Opinions on Boilermate BP?

[mogget]

I'm not spoiling for an argument, honest, and I hope no Drivel appears!

Anyway I'd like mains pressure hot water in my house. First thought was an unvented but can't get a fall on any route for the discharge pipe, which brings me to thermal stores. I don't fancy a combi due to needing to upgrade gas pipe, lack of immersion backup, and also my ultracom 15hxi (on sealed system) is only a couple of years old and I have a pile of spares should they ever be needed.

Property is 3 bed one bath with shower over.

Anyway ive been looking at the Boilermate BP, looks like it would do the job and it could be pressurised from an f+e in the loft thus solving the overflow problem.

I am aware of the possibility of the coil scaling up and can deal with that.

And now the questions:

How long do these tend to last before leaking or failing catastrophically, eg split coil?

What's the performance like compared to (say) a 28kw combi?

What size is the immersion heater boss? Is it the usual 2 1/4?

Is it a good idea to add inhibitor to the store water?

Any general opinions on these?

And lastly, does anyone know of any clever alternatives I haven't thought of?


Many thanks all

 

[mogget]

Should have added, standing pressure is 2 bar, 22l/min at outside tap.

 

[Agile]

They usually seem to last 7-13 years. The few seriously failing ones I have encountered have been leaking bodies.

The performance depends partly on mains pressure hence the flow rate through them.

Probably not far different from a 30 kW combi.

They need a LOT of inhibitor but few get it !

Tony

 

[mogget]

They usually seem to last 7-13 years.

They need a LOT of inhibitor but few get it !

Comparable to the average life of a modern combi then. Also as I mostly only heat two rooms most combis would be short cycling all the time. Upstairs gets heated when someone's ill, gas usage is low so not too worried about the drop in efficiency due to high flow temp.

Skimping on inhibitor would be anathema to me, not to mention false economy.

Thanks Tony.

 

[Agile]

I would never usually recommend them for installation based on their expected specifications.

As you have seen they are designed for a temperature of about 80 C otherwise their capacity becomes very much reduced.

But a modern boiler will still be fairly efficient at a flow of about 75 C and the capacity will be fair.

All of those I can remember have a standard size immersion element. But you should ask before buying.

Tony

 

[mogget]

Many thanks that's given me a few pointers to beware of... There's always something new to learn

 

[McCombi]

Plenty of the older ones still going strong up my way.

Usually if I'm called to a repair it's normally failed pump or faulty mixer valve, the water is soft here too so Luckily don't encounter scale in dhw circuits.

Not many of the more modern ones so can't comment on them.