Calor gas boiler -- "forget that if i were you"

[Corgigrouch]

Open fires are all well and good when in use (Even if they are very inefficient) but when they are not in use they make a really good cooling device.... So much so that years ago the Arabs used to build chimney like devices in their homes to allow hot air to rise up the chimney and draw in cool air from outside..... a stove would be a far better bet to keep the heat in your home.. You have to view your home from an engineering point of view...

 

[Tibbot]

why are those with oil spending £2.5-3k compared with £1-1.5k for gas.

How have you verified this information? Only I new this bloke who was fat as an oaf and ugly as sin, yet claimed to spend nearly all his spare time 'sha**ing nice birds'.

I too took his word but suspected by that, he meant 'alone in clubs drinking halves of lager'.

 

[jessejazza]

The oil boilers last forever virtually though and easily repaired
with very little to go wrong. Unlike gas boilers.

So what are the problems with gas boilers. I had one when i lived in Scotland and what can go wrong with them. From what i remember the burner is just holes. For our oil boiler we've had to have a new motor recently but as you say they do last a good while... ours is perhaps 20-25 yrs and is about 10% less efficient compared with a new one.

 

[jessejazza]

why are those with oil spending £2.5-3k compared with £1-1.5k for gas.

How have you verified this information?

Simply by asking folk what they're spending. Virtually all households with the standard oil tank regardless of housesize have 4 fills a year. I don't know if it's true but there is now legislation coming in that will require more rigorous construction for oil tanks and 3 x price.

 

[petit_pablo]

Suffolk must be a global warming hotspot! Neither myself or any of my neighbours use anywhere near that volume of oil, even in the old brick built houses. Ive personally used approx 300l of oil since october.

I think you will make greater savings by improving your homes efficiency than your fuel type.

Draught proofing, insulation, turning room stat down etc.

 

[jessejazza]

Open fires are all well and good when in use (Even if they are very inefficient)... a stove would be a far better bet to keep the heat in your home.. You have to view your home from an engineering point of view...

Depends how an open fire has been set up. A standard inset with general grill does not give out much heat but will burn logs and coal. If one looks at what the Victorians did one ends up with a much better setup i.e. using a higher front bar like 10" instead of about 7" which allows for a deeper bed of coals which then when glowing orange give out far more heat, narrowing sides or making it shallow by a new grill. The Victorians had their fires up about a 1' high and were shallower and deeper - best setup is one of their kitchen ranges; back boiler, hot and warm oven and two plates for pans and they really do warm the whole house. The cast iron fireplace or a basket with large fire back also is a better bet than an inset.

A stove depends very much on the house; friends of ours were farmers had two stoves and both weren't that good... either too hot and couldn't be adequately controlled - wood burner as they had a wood on the farm. Ideally suited to an Inglenook fireplace something which i might consider in the future as we have an Inglenook that has been covered over and i intend to unearth it as a feature and/or maybe stove or basket with fireback. But the lining for a stove is what costs the money about £2k. But a stove is deceptive as it's a closed system and burns much faster than an open fire thus consuming more fuel. Without your own supply of wood a stove is not cheap as the couple two doors down found and wished they'd had a multi fuel. Another couple in the village had their chimney lined and were very disappointed.

 

[Kev F]

The cheapest by far of all of these will be an air source heat pump

 

[jessejazza]

Suffolk must be a global warming hotspot! Neither myself or any of my neighbours use anywhere near that volume of oil, even in the old brick built houses. Ive personally used approx 300l of oil since october.

I think you will make greater savings by improving your homes efficiency than your fuel type.

Draught proofing, insulation, turning room stat down etc.

As for Suffolk i do wonder if air is different somehow - i used to live in Scotland and down here my hands just crack in winter. The consumption i quoted was what most folk here use i assure you. If you've only used 300 L i'm amazed. Our house is double glazed, i cut down what draughts i can with heavy curtains over the door etc, the walls are solid so one can't do cavity wall insulation but the roof has a thick layer.

One area folk do forget about is the hot water cylinder. If that is scaled up and the outlet nozzle is say reduced to 5mm diameter as ours was (renewed Jan 2009) - consumption then was even more!

The other reason for considering a change is that the oil tank is quite old and the copper pipe runs along under the mortar of the house... not a good idea as they react as well as the boiler's age.

 

[Boilerman2]

Well it looks like you have already made your mind up, so go ahead! install LPG - but don't expect us to agree with your claim that LPG will cost less to run than LPG (bulk tank rentals etc etc!!)

Oil is marginally cheaper than LPG if your boiler is 20-25 years old it will far more than 10% less efficient as a new boiler such as a Grant Vortex!

a 20-25 year old boiler will be around 82% Gross efficient, a new grant steamer will be around 98% Nett (taking into account Latent heat recovered from the flue gasses as they condense)

 

[Corgigrouch]

Depends how an open fire has been set up. A standard inset with general grill does not give out much heat but will burn logs and coal. If one looks at what the Victorians did one ends up with a much better setup i.e. using a higher front bar like 10" instead of about 7" which allows for a deeper bed of coals which then when glowing orange give out far more heat, narrowing sides or making it shallow by a new grill. The Victorians had their fires up about a 1' high and were shallower and deeper - best setup is one of their kitchen ranges; back boiler, hot and warm oven and two plates for pans and they really do warm the whole house. The cast iron fireplace or a basket with large fire back also is a better bet than an inset.

But when the fire is not lit it is still a cooling tower...A direct vent to the great outdoors.

A decent stove will be far more efficient than an open fire.... A friend has a stove made in Siberia it has multiple combustion chambers several interlinked layers open to allow air to convect over to allow maximum heat transfer, an air stop and a flue damper and is very controlable.. and it also has a very handy cooking ring on the top, perfect for sitting a kettle for a nice cup of tea...

You wanted to know where your heat is going.... Well it is going up your chimney..

 

[Corgigrouch]

The other reason for considering a change is that the oil tank is quite old and the copper pipe runs along under the mortar of the house... not a good idea as they react as well as the boiler's age.

Well you're still going to need a pipe for your Propane.... Having just de sooted a poorly oil boiler, I understand your desire to get rid of yours for nice clean propane but propane is not the sane answer..

 

[jessejazza]

A decent stove will be far more efficient than an open fire.... A friend has a stove made in Siberia it has multiple combustion chambers several

what make would that be? a stove is a consideration when i've unearthed the Inglenook

 

[Agile]

Your figures are wrong.
According to the oftec website oil will be the cheapest form
of heating and hot water.

The oil boilers last forever virtually though and easily repaired
with very little to go wrong. Unlike gas boilers.

Could OFTEC be biased in favour of oil?

Based on the large number of postings here recently and taking into account that oil must be a very small percentage of boilers they seem to be responsible for many problems.

A further problem with oil is that the storage tank/deliveries add a further potential for faults from water and tank sludge. You dont get those from gas supplies!

Oil boilers are more commonly used for larger houses which will have higher consumption.

Tony

 

[Corgigrouch]

A decent stove will be far more efficient than an open fire.... A friend has a stove made in Siberia it has multiple combustion chambers several

what make would that be? a stove is a consideration when i've unearthed the Inglenook

Sadly it's not yet ready for sale in the UK...Yet. I have to get them tested and CE marked..(I'm still pondering on the benefits of HETAS approval) There is only one in the UK that I bought and installed to satisfy myself of the quality and to look for potential problems so I don't get hammered on unforeseen warranty issues... So my statement was just a bit of a teaser.

 

[simond]

Looking at your posts, op, I find your lack of basic understanding at odds with your degree.

You seem to know the answer to your question, in spite of the mathematical evidence. Since when was science based on anecdotes? Or are youworking for HM Government as a renewables expert?