Combi mate advice please

[petermurphy1]

Hi Guys, I am having to replace my aged combi oil fired boiler because of a leak and the installer has recommended a combi mate to stop the plate heat exchanger corroding with lime scale?
Does anyone know of an alternative as the Combi mate is about £180! The boiler is well over £3,000 on its own so you can see that if I can come up with a cheaper alternative to Combi mate it would be good. Please help if you can.

 

[bernardgreen]

If the boiler is £3,000 why skimp on the cost of protecting it and increasing it's useful life.

 

[murphs14]

Thanks for your post Bernard, but its not a question of skimping. Its just Ive only so much money to go around and the boiler is costing double what I thought it would. Is a Combimate really needed. I've had the same boiler for about 15 years and never had a problem up until now.

 

[Razor900]

Depending where you are in Essex your water hardness can be up to 400PPM. Not fitting a combimate would be seriously stupid

And no a cheap magnetic unit will not cut it. Over the years you'll save the money in replacement taps!

 

[Nige F]

Cheapest Combimate on t'net is £110. I've got one in my old stock cupboard- I'll check it out and maybe put it on eBay. Watch this space If you're quick there is just 1 on there now - used but under £50.

 

[Happyplumber]

We work in a very hard water area and the minimum recommended to customers is a Combi mate or better option of proper water softener
Unfortunately no manufacturer covers blocked plates or damage to any other components caused by the effects of scale
I would bite the bullet and have one fitted on a brand new install