Solar Panels Questions.

[conny]

Thanks for the replies guys. Some interesting facts there.

Just for the record though, I am in rented property so not thinking of getting SP. The guy over the road has had it installed and my partner and I were discussing if he had done the right thing because of the various aspects of his house that I mentioned. i.e. Roof is facing east on front of house, west on back of house so in theory not getting full benefit of solar. (Panels are on east facing roof). It is also overlooked by some very tall sycamore trees which have preservation orders on them so they can't be cut down. Its quite a large footprint bungalow with about 6 or 7 people living there at present.

Do you think, given this information, he has made a wise choice?

 

[jeds]

Roof is facing east on front of house, west on back of house so in theory not getting full benefit of solar. (Panels are on east facing roof). It is also overlooked by some very tall sycamore trees...

These two factors alone make the installation a complete and utter waste of time, money, resources. The bloke has either been conned by the sale or brainwashed by the green myth. Photo voltaic panels can in some circumstances be a reasonable option - but it's a fine balance. That balance will improve when good batteries become an option but of course anybody who knows anything about battery production will know that good batteries are not at all 'green'. Treat PV like damp proofing - always get independent advice. A better option for most people would be an evacuated tube system to heat hot water. These can be very efficient and can produce genuinely useful hot water for low cost.

 

[SimonH2]

My old Glowworm is now 35 years old, and has never broken down. It is F rated so I probably have much higher energy bills than many people. A modern condensing boiler may cut £300+ off my bill per year.

A good quality condensing boiler and installation may cost me £3000+. However modern boilers are only expected to last 10 years and are much more likely to break down and need repairs in that time....

so saving £300 for 10 years .....what do you know....£3000 by which time I need a new condensing boiler......so I have made no real saving...(unless gas prices really shoot up).....

So I am sticking with my Glowworm for now....

If it can be fitted, then how about adding flue gas heat recovery to it ? Effectively adding the "condensing" part of the modern condensing boiler to it's flue. Probably a fairly quick payback on an old boiler like that.

 

[dishman]

Hehe, nice idea but the flue comes out of the middle of the back of this boiler and they are much larger in size to modern flues. So i dont think it could easily be retrofitted

If I attempted to move this boiler, take it off the wall, that would be the end of it most likely.

Although I am rennovating soon, it will have to come down, so it will end its life. It only makes financial sense to me to replace it if I am changing everyting...

If it aint broke....dont fix it.....

 

[SimonH2]

Yeah, I know what you mean.
We had a "good old" boiler in parents house when we moved in. At one point BG announced that they would not be able to do anything with it should the HE fail as parts were no longer available. It was starting to leak, so dad took it apart, drilled and tapped out the bolt holes, made new gaskets, and we ran it for quite a few more years.

Eventually it had to go to make room for some alterations, and a modern condensing unit was installed - an Icos M3080 which has averaged less than 2 years between breakdowns

 

[tony1851]

Eventually it had to go to make room for some alterations, and a modern condensing unit was installed - an Icos M3080 which has averaged less than 2 years between breakdowns

Most of these modern boilers are efficient in terms of combustion, but don't last five minutes before they need replacing.

Has anyone who makes the rules actually looked into the energy cost of scrapping and building new boilers at a faster rate - ie the 'whole-life cost'?

 

[dishman]

Yeah, I know what you mean.
At one point BG announced that they would not be able to do anything with it should the HE fail as parts were no longer available.

Haha - I was going to put this in my last post, but i thought the story was too long. British Gas did the same to us!!! I have since discovered it is a well know tactic they use...find some fault with an old boiler just before winter and hope the home owner is a bit naive and capitulates....

They have been telling us parts are not available for 20 years or so...but nevertheless they come and clean it and do a safety check every year......last year just as winter started we had the usual check...he took a lot longer than normal....(thought he was being through)....he then did a final carbon monoxide test, said there was a leak, and suddenly announced he was condemming the boiler....no questions...he capped it off...I was furious.....what was his evidence...(we basically had to trust how he got a reading)...our own carbon monoxide detector had not gone off etc....the only solution in his eyes was a new system....

Eventually got the area supervisor..he said the asbestos rope seal had probably failed.......as it was no longer manufactured by Glowworm themselves.....they could not make a repair ...he also said the whole unit would need to be removed to access and check the rope seal and it would be impossible to remove without damaging it....again only solution ....new system or surviving on electric.....

I had a sneaky suspicion all was not quite right.....went round to the local plumber....he said he would give it a go....came round.....lifted the front off and after two seconds accessed the old rope seal...which although old looked ok....he got a new generic brand rope seal....double wound it round the flue, resealed any gaps in the flue that "may" have given a reading....put it back together and it fired up fine...charged £200+

I then wrote a 2 page letter to British Gas informing they that had basically tried to rip me off and force me into getting a new system, that they did not even attempt a repair using the guise that "parts were not available". They ended up refunding me the full repair costs!!!

I would understand if a major bespoke part had failed, but this was a generic rope seal, what did they expect, Glowworm to still manufacture an asbestos one!!! To be honest, I am not convinced the seal failed...it is the type of boiler that if you wanted to find somthing wrong...you probably could, they probably figure that people are unlikey to argue with a "professional" no matter what they tell you...

I feel sorry for whoever falls for these tricks they play

Needless to say I have cancelled my Homecare policy as it is not worth the money I paid for....

Also folks on the forum...check you are not already covered for "Homecare" type repairs on your House insurance (it does not count as a claim if you use it). If you have that, you basically have a Homecare equivalent...usually they cover repairs up to a certain amount.

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I removed the label......

 

[SimonH2]

To be fair, what they said was that they couldn't do anything if the HE failed. Yes they recommended a new boiler, but there was no hard sell (it was a few years ago !) and they carried on servicing it.

 

[dishman]

To be fair, what they said was that they couldn't do anything if the HE failed. Yes they recommended a new boiler, but there was no hard sell (it was a few years ago !) and they carried on servicing it.

To his credit the enginner seemed very amicable and nice, but the thing is, they don't need to hard sell, you have a broken system, winter just around the corner, you have no/very little choice....they are just taking a gamble in my view that 9 times out of 10 the person will a)agree to a new system b)that, as they are there and can respond quickly...will go with them...