I have a 30 yr old Glow Worm gas boiler that was in our new build house when we bought it. It has been serviced annually. It is a conventional boiler. Our house is a 3 bed detached with double glazing and a good level of loft insulation, have topped it up myself. When build it had block foam panels as cavity wall insulation. The boiler works fine and has only conked out 3 times, last time 3 yrs ago when we had the ' beast from the east' freezing weather, needed a new pcb, took 4 days to get part but a weekend in that. What with Labour government having it in for gas boilers and may put a tax on new ones do I change it, in the milder weather, or plod on with my current one? I noted some old posts which has conflicting advice.
Should I change my old working gas boiler?
- Thread starter pandaman
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Who knows? I watched a YouTube video on heat pumps, and basically what they said, was very few people are trained well enough to install them in a way which harnesses the gains they can give, so although some Heat Geek may be able to install a very good system, 80% are not installed correctly.
It seems the same is true with gas and oil boilers, but where with a heat pump looking at 200% to 500%, so a good installation is twice as good as a bad one, with gas and oil looking at 75% to 95% so difference between good and bad is not as marked.
My parents had a header tank fail, and to renew it would likely involve removing a window, as simply no way would it go up the stairs, so using the government grant, and having a combi boiler fitted, was it seems a good move. They thought since being put in by a government accredited firm, it would be right, but alases they were a bunch of cowboys.
To give an example, most modern boilers can modulate, and have a very clever analogue control system which can extract every last Joule of energy out of the gas, then one sees an on/off thermostat like Hive fitted, with no linked TRV heads, which to me as a simple electrician screams I don't know what I am doing.
If one accepts that using TRV heads which are programmed to use energy only when required, question one is why not used them with the existing boiler?
It is all well and good comparing to homes, but so much is down to the occupants, and their lifestyle.
Building a new house, with super insulated walls, doors and windows, with the roof designed so assessable without scaffold, aimed at the best angle to gain solar power, is all well and good, but homes already built are not super insulated, and don't have assessable roofs to fix solar panels to, even new builds don't seem to be orientated to gain maximum solar power.
So next year we may have another new system able to work even more efficiently, so if it is not broke, don't fix it.
It seems the same is true with gas and oil boilers, but where with a heat pump looking at 200% to 500%, so a good installation is twice as good as a bad one, with gas and oil looking at 75% to 95% so difference between good and bad is not as marked.
My parents had a header tank fail, and to renew it would likely involve removing a window, as simply no way would it go up the stairs, so using the government grant, and having a combi boiler fitted, was it seems a good move. They thought since being put in by a government accredited firm, it would be right, but alases they were a bunch of cowboys.
To give an example, most modern boilers can modulate, and have a very clever analogue control system which can extract every last Joule of energy out of the gas, then one sees an on/off thermostat like Hive fitted, with no linked TRV heads, which to me as a simple electrician screams I don't know what I am doing.
If one accepts that using TRV heads which are programmed to use energy only when required, question one is why not used them with the existing boiler?
It is all well and good comparing to homes, but so much is down to the occupants, and their lifestyle.
Building a new house, with super insulated walls, doors and windows, with the roof designed so assessable without scaffold, aimed at the best angle to gain solar power, is all well and good, but homes already built are not super insulated, and don't have assessable roofs to fix solar panels to, even new builds don't seem to be orientated to gain maximum solar power.
So next year we may have another new system able to work even more efficiently, so if it is not broke, don't fix it.
If you are planning to be in your property long term then it all comes down to warranties really and how reliable your current boiler will continue to be.
Parts availability would be a primary consideration. If parts go obsolete then with an old boiler it may just be a matter of time before replacement is required, that being said a good experienced independent engineer should be able to advise and can be worth their weight in gold when it comes to looking after old boilers.
Outwith out and out instant failures, that any electro mechanical part can suffer from even brand new ones, most of the moving parts in a boiler usually start to complain when they are getting past their lifespan and that can be managed but that comes back to spares availability.
On the other hand it will take many many years to recoup the outlay of a new boiler with any gained efficiencies from the new kit.
What model of GlowWorm is it?
Parts availability would be a primary consideration. If parts go obsolete then with an old boiler it may just be a matter of time before replacement is required, that being said a good experienced independent engineer should be able to advise and can be worth their weight in gold when it comes to looking after old boilers.
Outwith out and out instant failures, that any electro mechanical part can suffer from even brand new ones, most of the moving parts in a boiler usually start to complain when they are getting past their lifespan and that can be managed but that comes back to spares availability.
On the other hand it will take many many years to recoup the outlay of a new boiler with any gained efficiencies from the new kit.
What model of GlowWorm is it?
It's an Economy plus.
The cheapest boiler is the one you have already got.
When it's broken and can't be repaired, it's time for a new one.
Until then, don't be sucked in to the usual sales propaganda claiming you can save vast amounts with a new boiler.
There are some savings, but a lot of those can be had by installing new controls at a fraction of the cost of a new boiler.
When it's broken and can't be repaired, it's time for a new one.
Until then, don't be sucked in to the usual sales propaganda claiming you can save vast amounts with a new boiler.
There are some savings, but a lot of those can be had by installing new controls at a fraction of the cost of a new boiler.
Yes, I had a similar question on here about a month ago and the overall response was that of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
I think I may have jinxed it because it went into lockdown mode yesterday & I had to reset it a few times before it would light.... Which I'm assuming won't be a one off, so if it isn't, it maybe time to bite the bullet.
For me, it's less about efficiency & saving on gas (my home doesn't take much heating), but reliability & avoiding the hassle & expense of repair costs.
The truth is though, you could pay thousands for a brand new boiler, which ends up giving you fraught with problems. So it's still a gamble. You'll have a warranty, but there's still the hassle!
I think I may have jinxed it because it went into lockdown mode yesterday & I had to reset it a few times before it would light.... Which I'm assuming won't be a one off, so if it isn't, it maybe time to bite the bullet.
For me, it's less about efficiency & saving on gas (my home doesn't take much heating), but reliability & avoiding the hassle & expense of repair costs.
The truth is though, you could pay thousands for a brand new boiler, which ends up giving you fraught with problems. So it's still a gamble. You'll have a warranty, but there's still the hassle!
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