Baxi Bermuda back boiler - help

[NeilNeilOrangePeel]

Apologies in advance for my complete lack of knowledge on this subject, but...

I have moved into a house that has a Baxi Bermuda back boiler supplying the hot water and radiators.
The fire-front looks to date from around the 16th Century, so I would like to change it. So far on the internet the replacment fronts don't look particularly "modern".
Have these old back boilers seen better days?, should I be getting rid of it completely?

I had a man from British Gas come round, and he (a bit sarcastically) laughed and said no-one had these boilers anymore, and quoted £3000 to put a new boiler on the kitchen wall. Unfortunately this quote didn't include a replacment fire place, so we would have been left with a hole in the living room wall after forking out £3000!!.

Any advice on this matter would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[traineegasman]

Buy a new firefront, nothing wrong with back boilers, better than combi`s if you ask me...go on internet & find more modern version of your existing fire, just make sure it will comply to being fitted to your back boiler...simple as that matey, don`t be conned into paying for a new heating system `cos your fire looks crap....or ring Baxi..they`ll box you off... sorry, you have already been on internet You can`t replace fire unless it can be fitted to your existing back boiler, you have a choice....fit nice new modern fire... then convert your existing central heating system..

 

[kevplumb]

whats the boiler model

 

[ollski]

I had a man from British Gas come round, and he (a bit sarcastically) laughed and said no-one had these boilers anymore, and quoted £3000 to put a new boiler on the kitchen wall. Unfortunately this quote didn't include a replacment fire place, so we would have been left with a hole in the living room wall after forking out £3000!!.

Any advice on this matter would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

It is expensive to replace a back boiler due to the pipework being boxed in down the chimney breast etc and all the carpets and floorboards coming up to alter your pipework. There is no reason to leave a hole in the wall though you can simply have the existing back boiler decommissioned and left in place and a working boiler in the kitchen.

 

[traineegasman]

As for British Gas, have had the privilege of working for these bunch of theiving cowboys, they are that good, they don`t even need to test your gas carcass, for leaks, apparently they have special sensors in their noses...... British Gas..`Doing the right thing`.. yeah, right....did you know that their brief when coming to your property is to sell you something wether you need it or not?? Ring an engineer, tell me when he comes, if he doesn`t try to flog you something like a new boiler, I`ll show my ar**se in Woolworth`s... Immediately Dangerous Company..

 

[traineegasman]

[quote="ollski

It is expensive to replace a back boiler due to the pipework being boxed in down the chimney breast etc and all the carpets and floorboards coming up to alter your pipework. There is no reason to leave a hole in the wall though you can simply have the existing back boiler decommissioned and left in place and a working boiler in the kitchen.[/quote]

Errr... doesn`t need new back boiler, & if he did the new alterations would be made within the chimney breast, no need for taking up carpets or floorboards....

 

[DP]

Kevin asks model number for a reason. Modern (Baxi) back boiler is fourth of fifth generation boiler. Model number would help a lot as some Baxi BB can be fitted with VSP4 (coal effect glass fronted outset) fire fronts. These look very tidy. If you are looking for an inset fire, then you must have the current generation of back boiler.

Glowworm also do some very nice firefronts, but there again the BB has to be the model suited for the firefront.

Beauty of the BB is that it is out of the way and is very simple in construction, so not much goes wrong with it. System upgrade is often called for as HW usually is gravity (therefore long reheat times especially during the winter when rads are on as well)

You will be well advised to keep the firefront until replacement is to hand. You cannot fit just any fire to the BB- it has to be designed for that particular make and model of BB.

 

[NeilNeilOrangePeel]

Thanks for all that.
The boiler has got Baxi Bermuda 552 stamped on it, if that is the model Number. I think it is the original boiler for the house (so could be around 1970). Is this a bit old to persevere with? Works fine though!

 

[traineegasman]

New front needed. that`s all, if it ain`t broke don`t fix it... ring Baxi... they`ll tell you if you can upgrade to a newer firefront

 

[ollski]

Errr... doesn`t need new back boiler, & if he did the new alterations would be made within the chimney breast, no need for taking up carpets or floorboards....

I haven't seen it myself so going on the information available....the boiler could be 35 years old and even many of the more recent ones don't have replacement firefronts available. I was only really responding to the quote he got. If Bg can do all the alterations to change his system to a fully pumped boiler in the kitchen within the chimney breast and not lift any carpets or boards, then I personally think 3k is a bargain.
With regard to BG, I don't think that is either true or fair to judge the work of a qualified gas fitter before you yourself were qualified.....also a bit harsh to tar 7000 engineers with the same brush.

 

[traineegasman]

I apologise, ollski, did not mean to tar all Bg engineers with same brush, just going on own experience.

 

[DP]

Baxi- 401, 552,45/3, 57/3, 45/4, 57/4, 51/5 back boiler can be fitted with outset fire fronts.

Look at the link http://www.baxi.co.uk/products/gas/backBoilers/baxiOutset.html for a suitable firefront.

Insets will only fit 50/~ range of boilers.

 

[kevplumb]

beat me to it dp

http://www.baxi.co.uk/products/gas/backBoilers/renewals.html

 

[namsag]

Baxi 552 came out about 1982/3 and stayed in production till about 98 . very reliable boiler , not a great choice of relacement firefronts though and very expensive for what they are.

 

[kevplumb]

Baxi 552 came out about 1982/3 and stayed in production till about 98 . very reliable boiler , not a great choice of relacement firefronts though and very expensive for what they are.

true considering you can probably get a cheap combi for the same price