi boiler

 

[Cgas]

Floor standing at its best, keep it !! They're bomb proof!

 

[keen2learn]

This my concern @Cgas its been almost faultless for 13 years and worry about replacing it with something modern that will not be anywhere near
as reliable.

 

[Cgas]

This my concern @Cgas its been almost faultless for 13 years and worry about replacing it with something modern that will not be anywhere near
as reliable.

Basically, the less efficienct the less parts the boiler has on it to go wrong, more modern & more efficient boilers have plenty more parts and more things to go wrong it's just luck of the draw, about the only thing that goes on what you have now is what you've already had replaced the thermocouple and I'm pretty sure off hand they use a universal t-couple which will never be obsolete.........i know what I'd be doing but the choice is yours!

 

[45yearsagasman]

Convert your system to fully pumped( y or s plan) and enjoy trouble a trouble free system for many years. Not knowing your system layout, I would guess around £600/700.

 

[keen2learn]

Convert your system to fully pumped( y or s plan) and enjoy trouble a trouble free system for many years. Not knowing your system layout, I would guess around £600/700.

Thanks for your input 45yearsgasman, as im a noob can you explain the benefits of going fully pumped, boiler is on the ground floor, cylinder is directly above in landing cupboard, cold water tank directly above that in same cupboard, F&E directly above that in attic 7 rads 1 bathroom, I currently have an electric shower and its only 9.5kw so not very powerful, could I run a thermostatic shower with decent pressure on a fully pumped.

 

[Cgas]

Benefits are you could have your water and heating indepentantly or together. More efficienct. No you would have to use a separate shower pump.

 

[vulcancontinental]

Don't you want hot water all year round? If not turn the boiler off. I assume you wrote that poorly and what you can't do is have heating without hot water. It's not the end of the world.

If your gas bill is a grand a year and you saved 10% it will be £800 and you'd have spent 4 or 500 pounds to save £100 with a C plan (the easiest conversion). A combi swap could be £3000 and you might save 25% of the £1000 less the increased maintenance costs of a combi. At least you have an electric shower to keep you clean if the combi stops.

How old is the cylinder and how good is the insulation? If it went in at the same time as the boiler stick an old duvet over it and insulate the pipework on the hot in the airing cupboard, a couple of quid.

A condensing combi will save you running costs and increase maintenance and you might get 10-15 years out of it if well installed on an old system, that's about the same as the Mexico will last if it was well installed but you'll be seeing less of your heating engineer with a Mexico.

The man who does the work for you is far more important than the make of appliance you chose.

Obviously those figures are mine and quite questionable but I don't mind, it's just my opinion and I've been around a long time; too long some might say.

In the old days Ideal's might have had 20 engineers in the country covering their boilers with a one year warranty; now they have probably a couple of hundred and feel the need to warranty the boilers for 7 and 10 years to give the customer peace of mind. Work it out for yourself.