What type of boiler is this and should I upgrade?

[muffking]

Hi guys.
I may be moving from a house with a Baxi combi to a house with a strange boiler system that I've not come across before. It has a tank built into the boiler unit and what looks like an external vented pressure tank?

Is there any significant advantage to change to a more modern boiler type?
The main bathroom does have a power shower, but I'd consider changing this to an electric shower.

 

[sooey]

A "vented pressure tank" is a bit of a contradiction in terms, some pics would be good.

 

[Aquaheat]

Hi guys.
I may be moving from a house with a Baxi combi to a house with a strange boiler system that I've not come across before. It has a tank built into the boiler unit and what looks like an external vented pressure tank?

Is there any significant advantage to change to a more modern boiler type?
The main bathroom does have a power shower, but I'd consider changing this to an electric shower.

Seriously, come on! Bit more information or some pictures would be helpful as the crystal ball is in for recalibration right now.

Jon

 

[muffking]

Sorry guys, as a novice in this area I don't really have much more info other than to say that the estate agent said that the boiler contained a hot water tank, was also able to provide instant heat like a combi, plus I saw a round white tank approximately 2' diameter mounted externally with a car type valve at the top, possibly pressure vessel?

 

[Echo the husky]

That could still mean anything. Do need photos or at least a make and model number. Both would be better!

 

[Aquaheat]

So it's some sort of boiler that has a DHW preheat store with some sort of external expansion vessel.

Honest answer, without the pi55 taking, is to get your estate agent or solicitor to get a survey carried out and check what you are buying.

It seems that you have just viewed a house and don't have any information. This is what your agents are for.

Jon

 

[muffking]

So it's some sort of boiler that has a DHW preheat store with some sort of external expansion vessel.

Honest answer, without the pi55 taking, is to get your estate agent or solicitor to get a survey carried out and check what you are buying.

It seems that you have just viewed a house and don't have any information. This is what your agents are for.

Jon

Absolutely appreciate the responses guys. And Jon, good point about the agent. I'll get onto them for confirmation so I can check with you guys and figure out the cost of replacing it as it's a massive boiler unit that takes up an entire cupboard, but with no visible water tank.

As a side note. Is it possible to run a power shower from a combi, or is it a simple job to swap a power shower for an electric one?

 

[muggles]

I'm going to take a very wild punt here and suggest it might be a Powermax. Did it have the same approximate footprint as a washing machine, but about 1.5 times the height? Possibly with a grey control panel on the front about two thirds of the way up? If so, budget for replacement - they're temperamental beasts with expensive spares, and a lot of engineers won't even work on them so unless you can find someone who is familiar and happy with them it's best to get rid.

You can run a thermostatic shower from a combi; you'll have to define what you think a power shower is as I don't think it's what you think it is

 

[Dan Robinson]

No you can't. But it doesn't look like you have a combi.

 

[muffking]

I'm going to take a very wild punt here and suggest it might be a Powermax. Did it have the same approximate footprint as a washing machine, but about 1.5 times the height? Possibly with a grey control panel on the front about two thirds of the way up? If so, budget for replacement - they're temperamental beasts with expensive spares, and a lot of engineers won't even work on them so unless you can find someone who is familiar and happy with them it's best to get rid.

You can run a thermostatic shower from a combi; you'll have to define what you think a power shower is as I don't think it's what you think it is

I'd say that's a pretty good guess. It's a great big boiler unit like you say around 1.5 times the height of a washing machine, but not quite as wide (although not far off). And yes it has a dark control panel running across around 2/3rds the way up, just like this:-

Any major issues in having this swapped over for better boiler and is a combi the way to go.

Further to my power shower query I'd say it's a mixer shower (similar to the next pic). I presume there's no electrics here, although that could change if I strip the bathroom. So bearing in mind that I have the option of changing the boiler at the same time, which shower type should I go for (been used to an electric cold fed shower for the last 10 years, so my opinion is biased).

 

[Dan Robinson]

Problem with the God awful powermax is that it was used to get over several problems associated with lazy house builders.

Your gas supply is likely to be too small for a combi boiler and the location is likely to be a monumental pain in the arris for an unvented cylinder.

 

[muffking]

Problem with the God awful powermax is that it was used to get over several problems associated with lazy house builders.

Your gas supply is likely to be too small for a combi boiler and the location is likely to be a monumental pain in the arris for an unvented cylinder.

Having read this you could well be right - http://www.powermax-repairs.co.uk/replacingapowermax.html
The boiler cupboard is in the centre of the house, so relocating a new flue would be an issue unless going up into the loft, although it does back onto the bathroom, so a drain would be accessible. How about the gas though, is it a simple case of running a thicker pipe front he gas box?

 

[muggles]

Crystal ball is working well this morning That is indeed an old Range Powermax. They are often left for years without being serviced, or are serviced very badly by people who really don't know what they're doing. I'm really quite happy working with them and like to think that I do a very good job, but to that end I've spent anything up to four hours and a few hundred pounds of my customers' money getting them back up to a properly serviceable condition again after many years of neglect. They're also prone to rotting out their flues, leading to a very dangerous situation. My previous advice stands - budget for replacement at the earliest opportunity, unless you want to go down the rabbit hole of getting one properly serviced, in the knowledge that you'll probably spend a few hundred on something that's going to need replacing in the next few years anyway.

It is sometimes possible to run a new boiler flue through the loft, particularly if a gable end is close by and suitable for putting the flue out of. A site survey by a qualified installer will be able to answer questions like this, as well as the required gas pipe size, for you. You may need a larger diameter pipe running from the gas meter, or you may be fine with what you have. It all depends on the route through the house (length and number of bends) and what's there already. Powermaxes should have 22mm pipe to within 300mm of the gas valve, so it can sometimes be a simple upgrade at the meter end.

As for the shower question, Mira and Aqualisa both have good ranges, you just need to make sure you buy one that's suitable for a high pressure system. If you just want a new shower but don't want to rip out your bathroom, there are ceiling-fed showers available that retro-fit without the need to remove tiles from the wall, like this one...

 

[muffking]

Thanks Andrew, all is not lost then
I'm inclined to use this to get the cost of the house down. Mentally I've already moved in, but having lived with a Baxi Combi for the last 10 years I'm used to the odd service but no real problems. Plus the house is on a water meter (unlike my old one), so I don't want the kids using up all the hot water and the boiler filling itself up all the time.

I do plan to fit a new bathroom suite anyway, but the ceiling fed mixer shower is a cool idea. The hot & cold pipework is currently buried in the wall and comes out as 2 pipes into the mixer, so I still have the option of capping off the hot pipe above the ceiling and feeding power down when I do the bathroom. I suppose that even gives me the flexibility of doing that before the boiler.

 

[Agile]

With the house presumably being well over £300k then I would not say that £2-£3k for a new boiler is at all significant if everything else suits you.

Tony

 

[muggles]

With the house presumably being well over £300k
Tony

That's a fairly wild assumption Tony, even by your usual standards. The OP's in Lincolnshire - you can pick up 3-bed houses in that area for under £90k