Reliability of oil condensing boilers

[Gerbil]

I have a 12 year old Boulter Camray 3 boiler that been the model of reliability since we moved in a couple of years ago. Our friendly oftec guy comes once a year and services it. Last year he fitted a replacement combustion chamber (welds cracking) and a new oil seal but that's all thats been changed on it.

I've read some negative comments on here about the reliability of condensing boilers. So the question is with the current boiler reaching twelve years old should I consider replacing it before the regulations come in next year forcing all replacement oil boilers to be condensing?

I realise the Boulter could go on for another 10 years, but

a) are newer non condensing oil boilers likely to be much more efficient than my current boiler?

and

b) how bad are condensing boilers compared with non condensing boilers in the reliability stakes?

Just trying weigh up the relative merits of ripping the Boulter out before next April or letting it carry on and die a natural death.

Any thoughts appreciated...

 

[Agile]

Thats a very difficult question to answer!

You have to consider the increased efficiency and compare it with the increased cost of buying a condensing boiler and the POSSIBLE increased cost of maintaining a condensing boiler.

Sure there have been some bad designs but by now most manufacturers have tried and tested models around which dont seem much less reliable than any other boiler.

My advice is that if you are happy with your boiler then why not keep it for another few years until the repair cost becomes considerable compared with the replacement costs?

Tony

 

[oilman]

New combustion chamber? Exactly what was replaced? If you had the combustion chamber replaced this would include the water jacket, which is effectively a new boiler. It's just the burner that is 12 years old. About how much did the part cost?

 

[Gerbil]

It was a cylindrical part about four inches across. Cost about £20 as he had a spare knocking about in his garage. Definitely no water jacket attached to it so I'm assuming its a burner, not a combsution chamber?

My main reason for asking the original question is that there's been some negative views expressed on here about the reliability of condensing boilers. This coupled with the fact that oil condensing boilers seem to be relatively rare ( although I guess that will now change). I just get the impression I'd be lucky to have a condensing boiler last 12 years.

I'm not looking for someone to make my decision for me. Just curious how many call outs for faulty condensing boilers you see vs. non-condensing boilers in general whether condensing boiler repairs tend to be more expensive?

 

[bripl]

it is called a blast tube,as far as boilers eff goes i would stick with a non condenser.just out of intrest we tried comparing eff readings useing two electronic fga and a wet kit,the results were similar except the eff readings electronic fga were reading between 92/94% while the wet kit showed 84%.i now know the wet kit is far more accurate than the electronic versions,by the way both fga were calibrated recently and made by two reputable companies,

 

[Chris.J]

I am in a similar position as Gerbil.
I expect servicing costs for Condensing Oil boilers will be higher than for conventional ones for a few years.
My understanding is that Condensing boilers only work properly (ie efficiently) if the return water temp is low (the lower the better).
Therefore it is better to have large rads (at lower temps) than small ones (at higher temps) with such boilers.
Therefore, which would be better in a replacement situation, could well be determined by the radiator arrangement?
What do others think?

 

[Gerbil]

Ah well. The boiler has just been serviced today and the advice was also don't bother changing it yet. He said if the boiler had been 15-16 years old it might have been more of a toss up but at the moment apparently the parts are all still available and it looks in good condition.

One thing he mentioned was that the condensing boilers are meant to be serviced twice a year. Yikes!