21 Year old boiler

[edeveuk]

Hello All,

My "new" home I am just about to move into has a 21 year old netaheat boiler in place (parts obsolete/ not available) and I would like to replace for an energy efficient version.

House has.........
1 shower (will install second at some point in en-suite)
Water tank in loft
Small water tank/ container in loft to top-up central heating system
Hot water tank in airing cupboard
4 bed in size
14 radiators in house
Loft insulation level as per old house- not added to

Now the funny bit- quoted from British Gas for a British Gas 330+ installation, powerflush, some new pipework to boiler, magnetic filter, flue replacement, new controller with energy efficiency indicator in kwh, 1-1.5 days to fit, loft insulation etc. oh a 6 free radiator thermostat controls! wait for it...............

£3600,

Is it me or are they having a laugh

Could you tell me........
What type of boiler is the 330+ - regular or system?
Who makes this really?
Is it so expensive because of the energy efficiency electronic monitoring?
What's peoples experience of reliability of the 330+ boiler?
Would I be better off with another named brand- Worcester-Bosch for example?
Why do they need to lift floorboards between the boiler and the hot water tank to install new pipes?
Going from a 21 year old boiler to a new boiler can I really expect to go from 60% ish efficient to 95%? I see conflicting information on this.
Is a powerflush and a magnetic filter necessary (water i nthe area is very hard.
I have new carpets going in - would I be better getting the boiler done first?

I am going to get other quotes of course and would prefer to put the business into a reliable local installer in the current economic environment and so any insights would be very much appreciated.

Edwin

 

[gavinda]

the price is what you pay for the comeback.
system flush and a magnaclean are avirtual must for any new boiler on an old system. the boiler is a rebranded gloworm cxi. yes the efficiency will be greatly improved but couldnt promise how much. spend money on the boring essentials before the pretty stuff. you cant shower with a carpet eh . if you can get a good personal recommendation for a local guy you probalby will get the job cheaper, but worst comes to worst if bg **** up the job they can hardly hide from you.

 

[bhm1712]

im only 75% sure but i think the 330 is actually a glow worm in disguise, and its a regular boiler. my mother had this boiler installed by BG for about 3grand

 

[nickso]

just to make you aware the 330+isnt a bad boiler but the energy monitoring doofer is next to useless IMO. dont base your entire spend on this gimmick alone. i promise you after a few weeks you wont even check it with any regularity.

 

[mickyg]

1)What type of boiler is the 330+ - regular or system?
2)Who makes this really?
3)Is it so expensive because of the energy efficiency electronic monitoring?
4)What's peoples experience of reliability of the 330+ boiler?
5)Would I be better off with another named brand- Worcester-Bosch for example?
6)Why do they need to lift floorboards between the boiler and the hot water tank to install new pipes?
7)Going from a 21 year old boiler to a new boiler can I really expect to go from 60% ish efficient to 95%? I see conflicting information on this.
8)Is a powerflush and a magnetic filter necessary (water i nthe area is very hard.
9)I have new carpets going in - would I be better getting the boiler done first?

I've organised your questions for you
1)Its a regular heat only boiler
2)Glowworm make it, its a glow worm flexicom with a glow worm ultracom display. Its built especially for BG so they can dress up a relatively low cost appliance as something unique.
3)BG had this feature added at there request, no one else has it, so it makes a handy sales feature. Personally I find the gas meter more than adequate to measure gas usage, thats why it has numbers on it.
4) The flexicom is pretty decent boiler I've installed a couple myself and so far impressed for cost/quality compromise, however I personally believe the ultracom is far better.
5) Not necessarily, people on this forum will argue all day about the best brand, just be sure to avoid the bad ones. The quality of the work is usually of far better importance. I presonally like the glow worm boilers.
6) Can't say from here, depends on the current pipework layout.
7)No, completely dependant on the system as well as the boiler, but 35% reduction is very optimistic for an average system.
8) Powerflush yes, almost certainly. Filter, no, but strongly recommended.
Its not to do with water hardness, but the 20yrs of corroded radiator floating around the system.
9) absolutely. Heating and electrics should always be the first projects in a home. They can cause alot of mess and disruption.

Micky

 

[Tipper]

Never do anything without getting competitive quotes!

I had quotes from BG and 3 others and the spread of prices was from £2750 to £4500. It involved changing to a combi, re-locating the boiler and tying the piping back into the existing system most of it hidden in pipe ducts at the other end of the system.

I would have done it myself but I am oil qualifed not gas!

 

[daveaf]

21 years and still going
I thought mine was doing well at 17 years. After spending hours on here, I dont think id change it LOL. The newer ones have far too many electrickery bits in for my liking.

PCB's? In a boiler Whats all that about then? Stick with the old simple jobbie. only 3 or 4 things to go wrong. Agreed its not as economic as a new one but how long will it take you to get your £3500 back?

Get it serviced, give it a good flush out and leave it alone for another 21 years.

 

[htgeng]

21 years and still going
I thought mine was doing well at 17 years. After spending hours on here, I dont think id change it LOL. The newer ones have far too many electrickery bits in for my liking.

Which is ok if you don't mind having a gas bill double the amount of mine.

Go for a quality make, don't go for a glowworm whatever you do. Not what I would call quality imho! I dont like WB, poxi batterton or not ideal either!

 

[daveaf]

My boiler is like owning a vintage car, breaking down all the time and fixing it is all part of the fun. Along with the running costs

 

[D_Hailsham]

Which is ok if you don't mind having a gas bill double the amount of mine.

Are you talking from personal experience - i.e comparing your old boiler with your new one? A halving of gas consumption would suggest an increase in efficiency from 45% to 90%.

A 50% saving sounds a lot. But there is the capital cost to be considered, the cost of financing that capital and the expected life of the new boiler.

Do the sums properly and you will realize that changing a boiler because it will mean lower gas bills is not economic sense. The only sensible time to change it is when the existing boiler is unrepairable or will cost too much to repair.

 

[mickyg]

Go for a quality make, don't go for a glowworm whatever you do.

Why not? Please explain. And what would you recommend?

 

[gas_man_gaz]

manifolds/saniblock's splitting, disconector's leaking, exspansion hose's blocking up and pcbs faulting f9 apart from that haven't found the glowworms that bad
ideal by far the worst tho (apart from the classic, but ive yet to see a new classic!)

 

[mickyg]

manifolds/saniblock's splitting, disconector's leaking, exspansion hose's blocking up and pcbs faulting f9 apart from that haven't found the glowworms that bad

I was asking in regards to "new" glowworms. Not the old models. You are referring to the CXI which has seized production.
The complete CXI hydroblock was a bit of a disaster, but it really is irrelevant to this discussion seeing as we are talking about a heat only boiler and even the the combis have a completely different hydroblock. Now listen to the question again.

Why wouldn't you recommend a "new" glowworm boiler? please explain.

 

[gas_man_gaz]

ok i've listened again, and the question was why wouldn't you recommend a glowworm? so glowworm combis aren't irrelevant to this discussion.
the old glowworms were rubbish and there design flaws didn't show up straight away, whats to say the new ones are any better? i haven't seen that many of the new glowworms but my comments weren't purely aimed at the cxi range. n like i've said i've had quite a few probs with the pcb's faulting f9

 

[nickso]

the flexicom has that ridiculous rubber flow pipe on the left side, not a great idea and proving to be quite unreliable. im thinking of getting one for vanstock im changing them that often.

also the new CXI seems to leak from the diverter a fair bit.

TBH i dont think gloworms are that bad. pretty much middle of the road stuff with their issues like any other middle of the road boiler.