Poterton performa 30 he running noise

[opps]

Hi there

Had a new combi fitted yesterday (performa 30 he).

Whilst it is nice to have a boiler that i do not have to whack to get it to fire up I am surprised at quite how noisy it is.

There is no banging or whooshing- no "abnormal" noises- just a low frequency rumbling noise whilst CH or DHW are being called for.

My last boiler was a Alpha 240p- a boiler that I would have assumed to be inferior in all respects (bar, seemingly, the noise).

I can only liken it to the noise of a tumble drier sitting sitting in the middle of the room next door whilst all the doors into the rooms are open (or a tarmac roller trundling along a neighbouring road- or an extractor fan running in the en suite bath room at 3am).

Previously I would only notice the Alpha when the burner jets fired up. With the Performa it is evident throughout the heating process.

The combi is in a ground floor cupboard in the kitchen and as I type this I am upstairs in the bedroom and can hear it running (that said this is only a two bedroom terraced house).

When the plumber's mate popped back to pickup the cash I did comment on the noise but he did not seem to think it excessive.

Is this just a particularly noisy boiler or has 10 years of an alpha 240p spoiled me???

 

[baxpoti]

The Performa HE is a very quiet boiler, if you are worried about the noise call Heateam under warranty, but I think you'll find they'll tell you just what I'm thinking.

 

[opps]

Thanks baxpoti

I appreciate that this is a "how long is a piece of string" type question- when you say that it is very quiet, how quiet is quite.

Should I am able to hear it running whilst, for example, sitting 8m away?

I guess that because of the low frequencies the sound travels further, and as stated I do not live in an awfully large house.

 

[opps]

The Performa HE is a very quiet boiler, if you are worried about the noise call Heateam under warranty, but I think you'll find they'll tell you just what I'm thinking.

oh dear- what are you thinking???

 

[Agile]

Thanks baxpoti

I appreciate that this is a "how long is a piece of string" type question- when you say that it is very quiet, how quiet is quite.

Most boilers are about 48 dBA unweighted at 1 m. Does that help?

The LF noise is primarly a "rumble" / hum from the circulating pump. Thats often significantly increased in volume by resonance of the connecting pipes or they transmit the noise to floorboards etc.

It could also be that there is still some air in the boiler. I hope they left the auto air vent cap open to enable it to be dispersed.

The Performa is made by pretty much the same people who made your old Alpha.

Tony

 

[opps]

Thanks Tony

Will see if I can borrow a sound meter.

Hadn't realised that Potterton and Ocean the same people.

I will have to get the plumber back to check the air vent then as the pipes are pretty much the pre-existing pipes...

Cheers

 

[Agile]

I dont see what help its going to be to know the exact measured sound level!

I only said the Performa is about the same as the Alpha. The Performa is only one Potterton boiler model.

Tony

 

[opps]

Hi Tony

Thanks for your help.

Sorry I thought that you were suggesting that the two boilers were made by the same company.

"The Performa is made by pretty much the same people who made your old Alpha."

At the risk of sounding dense I cannot understand why I (or others) never noticed the old boiler running but do notice the new one. The initial fire up on the new is much quieter than the old but overall the newer is definitely noisier when circulating water.

Ta

 

[Agile]

You have to read my words, no more and no less!

The Performa is made by pretty much the same makers as your old Alpha!

Its OTHER Potty boilers which may be made by other makers.

Potty were about bust and bought out by Baxi and they sell the wide range of boilers mostly with either a Potty or Baxi brand name on them.

Its always a little difficult for us to follow who makes what!

As far as I can tell, in the beginning there was Ocean. They pretty much went bust and were rejuvenated as Alpha starting with the "Alpha Ocean". Alpha continue to this day with their own boilers.

For many years the Potty boilers were made by "Ocean" who even put that name on some of the parts.

In more recent times the "Ocean" manufacturing was sold as either Potty or Baxi.

But not all Potty or all Baxi boiler were necessarily made by "Ocean".

The industry is very tight lipped about who makes what for whom but the number of actual manufacturers is far less than most people imagine!

Tony