Combi for large homes?

[PASUK]

Hello

I currently have a regular/traditional boiler which is getting old and faulty, i'm starting to do some research for what would be the replacement in the near future once it gives up. I'm keeping open minded about all options.

I have a 4 bed 2 bathroom property. two adults and two young children. Mains pressure is very good as far as I can tell asthe cold tap in the kitchen is rather powerful and I believe that is direct from the main.

I often hear people saying that if you have two bathrooms then a combi isn't likely to be suitable. I wanted to get a broader opinion.

Thanks

 

[oilboffin]

Better off getting a heat only boiler with a maga flow cylinder bags of hot water

 

[45yearsagasman]

With combis you can only effectively use one point at a time. Heating the property will be ok with a combi, but you would be better off as suggested above, with a new heat only boiler and mains pressure unvented cylinder, if as you say you water supply is good. A bit more money to install than just a combi, but imo a better solution.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Combi's have their place, and also their limitations. As Pete has said, it's likely to struggle to feed 2 outlets at once, and bear in mind, if someone is running a bath, all the boiler output is going to the hot water side, and the Central heating is left waiting until the hot water demand has ceased again. Secondly, if it breaks down, then you've nothing, no heating or hot water.

The cylinder has the advantage to being able to store hot water, so boiler can reheat at a more leisurely pace, and an immersion backup in the event of boiler breakdown.

 

[London Mike 49]

In our last house which was a four bedroom detached house, we had to replace the boiler after 20 years loyal service and was advised of two ways to go. The first was to fit a condensing boiler ( direct replacement) to the existing system only with a slightly bigger boiler and a pump to get hot water to the kitchen tap quicker as this was furthest from the boiler.
The second option was to install two boilers, one for upstairs and another for the ground floor, this would have given us a more efficient ch system as well as more hot water quicker.
We went with the first option as we were going to sell within a couple of years of replacing the boiler.

In one of our homes we did have a combi boiler but it was a lot of trouble and they are only meant for flats etc, I would never have one again in a house.
Our present house has a condensing boiler and a mega flow cylinder that produces more than enough hot water for our house. The mega flow is on a concrete floor in the utility room and stands about seven feet tall.

Mike

 

[leakydave]

Unvented Cylinder... end of.