Water cylinder leaking - replace or fit combi boiler?

Hiya all, hoping someone can giude us in the right direction. Moved into house couple of years ago (built 2003)- standard GCH system, Ideal boiler servicing radiators & hot water tank (Telford Tornado copper unvented?)
recently had a leak from water cylinder - isolated & drained tank, called local plumber. He said that tank should be replaced as they cannot reliably be repaired even if lucky enough to find leak- appr cost of replacement/fitting £1000 !!!! (surely they should last more than 7-8 years...)
Currently we have no hot water - but luckily at this time of year no heating req'd either.......
Our quandary is that we have been considering putting in a combi boiler to have hot water on demand, but werent planning to do this til maybe next year (money...or lack of it at the mo') - but obviously dont want to pay out £1000 now to replace cylinder that wont be needed when/if combi boiler put in (ugh)
We also have a mira mixer shower in the bathroom - would this still work ok with a combi boiler ?
As we're getting fed up with cold showers we've even considered (as a cheap option) of putting in a combination cylinder (we dont have a tank in loft) just as a temporary solution to getting some hot water, until we're ready to decide what to do - would the shower still work, or is the water pressure too low ????

Do you want a combi with the pros and cons involved? Or a cylinder? If you want the combi then now seems like the time. That quote seems expensive to me but then I've never had to just have a cylinder replaced. Maybe because it is unvented?

I'm not quite sure how a combi is a temporary solution to anything. Either you have one and you're sorted, or you don't have one. Anyway, it should work fine with your shower. Not pumped and not electric, I assume? The shower performance from a combi boiler should be comparable to your unvented system.

I'd get on to manufacturer of the cylinder and complain like mad. They should last way more than 7-8 years. If not a free replacement I'd be pushing like mad for a generous discount on a new cylinder.

http://www.telford-group.com/default.htm

Given that the boiler is 7 years old, and assuming it has itself been generally trouble free, I'd replace the cylinder personally and leave it at that, making sure Ch water is properly corrosion inhibited....which might be the root cause of the cylinder failure..but who knows.

Alfredo

the reason for maybe wanting a combi boiler is we are a fairly low hot water usage family and at times need showering early (when normal timer not on) - our shower isnt electric nor pumped. We're veering towards getting the boiler done - but would rather be able to sort out finances & getting quotes in a reasonable timescale (rather than rushing into a decision just because we have to - no hot water)
The unvented cylinders are very expensive - a direct replacement inc of vat is about £600, then hes quoted labour & sundries of about £350??

The temporary idea was to get a combination cylinder (immersion heater) just to provide hot water - to buy us a bit of time. I've seen some at about £200 -£300, as all the wiring & pipes are already in the airing cupboard it may not be too difficult to put in place quickly ?????
But then again I'm no plumber................
Then we could sort out a new combi boiler before the winter sets in (and before the VAT goes up !!!!!!)
when done maybe sell immersion heater as nearly new.........

thanks alfredo,

the plumber said that, apparently, these unvented thingys have to be serviced annually - we werent aware of this (never seen one before) and the previous owners only told us to keep an eye on the feed pressure tank/valve, making sure its at about 3.5 ???
I seriously doubt that the previous owner bothered with any servicing and certainly theres no paperwork to prove it - so Telfords would probably tell us to take a running jump..........

The temporary idea was to get a combination cylinder

Click to expand...

Ah OK. I misread that the first time.

My advice is to go now with what you want eventually - a combi boiler. Get a good one with weather compensation built in.

Make sure the existing radiators and all associated pipework are CLEAN BEFORE THE BOILER IS INSTALLED.

Your existing shower fed from an unvented cylinder should be suitable. You may need to restrict the cold flow into it.

The simple answer is that you cannot use a combi boiler fitted with weather compensation to heat rads and a HW cylinder. This is because the weather compensation will then control the flow to the heating of the cylinder. Depending on the outside temperature, that may result in some inappropriate boiler flow temperatures.

The more involved answer is that it is possible to connect the boiler in a Y plan but with hot water priority. That will need a relay to insert a potentiometer in place of the weather sensor to be adjusted to give a flow temperature of about 70°. If the flow rate is correct, this will enable the cylinder to reheat whilst the boiler is still working efficiently.

Tony

The problem is probably due to corrosion, very common, thus system needs cleaning.
Ideal is a crap brand (I think it ranks at the very bottom of a survey under the pro's here) and in my experience, often badly installed as well.

A good combi will be miles cheaper than what you have now, and give you all you need if you are a low water user like you.

How many hot water outlets do you have? Maybe one of these would be better suited to your house. http://www.glow-worm.co.uk/products/system-store-boilers/ultrapower-sxi/

It's best to install a boiler to the needs of your house rather than your own current needs