Boiler upgrade

[brisafc]

• Hi, I'm moving into a large 6 bed victorian house soon. The existing heating system is an old floor standing combi. At the moment there is only one bathroom with a separate shower (not electric). My question is what is the best type of system to put in if we were to put in another bathroom with seperate shower (dont eant electroc), as well as 2 more toilets?
  Any advice greatly appreciated,
  Thanks
  Brian.

 

[DP]

If you have floor standing combi, then you should be OK. For belt and braces job, has to be unvented cylinder and boiler

 

[Agile]

Whatever combi you have you will not be able to run two showers together unless you reduce the hot water rate to about 6 litres per minute each.

As DP says an unvented cylinder would be the solution but then the mains supply will probably need upgrading. Measuring dynamic flow rate would be the first step.

Tony

 

[muggles]

There's no reason why you can't keep the combi and put a cylinder in as well though, you'll just need to split off the hot water circuit from the combi

 

[brisafc]

Thanks for the advise guys. I'm no expert but the existing boiler looks quite old and therefore quite inefficient I would imagine as it would take a lot to heat the house with the high ceilings ect. If I was to put a gas central heating boiler in with an unvented cylinder for hot water is this easily done. The boiler is in a large utility room with plenty room for a cylinder if need be or does it need to go upstairs?
Thanks,
Brian.

 

[Agile]

Cylinder can go anywhere.

But first the dynamic flow rate needs measuring.

If its a Worcester 400 or similar they are not actually all that inefficient. Perhaps 80% compared with 90% for a condensing boiler.

The earlier model is a bit dated though now. Best to know exactly what it is before giving advice.

The cylinder could be fitted first and the boiler changed in a few years.

Tony

 

[brisafc]

The existing boiler is actually a Worcester highflow 400. That's interesting to know, I thought it would be very inefficient. I do know he has had it serviced every year. We tested the shower upstairs and was quite powerful considering it is some distance from the boiler itself. Will get the pressure tested properly when we move in though. So would you suggest keeping this boiler and putting in a cylinder to run another shower?
Thanks,
Brian.

 

[newbuildinstaller]

High flow rates that are needed for two showers are not well suited to combi boilers. Best thing would be a UV set up. It would depend on your incoming mains. You get out what youput in after all ha ha.

You can add booster pumps etc but this would add to the cost somewhat!

Best thing would be to get a plumber out to do a survey (I do them for free anywhere local as you are ) he can explain the benefits and what is possible.

Without seeing the job are talking in depth its hard for people to give you much more advice. View media item 50947

Untitled

• newbuildinstaller
• 30 Aug 2011
• 3

These two jobs I did ran two showers easily

 

[newbuildinstaller]

The existing boiler is actually a Worcester highflow 400. That's interesting to know, I thought it would be very inefficient. I do know he has had it serviced every year. We tested the shower upstairs and was quite powerful considering it is some distance from the boiler itself. Will get the pressure tested properly when we move in though. So would you suggest keeping this boiler and putting in a cylinder to run another shower?
Thanks,
Brian.

You could keep the combi and use it to heat an extra cylinder. Again everything depends on you incoming mains.

 

[brisafc]

Thanks for the advice. I will keep this in mind as this was one of the first things I wanted to get sorted out. Did you say you were local in sunderland, if leave contact details and would gladly get you out to have a look when we move in, 27th sept if all goes well.
Thanks,
Brian.

 

[Madrab]

I'm sure I posted an appreciation for the installs that NewGas put up ?

Nice job NewGas, tidy work that View media item 66057