Combi or condensing?

[Kimberley88]

Hello

My boiler is playing up yet again and I have decided its better to be rid of it as its 25 years old and I hate spending money on it.

At the moment I have a GLOW WORM FUEL SAVER MK2 it heats hot water / central heating and has an immersion heater attached.

Can someone advise on the best way to go, I keep reading about condensing boilers and a mate of mine has one which has freed up his old immersion cupboard as that got ripped out.

I have no idea about these things, pros - cons.

Will it involve a lot of extra pipework or is it just a question of someone swapping it out. Its located in the garage which should make things easier, no worries about decroation etc.

Any thoughts on what make I should go for (have a budget of about £1000 including fitting, no idea if this is realistic) and what questions should I be asking the fitter to ensure he knows what my needs are. I have six rads on the system, shower is electric power shower.

Help as always is appreciated.

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

i think you might need about double that £1000 at least

 

[BDL]

Wow a budget of £1000.00 inc fitting.

Good luck with your choice of boiler.

Your boiler needs to be high efficient, whether it is a combi or not.

 

[Nige F]

High effecient= condensing. Combi just gets rid of your hot cyl+water tank. As it`s in the garage go for a swap to a heat only, not combi. less pipework British Gas will want 4x your budget First thing See the fitters Corgi card, then the usual 3 estimates...ideally recommended from your friends/neighbours.

 

[Kimberley88]

Thanks for your replies, looks like I under estimated, looked in B&Q and prices seemed to average about £500 for a boiler so I reckoned same again for fitting. Oh well such is life.

Looks like a heat only may be the way forward, but I like the idea of getting rid of the hot cyl, if I went down the combi route, what extra pipe work would need installing and from where? I could then look at how feasible it would be to bring pipe work into the garage, its an internal garage so with any luck everything is accessible. but then again

 

[MeMyselfAndI]

Garage installation is not ideal so may incur extra costs !!
Private Garages
The installation of appliances within garages is permitted, however some manufacturers may not allow this option as lower ambient temperatures may adversely affect the efficiency of the appliance and its vulnerability to freezing.

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

£1000.00 haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee oops, fell of me pedestal withj laffin

 

[Kimberley88]

The boiler is in the garage at the moment from when the house was built so I thought it would just be easy to keep it there, besides there is no way my wife will allow it in the newly fitted kitchen, I like my dangly bits where they are.

If the cost is going to be too much I will just get rid of it all together and go for underfloor heating, have done that downstairs, only have 6 rads left upstairs.

 

[Paul Barker]

I hope the kitchen fitters were aware of the new British Standard for gas hobs/cookers the wall units must now be 50mm to the side of the line drawn straight up from the edge of the hob, cooker.

What this means to us gas fitters is that if in future you buy a new cooker / hob we can't fit it unless you or someone makes this clearance some how.

I haven't yet seen a kitchen that complies. I'm going to have to tell the second hand shop I fit cookers for I can't do it any more, because I can't see any way round it.

You can thank the people with big foreheads in some office somewhere far away from the real world.

 

[Nige F]

Hi, again..."You cannot be serious" to buy a boiler from a shed and then ask a genuine corgi to fit it...I`m not corgi,so I can`t anyway. If I was a good friend of yours I would connect water to it, and powerflush clean it .And you would still have a bill for up to £300.oo from a gorgi to run say 3 metres of gas pipe and do the safety and benchmark form -No benchmark- No manufacturers guarantee. Believe me I have had the scenario. I am not taking the P, just letting you know that it`s a big expense to do a proper boiler change, with B.Gas @ the top for cost...well they have made a loss.....bless.

 

[Kimberley88]

Hi Nige,

My guesstimate was based on looking at boilers in B&Q which seemed to average £500 then as it was possibly going to be a straight swap out unless I went combi, I guessed days labour or two at most £500 which is where my £1000 came from. Obviousley there is more involved than I had considered. Which is why this forum is so good.


Paul, I fitted the kitchen and was not aware of any new regs. The destructions only gave a minimum height clearance.

 

[Paul Barker]

Well I wouldn't be allowed to replace your gas appliance unless it was new and manufacturers instructions stated different rules to current British Standards. I couldn't fit an older one than current British Standards without carving up your wall units by 50mm a side....

I say make it impossible for legitimate installers to do their job and bring on people plugging in their own cookers without knowing how to check the safety devices. Well done boffins!

 

[Nige F]

Paul, I guess this doesn`t apply to electric cookers?...See, I`ve got electric only fitted in the kitchen (got gas c/h) because I have no sense of smell That`s also why I won`t touch gas I was going to get the gas run into the kitchen, so that if I sell up, there`s the benifit of both. But the units are too close. Looks like I should leave well alone, and just qualify the reason as my olfactory malfunction

 

[Paul Barker]

I don't know the rules for electric cookers but I doubt if the fire risk is the same.

I don't think the buyers would know or the clueless surveyor. He won't yet have a standard paragraph for that, he'll just roll out the usual rubbish and miss major things like dry rot.

 

[confused 2]

I hope the kitchen fitters were aware of the new British Standard for gas hobs/cookers the wall units must now be 50mm to the side of the line drawn straight up from the edge of the hob, cooker.

What this means to us gas fitters is that if in future you buy a new cooker / hob we can't fit it unless you or someone makes this clearance some how.

I haven't yet seen a kitchen that complies. I'm going to have to tell the second hand shop I fit cookers for I can't do it any more, because I can't see any way round it.

You can thank the people with big foreheads in some office somewhere far away from the real world.

Paul can you point me in the right direction for the regs you quote where can I see them??? Thanks