Best solution for a decent powerful shower?

[ianmcd]

WOW that is old, your ebgineer has misinformed you, if the heating is working fine , your boiler uses what is called a bi-thermal heatexchanger, most modern boilers have 2 heatexchangers but yours only has one, possibly scaled up on the hw pass, easily enough cleaned though, it is not sludged

 

[ianmcd]

WOW that is old, your engineer has misinformed you, if the heating is working fine , your boiler uses what is called a bi-thermal heatexchanger, most modern boilers have 2 heatexchangers but yours only has one, possibly scaled up on the hw pass, easily enough cleaned though, it is not sludged

 

[clueless78]

WOW that is old, your ebgineer has misinformed you, if the heating is working fine , your boiler uses what is called a bi-thermal heatexchanger, most modern boilers have 2 heatexchangers but yours only has one, possibly scaled up on the hw pass, easily enough cleaned though, it is not sludged

Thanks, in fairness maybe I misquoted him - I just recall it was something to do with heat exhanger being sludged which accounts for why it works 5% of the time. He made no mention of attempting to clean it and just said the parts were no longer available as it's obsolete due to it's age.

This wasn't an independent plumber but a 'home emergency' type plumber attached to my home insurance so he'd have no real incentive to carry out any work on it as a regular plumber might as he was being paid a set fee regardless.

 

[ianmcd]

Its not sludged if the heating is working, as said it could have a build up of limescale, doesnt need any parts

 

[clueless78]

Its not sludged if the heating is working, as said it could have a build up of limescale, doesnt need any parts

Thanks, I'm confusing the word sludge with scale - told you I was clueless!

Given it's age would you recommend trying to find a plumber to clean it? Or just bite the bullet and get a new boiler?

My main aim is not to have hot water through the taps, as that geneuinely doesn't bother me, but a decent shower so I'd need to get some kind of shower installed at the same time.

 

[ianmcd]

Ask the plumber installing the shower to de-scale the heat exchanger at the same time, its just adding a chemical and fushing it through

 

[clueless78]

Ask the plumber installing the shower to de-scale the heat exchanger at the same time, its just adding a chemical and fushing it through

I think I’d need to get the de-scale done first and check that it works reliably for a few weeks before I have the shower installed, otherwise I’ll have got rid of the electric shower and then have a shower running from a boiler that doesn’t produce hot water!

Any recommendations for shower type/make/model?

 

[ianmcd]

Does the water from the hot tap run at a decent flow rate ?

 

[clueless78]

Does the water from the hot tap run at a decent flow rate ?

I've just tested all the hot taps in the house, the bathroom sink tap was around 8.5 litres/pm, the bath tap 11.5 litres p/m and the kitchen sink 9 litres p/m.

 

[ianmcd]

your heat exchanger is not scaled then

 

[terryplumb]

Fit a new combi and a thermostatic mixer shower . There are grants available to help with the cost of new boilers ,if you qualify. Worth exploring .

 

[clueless78]

your heat exchanger is not scaled then

I think whatever the problem is it’s unlikely to be fixable due to the age of the boiler and parts not being available, 5% of the time the hot water works and is skin meltingly hot, 95% of the time it doesn’t work at all. The heating has always worked perfectly throughout.

 

[clueless78]

Fit a new combi and a thermostatic mixer shower . There are grants available to help with the cost of new boilers ,if you qualify. Worth exploring .

Thanks, I doubt I’d be eligible as I’m a homeowner (well, mortgage payer!) and work full time. The new green grant does include homeowners but boilers aren’t covered.

Any recommendations on spec or make/model to look at for both the boiler and shower?

 

[ianmcd]

Probably just the DHW flow switch, still available, tell your insurance to send someone that knows the boiler

 

[clueless78]

Probably just the DHW flow switch, still available, tell your insurance to send someone that knows the boiler

Thanks, I’ve changed insurers since then, I still have home emergency cover with the new one but there’s no guarantee who ever they send would be knowledgeable about such an old boiler - given its age I think I’d be better replacing it.