Back boilers

[Steve]

Why are these no longer widely fitted? Are they fitted at all?

Why are floor standing boilers no longer fitted (for the most part)?

In a small house, a back boiler would seem to make sense due to them being out of the way.

 

[LUNAT]

HI

1.combis are easy
2.less pipework
3.etc

 

[sambotc]

Mainly due to SEDBUK ratings.

An open flued appliance in general is going to struggle (read never in a million years) reaching band B or above which is now a requirement.

Also there location makes it awkward for running in condensate drains which will be required for any boiler band B and above (as yet no band B or above boiler had been non-condensing)

Potterton have just released a back boiler replacement which requires a new liner which I belive is plastic to fill a very small gap in the market.

Also most floor standing boiler's had cast iron heat exchangers which don't fiar well in condensing boilers. Because of the lighter material used there is little point putting it on the floor when you could hang it on the wall out the way. Again potterton do a floor standing boiler which is just a baxi solo in a big box and utterly pointless IMO.

HTH Sam

 

[powell30]

To fill a very small gap in the market???!!

There must be a million or more back boilers in the country.....if baxi sell to 10% of em thats a 100,00 unit sales.....and spares, and repairs etc etc.......

 

[sambotc]

Sure, and it's been released to late IMO. If it can be fitted for a start (condensate drain) then I can imagine it will be expensive both for materials (boiler, fire front, liner) and in labour hours, health and safety issues with dropping the flue liners, scaffolding etc ( for bigger companies at least) and wether or not it is reliable. That said it is probably just a baxi solo!

No idea how the fire front works on them, presuming the liner is plastic?

Should be fitting one soon so we will see.


Sam

 

[Steve]

re. the condensate drain, can a simple pump be fitted and the small bore pipe lead away to a drain? I read somewhere that Baxis come with one built in.

Thanks for info anyway.

 

[sambotc]

Just had a look through the baxi website. It looks like there is a built in condensate pump on this boiler. Good news

Sam

 

[KevC1]

Why would you want a boiler in your living room? Personally I don't want to listen to a boiler firing up while i'm watching TV.

 

[powell30]

I agree the upfront costs of the boiler are higher BUT, it fits where the old one does, little/no pipe reworking, band A and yes the condense pump is integral.......apart from the need to fit the plastic flue liner it is an easy install.

Oh and dare i say it the electric fire looks good to.....holographic

And as said, if only 10% refit.....thats a whole lot of boilers......

 

[sambotc]

Is it definatly an electric fire front then? Makes sense but seems a bit of a comprimise.

Also remember possible 22mm gas upgrade, lots around with a 15mm under screed.

Would rather have a proven product and a choice at that, which would lead me to recommend a wall hung boiler instead majority of the time. In fact I think I would only consider recommending one of these if there was no where else to site the boiler.

If it had been marketed 4 years ago then I would imagine it would have sold like hot cakes, but engineer's are used to moving boilers away from chimney breasts now so it's main advantage has been overwritten.

Look forward to fitting one or two though just to see how viable it is.

JMO Sam

 

[powell30]

From our chats to the baxi training team (i work for baxi...heateam) they too pushed for a backboiler replacement some years ago......

Oh well beter late than never. As said i think baxi's logic is 10% of the backboiler market. The fire has to be electric.....plactic flue liner and heat don't mix Just a heads up the condense pump is the same as the one they fit in the promax fsb boilers and the float is prone to stick but striping out the electric fire is a 3 minute job and from then on access is good. The plastic flue liner is a doddle, push twist and lock

The heat engine is well tried and as far as i am aware no serious problems have sprung out from trials......

Agreed the gas upgrade could be an issue sometimes but i bet there are a lot of backboiler happt customers out there thinking they just want a replacement....