New system

[mitchkneale]

Hi - just wondered if you guys could give me some advice on what to do ?

At the moment our central heating system comprises of a fire/back boiler in the lounge (baxi bermuda) which feeds 8 radiators and our hot water. We have a cylinder in the bathroom and two water tanks in the attic. The shower is electric and the system is LPG...

Now I'll explain what we would like to do...

As our house is fairly small, and there is only two of us here I would like to remove the cylinder and the tanks and replace the fire downstairs for a small wood burning unit. To control the central heating and the water system, I wound like to put a combi boiler in the attic ? out of the way. This would mean that we had some more space in the bathroom and more space for storage in the attic...

What do you think would be the best way of doing what we want to do and would it be reliable and economical ?

The fire/back boiler is now about 12 years old and probably will need replacement anyway soon.

thanks in advance

mitch

 

[ChrisR]

I assume you aren't trying to heat the rads with both the combi AND the wood burner? That is possible but I doubt you'll find many confident to try it. There's a thing called a Neutraliser for the purpose iirc - try a search.

Combi in attic is certainly possible. Take care about freezing. It's a lot of pipes to get up there though including a fat gas pipe, and the condensate pipe as you'll want a condensing boiler.
Reliable? A combi? Don't be silly! Well not AS reliable, I wouldn't assume you'll get 12 years out of it.

 

[mitchkneale]

thanks - no the wood burner would just be for use in winter. Why would I need a condensing boiler ? I thought that you would only need on of these if you could not get access to the outside.

apologies for my newbieness

very greatful for the tips though !

mitch

 

[stulew]

A condensing boiler is one which is approx 90-95% efficient, most other boilers work to a ratio of about 70-80%. This is acheived by using the heat lost in the water vapour (Latent heat). These are however VERY expensive (YES SOME OF US CORGI BOYS DO WORRY ABOUT WHAT IT COSTS THE CUSTOMER)... and they are not the most reliable boilers on the market.
My advice to you would be to say.. "Anything is possible" but you need to get a CORGI registered installer to come and give you the various options open to you. Boilers can be VERY dangerous things and there are a number of factors that come into play when assessing where a boiler should be sited and I would not advise trying this yourself.

 

[ChrisR]

Mitch said economy so I said condensing. Cost about £150 more for Ideal Isar over Ideal Mini28. Total cost to shift the boiler over £2000, so...