replacing hot water radiators

[FastFerret]

Is it a major mission to remove the old hot water radiators in the house and replace them with electric oil or storage heaters?

As in a previous post I have a problem with my Glow Worm Back Boiler so I am thinking is it worth just junking the thing and fitting electric radiators in each room instead?

what are the pros and cons?

The Immersion heater is heated by the BB and also by an electric element so nothing is lost there.
Seems it would just be the Central heating replaced.

Any thoughts or ideas are welcomed.

 

[45yearsagasman]

Why on earth would you want to remove a wet system and replace it with electric radiators?. Get the boiler repaired or exchanged and upgrade your system. Increases the desirability of your home if and when you decide to sell.

 

[FastFerret]

Why on earth would you want to remove a wet system and replace it with electric radiators?.

That's what I'm asking you. what are the pros and cons of electric over wet?

Get the boiler repaired or exchanged and upgrade your system. Increases the desirability of your home if and when you decide to sell.

Unfortunately I am only a peasant earning peasant wages. I was told £3000 to replace the Back boiler and that the Back boiler could not be fixed so I am looking for alternatives, affordable alternatives.

 

[45yearsagasman]

Installation costs for circuit to take the electric heating load.
Cost of the heaters
Removal costs of the old system.
Running costs of electric heating
Resale value of the property, Are all cons in my view.
I didn't know we still had peasants on peasants wages in this part of the world.

 

[FastFerret]

Now I see, plenty of hidden costs.

There are two types of people left in this country, the rich and the poor or as we know it, Bankers and the rest of us!

 

[45yearsagasman]

Amen to that brother.

 

[telegan]

can you explain the immersion heater is heated by the back boiler ?
immersion heater is an electric way to heat your hot water

 

[bell824]

he is obviousley not as educated as you and i telgan give the guy a break he is only seeking advise,
as 45 yr said you would be out just as much (if not more ) to go electric and would be more expensive to run,
stay with a wet system unfortunatly a back boiler conversion is expensive but very worth it, as far as i remember i have never done a back boiler to combi conversion for less than 2800 so your 3000 seems a very fair quote.

 

[JohnD]

for the same amount of heat, electricity costs about twice as much as gas.

night storage electricity is not as bad, but is not controllable for comfort and has usually run down by the time you get home in the evening.

 

[FastFerret]

I am clearly not as well educated you TELEGAN and BELL824, thanks for pointing that out and that you know me so well to make that point.

Refer to the attached diagram from the Glow Worm 52/3 back boiler manual for the installation and you will see that my Central heating and hot water system is gravity fed hot water with a coil from the back boiler to heat it and also has an ELECTRIC element as backup.

Untitled

• FastFerret
• 8 Dec 2011
• 1

I may be a friggin ****** as far as you are concerned but I hope that explains it for you genii.

 

[45yearsagasman]

FF, that system is nice and basic and The back boiler surely can be repaired for a reasonable cost as most first line spares are still around. To improve the system it can be converted to fully pumped operation. Just a few things to consider. Good luck

 

[macfudd]

As has been said,your bbu should be repairable,what were you told was wrong with it?

Phone a few gas safe engineers giving them the make and model of the bbu and ask them if they can repair them before actually calling them out.

 

[FastFerret]

Thanks for the replies.
Macfudd: I called in a GasSafe plumber/heating engineer and he took one look at the setup and said he would not touch it and nor would anyone else as it is too old and the parts are unavailable and then terrified me with a quote of £3500 to replace it with a combi.

Fortunately I posted the fault on another thread which led me to discover a stuck pump hidden behind a wall panel which a few taps with the screwdriver handle freed up and the system is running like a demon again.

45yearasagasman: It was thanks to your suggestion that I found the pump and got it running again. I really like the system because, as you say it is basic and easily maintained and works really well. I will keep it as long as it takes me to get the money together to upgrade as I am under no illusion that it will not last forever.

I did not realise, and am grateful for the info, that electric output equivalent to gas is so much more expensive so I will not be going down that route unless electric suddenly becomes vastly cheaper which is highly unlikely.

I seem to have been a victim of a professional scare mongering.
£3500 quote and a scare story or he could have tapped the pump with a screwdriver, got me going again and recommended a pump replacement in the near future, which would have guaranteed him more work and given him some integrity and a respectable reference. Why is it so hard for people to be genuine and honest these days?

I now understand my system here and won't be fooled so easily again.

 

[bell824]

Unfortunatly ff within our trade there are rouge engineers who will commonly use the scaremongering tactic, that is why it is always best to seek proffesional advice from 2 or 3 people,
At no point in my post was i refering to you as a ****** or completely uneducated i was merely pointing out to telegan that his post was slighly innapropriate and that you were asking a question with the only term you really knew.
Collectivly we as engineers knew what you were meaning but telegan seemed to be either fishing or being rude, if i offended you i did not intend on doing so

 

[FastFerret]

Understood, I apologise if I took anything the wrong way and reacted inappropriately.

I do appreciate all the help that the members are taking the time and effort to offer but I am always on the defensive, I need to lay off the caffeine a bit I think.