Get rid of hot water tank - best option ?

[tommoynihan]

Hi,
I am in the process of buying a largish old (100 years) house which has an existing (but I understand reliable) gas boiler which supplies the radiators, and also hot water by a tank in the airing cupboard (upstairs). To restructure the upstairs of the house, I need to get rid of the airing cupboard (and therefore the hot water tank). I'm looking for the most reliable solution.

Both my Mum's and brother's houses have combi boilers which are either unreliable, or provide lukewarm white cloudy water (both on BG service contracts - both are told that they are typical characteristics of a combi), but I'm willing to consider the latest combis IF there are reliable and they perform well.

I understand that I could replace the boiler for an unvented system (and therefore have a tank downstairs), but I'm just a bit concerned about things I've read about higher radiator temperatures, pressurised systems and leaks.

Finally, large instant water heaters seem to be very popular in the US, but less so here. I like the idea of not storing heated water and it also means that I wouldn't have to ditch a perfectly good boiler, but do they work and are they reliable ?

Any recommendations ?

 

[Agile]

Your existing boiler is likely to be very old and inefficient and need replacing.

I dont have time to tell you everything you need to know.

Just read all about on this forum but ignore anything you see written by Dr Drivel/Big Burner/ Water Systems.

You will see that a key feature is the water flow and dynamic pressure of the mains water supply.

Tony

 

[bengasman]

If you don't like the idea of storing water........ don't do it.
BG have a reputation of telling whatever suits the chap that is there so he can leave asap.
I have installed a number of combis and if they are powerful enough (around 40 kw) they will happily supply 2 showers simultaneously.
Like Tony mentioned, if your cold water supply is restricted, the boiler will not perform, and neither will an unvented cylinder.
Search the forum on "new boiler", "boiler replacement" and that sort of thing and you will find hundreds of posts about size, location, what brand and why not to use bg. Their main problem is that they have some very good engineers, and a lot of bad ones, and they are all under high time pressure.
My mate used to work for them and was expected to complete 45 repairs a week.

 

[JohnD]

how many bathrooms or hot taps do you have that might be in use at the same time? This makes a difference

I was wondering how tiny this house is, if it has no room for a cylinder

 

[tommoynihan]

The house is quite big, so I would have room for most setups (not that I particulary want extensive heating apparatus !) I don't think that we are heavy hot water users - my youngest has a bath every few days and the rest of us have showers that don't coincide i.e. only 1 shower at at time. (although there will be 2 bathrooms and 1 ensuite).

 

[bengasman]

Combi should work fine then

 

[JohnD]

fill a bucket at the kitchen sink cold tap, time it, and calculate how many litres per minute you get

this is the most that can come out of the taps/showers (hot and cold combined) if you have an ordinary combi, so verify that it is enough

it will be quite a bit less than the delivery you get out of the bathtaps if you have storage and cylinder

a bath uses in the region of 100 litres