Old boiler replacement

[Shift]

With the rising cost of gas is it worth replacing my 1989 Ideal mexico 2. The boiler has been very reliable having only 2 issues gas valve and pilot light thermo couple in all that time so I'm reluctant to get rid. Everyone I know with a combi has had expensive trouble with there combi's but if all the hype is to be believed old boilers are very inefficient so Im considering changing. The house is a large extended 1930's 3 bed semi, 2 bathrooms 10 rads in total. Everyone I've contacted so far says combo's are the way to go and it's going to cost me about £3500 to convert.
So how much will a new combi boiler save me each year, one place I contacted last week said at least £1k now, is it really that much or just sales talk.

 

[JonathanM]

£3500 sounds a lot for a new boiler.

I'm in the same position. Mine is a 1990 Baxi FS and I've been weighing up whether to replace. Pressure for a decision is much reduced since the energy price freeze.

To have any idea, you really need to know how many KWh of gas you use each year.

Finding out how efficient your current boiler is may be very difficult. But as a starting point, do you have the manual?

There's no particular reason why a combi would be more efficient than fitting a new regular boiler, as far as I know.

 

[ianmcd]

you are being wrongly advised, keep your cylinder, once the old fella packs it in get a heat only or system boiler, a combi is not your answer

 

[ericmark]

My boilers last house swapped when it started to leak, at 40 years old, son who now owns house says still high Bill's for gas.

This house costs less to heat, rather a surprise as larger, and oil fired central heating, but stepping back and looking at the two homes, the reason is doors.

He has an open plan house, my house has doors, and each with it's own programmable TRV. So rooms not used are not heated.

 

[flameport]

So how much will a new combi boiler save me each year

Nowhere near enough to justify the cost of a new boiler.

, one place I contacted last week said at least £1k now,

Lies.

If your existing boiler has old controls such as a mechanical room thermostat and a timer, savings can be had by replacing them with modern controls at a fraction of the price of a new boiler. As can better insulation for the hot water cylinder and pipework.

 

[Notch7]

With the rising cost of gas is it worth replacing my 1989 Ideal mexico 2. The boiler has been very reliable having only 2 issues gas valve and pilot light thermo couple in all that time so I'm reluctant to get rid. Everyone I know with a combi has had expensive trouble with there combi's but if all the hype is to be believed old boilers are very inefficient so Im considering changing. The house is a large extended 1930's 3 bed semi, 2 bathrooms 10 rads in total. Everyone I've contacted so far says combo's are the way to go and it's going to cost me about £3500 to convert.
So how much will a new combi boiler save me each year, one place I contacted last week said at least £1k now, is it really that much or just sales talk.

I’ve got a very similar boiler: stelrad Ideal W, very similar model to the Mexico.

I get it serviced every year. In the last 15 years all it’s needed is a new pump.

Im reluctant to replace it - my heating engineer, until he retired used to say: keep it.

 

[JonathanM]

Nowhere near enough to justify the cost of a new boiler.

If gas goes to 30p per kWh it might be different, for some people.

 

[JonathanM]

If your existing boiler has old controls such as a mechanical room thermostat and a timer, savings can be had by replacing them with modern controls at a fraction of the price of a new boiler. As can better insulation for the hot water cylinder and pipework.

I'd be interested in updating my controls to save some money. What sort of thing would work with boilers of this vintage (1990)? I have TRVs all round and a digital thermostat, but nothing exotic.

 

[muggles]

So how much will a new combi boiler save me each year, one place I contacted last week said at least £1k now, is it really that much or just sales talk.

Highly unlikely, unless you're burning in the region of 50,000kwh per year

 

[mcprinter]

Another Stelrad Ideal owner here!

I have just fitted Wiser with 5 smart TRVs to control CH only. Layout made replacing the CH/HW timer with the Wiser impractical.
Still tweaking.
.
I had a programmable stat in the hall and a standalone programmable TRV in the Mrs home office before.
That worked quite well but obviously relied on the hall stat temp to keep the boiler firing.

 

[gas112]

Anyone telling you 1k saving in gas is lying through their teeth

 

[ericmark]

Control of most central heating is done with the TRV's they come in three basic flavours, mechanical, local programmable, and linked programmable. The programmable heads can be direct only or use bluetooth the latter is used when two radiators in the same room, but clearly they will not heat up the room unless the boiler is running, so the terrier i30 and the eqiva eQ-3 can be used to turn off rooms when not in use, but need some careful setting up, I turn the main thermostat down ½ a degree for an hour before the TRV is programmed to heat the room then back up at same time as TRV is set to open to ensure boiler runs.

The Drayton Wiser or EvoHome do not need you to carefully set the schedule as linked, so easier to set up, but cost more.

I made a mistake, I got Nest which I then found out does not link to TRV's, I was miss informed, I thought it would, but the two programmable heads I have, the cheaper actually works better, main good point is I can on the TRV head simply press a button or turn dial, the other one need to use my PC.

If I was starting again I would have two rooms with linked TRV heads and rest the eQ-3 which only cost me £15 each in 2019 for the bluetooth versions.

 

[fixitflav]

So how much will a new combi boiler save me each year,

It won't save anything because of it being a combi. A new heat-only or system boiler would be as efficient as a combi, and better suited to your requirements.

 

[flameport]

What sort of thing would work with boilers of this vintage (1990)?

Pretty much anything. Regardless of what smart features devices may have, they control the boiler via an on/off switch.

 

[vulcancontinental]

The house you describe would have a heat loss up to 15kW. If you're with British Gas they will go back several years and can give you your past consumption from the time they went digital.

Whatever you used last year it will be considerably more this but whether it's worth it only you can say.

I'd estimate around 40-45p in every pound will go up the flue with your current boiler depending on controls and 15-20p in the pound with a new boiler. Guesses of course but closer than £1000/year saving.

I attended a meeting one time and someone from a government test house quoted how much heat is lost from pipework in an airing cupboard. I can't remember the figures but was genuinely surprised so insulate.

To reassure purchasers manufacturers offer longer warranties so to a limited extent repair costs will be ameliorated but whatever the boiler if you replace don't mess about with servicing; get it done and pay extra to get it done in depth, the annual equivalent of an MOT is not a service and we ask a lot of the current type of boiler.

If you have speed adjustment on your system pump experiment and use a slower speed if possible.