Hi guys, I read a few posts and the FAQs etc before posting but I feel I need a bit of advice before I invite BG & a couple of freelance local plumbers/CORGI engineers round for quotes (preparing myself for the inevitable flurry of posts advising me not to touch BG with a 10 foot bargepole but thought I would see what they said anyway).
Now, what I want to do is replace my old boiler with a combi boiler as the first step in getting a loft conversion.
My old boiler is a Potterton Profile 40e, which after a long search on the internet I have established that the 40 indicates the BTUs of 40,000. Which seems rather a lot to me.
This boiler is at least 10 years old (maybe you know when they stopped making this model?) and I'm sure it is highly inefficient and also when something went a bit wrong with it my ex turned a switch which I believe changed it from pumped to gravity fed. (Whatever that means - please do feel free to enlighten me but use very small words!) Since then I can only heat water when the central heating is on, which is obviously a waste of money, especially in the summer, even if the rads are all turned off.
I live in a fairly average sized 3 bed semi-terraced house (one side is fully attached and the other is off-set and only half-attached) and I have 10 radiators. Rads range from about 18in or 24in wide (five of these - in the bathroom, wc, ensuite, hall & kitchen) to 3ft or 3ft 6in for each bedroom and two in the living room. I'll probably add another 3ft rad when I get the loft conversion.
First question is : will a 24kw condensing boiler such as Halstead ACE 24e be sufficient to power the radiators as well as the hot water or should I be looking for a 28 or 30? Although I have a bath & a separate shower in the ensuite I tend not to be washing up when I'm in one of them so unlikely to need to use all of them simultaneously.
Second question :
My current elderly Potterton Profile 40e boiler is mounted in the kitchen and the flue goes straight out through the wall - would I be better to have the new combi in the loft, as I understand that there's some acidic stuff (you can tell how technical I am, can't you?) that needs to drain into a drain. Outside the kitchen is a main drain cover, so can you reassure me that putting the boiler near here will be an easier and cheaper install than putting it in the loft.
Third question : Given all of the above info can you knowledgeable guys tell me roughly how much it is likely to cost to get this boiler fitted and the tank removed? How much work is involved in this? Will the plumber need to take the house apart to run extra pipes everywhere? My old boiler only seems to have two pipes leading to it but the pictures of the combis have 4, can you tell me why? I assume there are separate circuits for heating and water but I'm probably wrong (again, very small words please).
If any of you are CORGI registered and in the Haslemere area of Surrey please contact me if you want to visit and quote for the job.
Fourth question (which is more of a problem really) : there is some overflow from one of the tanks in the loft which is continually dripping out via a plastic pipe at loft height into the garden. Not only is this annoying it can't be good for the garden or the house. Is this likely to be related to the boiler or header tank in the loft?
Finally, the central heating has not been serviced since I moved in about 8 years ago. I'm doing all this on a tight budget being a single mum and hoping I will see my fuel bills drop dramatically. I do plan to get the very best insulation I can afford in the roof part of loft (the usual bit between the joist is already pretty well insulated).
I thought that the cost of getting the system serviced and the annoying drip sorted out would probably come close to getting the boiler replaced so the sensible thing to do would be combine all these jobs in one & go for the new combi set up in one go.
What should I be asking the BG guy as I'm sure he will turn up & try and blind me with science then give me a quote of around £1500 to £2000.
Any advice will be very much appreciated. I tried to mention everything I thought could be relevant but if there's something I missed out ask and I'll do my best to answer it.
Thanks for sticking with this unreasonably long post!
Now, what I want to do is replace my old boiler with a combi boiler as the first step in getting a loft conversion.
My old boiler is a Potterton Profile 40e, which after a long search on the internet I have established that the 40 indicates the BTUs of 40,000. Which seems rather a lot to me.
This boiler is at least 10 years old (maybe you know when they stopped making this model?) and I'm sure it is highly inefficient and also when something went a bit wrong with it my ex turned a switch which I believe changed it from pumped to gravity fed. (Whatever that means - please do feel free to enlighten me but use very small words!) Since then I can only heat water when the central heating is on, which is obviously a waste of money, especially in the summer, even if the rads are all turned off.
I live in a fairly average sized 3 bed semi-terraced house (one side is fully attached and the other is off-set and only half-attached) and I have 10 radiators. Rads range from about 18in or 24in wide (five of these - in the bathroom, wc, ensuite, hall & kitchen) to 3ft or 3ft 6in for each bedroom and two in the living room. I'll probably add another 3ft rad when I get the loft conversion.
First question is : will a 24kw condensing boiler such as Halstead ACE 24e be sufficient to power the radiators as well as the hot water or should I be looking for a 28 or 30? Although I have a bath & a separate shower in the ensuite I tend not to be washing up when I'm in one of them so unlikely to need to use all of them simultaneously.
Second question :
My current elderly Potterton Profile 40e boiler is mounted in the kitchen and the flue goes straight out through the wall - would I be better to have the new combi in the loft, as I understand that there's some acidic stuff (you can tell how technical I am, can't you?) that needs to drain into a drain. Outside the kitchen is a main drain cover, so can you reassure me that putting the boiler near here will be an easier and cheaper install than putting it in the loft.
Third question : Given all of the above info can you knowledgeable guys tell me roughly how much it is likely to cost to get this boiler fitted and the tank removed? How much work is involved in this? Will the plumber need to take the house apart to run extra pipes everywhere? My old boiler only seems to have two pipes leading to it but the pictures of the combis have 4, can you tell me why? I assume there are separate circuits for heating and water but I'm probably wrong (again, very small words please).
If any of you are CORGI registered and in the Haslemere area of Surrey please contact me if you want to visit and quote for the job.
Fourth question (which is more of a problem really) : there is some overflow from one of the tanks in the loft which is continually dripping out via a plastic pipe at loft height into the garden. Not only is this annoying it can't be good for the garden or the house. Is this likely to be related to the boiler or header tank in the loft?
Finally, the central heating has not been serviced since I moved in about 8 years ago. I'm doing all this on a tight budget being a single mum and hoping I will see my fuel bills drop dramatically. I do plan to get the very best insulation I can afford in the roof part of loft (the usual bit between the joist is already pretty well insulated).
I thought that the cost of getting the system serviced and the annoying drip sorted out would probably come close to getting the boiler replaced so the sensible thing to do would be combine all these jobs in one & go for the new combi set up in one go.
What should I be asking the BG guy as I'm sure he will turn up & try and blind me with science then give me a quote of around £1500 to £2000.
Any advice will be very much appreciated. I tried to mention everything I thought could be relevant but if there's something I missed out ask and I'll do my best to answer it.
Thanks for sticking with this unreasonably long post!
