Stuck in Keston hell....

[mrcallipers]

Hi all,

We moved into a house that has a Keston C55 in the basement which has finally given up the ghost, having been nothing but trouble for the last couple of years. Due to the flue arrangement most of the people we've had look at it have said that the only real solution is to replace it with another Keston (and the dreaded twin 50mm flue), though one has said they think they could get twin 80mm flue pipes in, allowing us to use a Baxi.

As someone who knows next to nothing about boilers could anyone please help answer:
- Are the new Kestons as bad as the old ones, and as bad as people say?
- Are Baxi any better? They don't get a great write up either as far as I can tell.
- Is there any alternative with a Vaillant/Worcester or another brand that seems to score well on reliability, either with a 50mm twin flue or an 80mm twin flue?

Any help is much appreciated. I'm so scared by the prospect of putting a Keston in given the bad press that I'm tempted to spend money we don't have to remodel the basement to avoid having to install one!

Thanks in advance.

 

[mickyg]

as you know Kestons are rubbish, the new ones are no better. There are loads of boilers that use 80mm twin flue, if anyone you have had didn't know this then probably better to find someone who does, its not exactly a closely guarded secret. If you need the 55 kw output of the current boiler(very big house?) then your best alternative is a Atag Q series with twin 80mm flue.
Mick

 

[Dan Robinson]

+1 - Anyone who thinks twin flues are a mystery - or insisting you need to run two pipes should be shown the door.

Fit an Atag, and you will have lots of luing options, and have a very robust boiler.

Infact... we have a project is SW London this summer that sounds very similar to yours...

C55 in basement, died twice in different ways this spring.

Blooming thing is awful.

Untitled

• Dan Robinson
• 21 Mar 2013
• 2

 

[mrcallipers]

Thanks both of you, greatly appreciated.

I think that 55kW may be overkill, we have 5 beds and 3 baths. I know of others that have similar size houses with a modern 32kW boiler...

After a bit of scouting round the internet it seems that the brands that are able to use 80mm twin flue (amongst others) are Atag, Baxi & Worcester?

Are there any others? Vaillant?

Thanks again.

 

[Agile]

Many boiler can use 80mm twin flues although actuall buying them is not always so easy.

Are there really no other flueing possibilities??? Has any RGI come to consider alternative possibilities?

Why does the boiler HAVE to be in the basement?

Tony

 

[D_Hailsham]

I think that 55kW may be overkill, we have 5 beds and 3 baths. I know of others that have similar size houses with a modern 32kW boiler...

If you want to know what size boiler you really need, use the Whole House Boiler Size Calculator

As you have three bathrooms, set the Domestic Hot Water Allowance to 4kW.

 

[mickyg]

As you have three bathrooms, set the Domestic Hot Water Allowance to 4kW.

thats just daft though, outdated claptrap adding anything for hot water.
High recovery cylinders and priority hot water is the way to go. Add 0kw for hot water.
even if you did install the system in a traditional way, chances are that either a) there will be more than 4kw available to the cylinder, or b) if there isnt, lets face it 4kw is not a lot of use as it will take over an hour to heat the cylinder.

 

[mrcallipers]

So using that calculator and messing about with the parameters a little (walls are drylined but not cavity, I'm unsure how much insulation is in the sealed roof) suggests that I need something in the mid to high 30kWs. That's before I've added anything for hot water.

Again I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who's responded to my query, your knowledge has been much appreciated.

As a (possibly) final question - does anyone know if there are any non-Keston 50mm twin flue boilers, or do all the other twin flue solutions use 80mm?

Ta

 

[Dan Robinson]

There are, but not all are as versatile flue wise.

Atmos Heat Systems do a boiler that is very flexible, but they only have a couple left. It would be a little underpowered, but a decent control setup would get around that.

Atag would really be your best option - say a Q38S.

They use a type approved flue set up unlike Vaillant and friends who only supply limited flue options.

They may be worth contacting direct to discuss options.

Like I said before, depending on your property, you might not need a Twin flue - as such.