Green Deal advice (Boiler, Heat recovery systems)

[NHW]

I recently had a green deal assessment carried out as i was looking to get my boiler changed and wanted to take advantage of the £1000 that was on offer if you took out two of their recommended installations.

As assumed the boiler was recommended to be changed as the one we currently have is E rated (Caradon Ideal LXFF250), so now i needed one more installation and the only ones that were recommended other than the boiler were:

-Heat recovery for shower
-Fan Flue heat recovery
-High performance External Doors
-Floor Insulation

I ruled out the need for the doors to be changed because there was only an extra 3% efficiency, i was told by the assessor that floor insulation wouldnt make much difference as the wood we used for flooring was already quite thick. Which left me with either the heat recovery for the fan flue or for the shower.

After calling around a few installers i noticed that not many of them did the shower heat recovery system but all of them did the fan flue heat recovery, and after speaking to one of them indepth it seems as though it is a relatively new system which not many companies have experience with. So now i am not really looking to go for the shower heat recovery system as I could end up as the guinea pig in testing this type of system.

Which essentially leaves me with no other option than to have the boiler changed with the addition of the fan flue heat recovery system installed.

I was initially leaning towards a worcester as they seem to be highly rated from reviews, but i was told by 3 of the companies that worcester boilers cant be used with the fan flue heat recovery systems. Is there any Brands/Models that anybody would recommend?

Oh i am also looking to change from the conventional system to a combi, mainly just for storage reasons but i just wanted to check if it would be a wise move.

We are in a 3 bed detatched property with 3 adults, shower is used once a day and the bath is every other day, we don't actually use multiple hot water outlets at the same time e.g. washing dishes, taking bath + shower at the same time, we usually just do them one after another. The reason i mentioned this is because i know combi's cant really deal with supplying hot water to multiple outlets at the same time but thats not really something which would really affect us. was just wondering if there would be any other downsides from switching to a combi?

Thanks in advance for the advice that anybody posts

 

[gigz]

I'm not possitive but i was told today its been scrapped. Another green deal government scam. Would be very wary if i were you.

 

[Gregory01]

Im in the process of going through this myself. A couple of things which are worth noting

1/ the flue gas heat recovery unit is mainly designed for use with combis not system boilers. I had to get this checked and it is certainly the case with valiant boilers and I assume others as well.

2/ today they have announced that as of the 5th august the flue gas heat recovery until will be removed from the list of accepted improvements. From what I understand if you put in your application and it is accepted you will still qualify for it but applications received after this date will not go through.

3/ the date of the 5th august has been set as the deadline however if you read in the small print they can pull it earlier if they get loads of applications.

Good luck with whatever you chose but whatever you do get your application in ASAP if you think you will go with the flue gas heat recovery unit.

Greg

 

[ServiceNumpty]

GDHIF is now closed.

 

[Gregory01]

well that went quickly. As michele5041 has said they have now pulled all funding altogether. Another complete mess up - a fund which was supposed to last for the year being pulled after just 6 weeks.

On the plus side they have said they will honour everyone who has applied before the cut of point.

 

[Richardthe3rd]

Im in the process of going through this myself. A couple of things which are worth noting

1/ the flue gas heat recovery unit is mainly designed for use with combis not system boilers. I had to get this checked and it is certainly the case with valiant boilers and I assume others as well.
Greg

Why??!! It's a hot water preheat unit. While the flow rate may limit the use of these types of units, there's no reason it can't be used on most systems.

 

[Gregory01]

Hi Richardthe3rd

Im not sure why. We are going with a Valiant unit and it indicates on their website the flue gas heat recovery unit is to be used with combi boilers. I called their technical team to clarify and they confirmed this is correct and although you could plumb one into a system boiler it wouldn't give any real gain.

Im new to boilers so don't know the ins and outs just that is what Valiant have said. I know some other makes do have their own equivalent which will work with both combis and system boilers but this is not the case with Valiant.

 

[Richardthe3rd]

Hi Richardthe3rd

Im not sure why. We are going with a Valiant unit and it indicates on their website the flue gas heat recovery unit is to be used with combi boilers. I called their technical team to clarify and they confirmed this is correct and although you could plumb one into a system boiler it wouldn't give any real gain.

Im new to boilers so don't know the ins and outs just that is what Valiant have said. I know some other makes do have their own equivalent which will work with both combis and system boilers but this is not the case with Valiant.

Having experience of installing the Baxi Gas Saver with Combis, I was pleasantly surprised by it's performance. So say for example you had a shower fairly close to your system boiler, it would be an ideal pre-heat unit for a mixer valve, particularly in a family home at peak times - with everyone showering for Skool & work etc. However, they're not cheap, though depending on your lifestyle, you could reduce the size of your hot water cylinder - but the ladies like a bath....

 

[Gregory01]

Im glad they work well

The Baxi apparently is one which works with a system boiler. This was one option the company we are using came up with. I hadn't heard much about Baxi boilers so wanted to opt for something a bit more know, hence we went with a Valiant. Maybe that was the wrong choice?

 

[vulcancontinental]

If the thing you're talking about is a fuelsaver, it is part of the flue system, should be approved for use on the boiler you're using it for and it will have an equivalent flue length which, plus the length of the ordinary flue and an bends, should be kept within the maximum the boiler can take.

The Vaillant one is fine, it is sold by other outlets under other names and cheaper but your warranty will probably be void if the manufacturer visits to find a different branded one fitted as it will not have been certified for that boiler.

 

[shray]

Best get it in place quickly because as of the 5th of August the flue heat recovery is going to be pulleď from the green deal package !!

 

[PotatoHead]

And everyone knows why it was removed - it "creates an unfair competitive advantage to some companies" (or words to that effect).

No surprises which manufacturer doesn't offer flue heat recovery units...

 

[maxxxy]

Dont know if its different in scotland but assessor came,said i needed boiler only. Got the job done by local plumber. Paid £2240 applied and recieved £500 and an additional£150 for assessor.Think it has reopened but check green deal/heeps cashback first,as they have to ok it first before any work gets done....or no cashback!.Another deal involves paying it up. Top rated valiant boiler.

 

[wcavanagh]

Hi,
I am in Dundee, and looking at what options I have, as we have no heating or insulation at the moment. Where did you apply? Do you have a link, etc?

Cheers
Will