Wilson oil boiler (1958 vintage) repair or replace

[Simonjm]

We have an old Wilson boiler not a wall flame but the older wick type like an Aga oil conversion. This has performed reasonably reliably for nearly 50 years with yearly wick replacement. It heats part of a 5 bedroom house, by a single pipe gravity system with no controls, supplying 6 radiators, a towel rail and the hot water cylinder. A local plumber has diagnosed loss of gas from the bellows in the control unit and declined to recommision the boiler. Spares are unobtainable for this boiler.
Current suggestions are;
1.Fit a control unit from an Aga. These units seem to be available with a flow rate of 4 to 8 cc/min.
2.Replace the boiler with a non condensing boiler as it will work the single pipe system using a pump. The problem is this tradesman says he can't fit a non condensing boiler due to current building regs. Installing a condensate drain would be tricky but possible and the existing chimney discharges above the ridge so neither of these will give exemption. Can the cost and disruption of replacing the single pipe system be used as grounds for fitting a non condensing boiler.
3.Replace the whole system with a 2 pipe system because pumping a single pipe system will pump past the radiators giving a high return temp and cause a new boiler to cycle excessively. Is this the case?
4.Fit a new combi boiler. A grant has been offered for this system but only for 5 rads and hot water. Advice from others is against a combi in our hard water area. No choice has been offered in the type or size of system. A man was sent along by the grant people who said this is what his men will do. Is this the way the grant system works? Shouldn’t there be a choice of contractors and a option to contribute more to the cost and get an equivalent system to the one being replaced.
5.Fit a pressure jet burner into the burner chamber of the Wilson in the same way as pressure jet conversions to Aga and other vaporising burner appliances.

Has anyone experience of any of these issues or any other suggestion

 

[Agile]

The warmhouse grant is a rather incestuous system where their own interlinked installers fit what they choose to fit. Grants are normally only given to people on benefits and five bedrooms indicate a larger than average house!

I dont know your circumstances but the technical advice would be to fit a new boiler most suited to the property.

A one pipe system is very suited to a condensing boiler as long as the last rads will give enough heat to heat the room at only 60°C. If the flow is correctly adjusted the temperature drop can be the recommended 20°C.

A really clever use is to use the return to heat the hot water cylinder but that also needs a different control system beyond the capabilities of most installers.

Tony

 

[sambotc]

Warmfront will fit one of there boilers specified on there approved boiler list.

With oil i belive you get £4500K max allowance which from my experiance (being an installer for a company who install warmfront heating) will not cover the full installation.

Having said that, if you are eligble for the grant you would be daft not to accept the combi (either worcester heatslave condensing, or preferably grant) and system upgrade. They will fit scale reducers to your HW and it should be plenty powerful enough to run as many radiators as you will need. You may get a new tank also, depending on current and they also supply grant outside boilers if it made runing condense possible etc.

You also get a very good guarantee with the work, and if you need to add more radiators, either pay the company doing it at the time to fit them or get then done after the grant work is complete.

Grants are normally only given to people on benefits and five bedrooms indicate a larger than average house!

I've fitted oil systems in house's worth in excess off £750k and more than 5 bed's (which gets you alot in cornwall) How they got the grant i don't know but the system isn't right, not that it's my place to comment though!

Sam
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[Agile]

I am also disturbed that people most in need dont get any grant whilst they are often given to people who seem well off.

A few months ago I repaired a perfectly adequate Solo in a house with two nice cars less than four years old outside. They were shortly to get a new boiler paid for by the grant.

Others struggling in poor accommodation on low incomes dont qualify for anything because they are not on any benefits. However a Solicitor on £100k p.a. would apparently qualify if he has a gammy leg and gets £5 a week disability allowance!

Its not very fair!

Tony

 

[Nige F]

Are you after a grant, or is this incidental to technical question .I would suggest asking a manufacturer of pressure jet boilers of the suitability of their boilers for a gravity circuit..........and leave everything as is , and replace just the boiler One thing I do know is that a new p/j is more economical than a wallflame ..........so a wick must be archaic

 

[Agile]

No modern boiler will work on a single pipe gravity circuit.

It will always be necessary to fit a pump and set the flow to provide an acceptable temperature drop across the heating circuit.

I have assumed the poster, who has a very good grasp of the essentials, was fully aware of that.

Tony

 

[wilhelm]

donate it to a museum, so that more people can shake their heads in disbelief, and have a good larf.

 

[Simonjm]

Thanks for all the comments, particularly the explanations of the grant system.
A bit more back ground.
House is actually 4 bedrooms and a box room as half a bedroom went as access to a self build extension. It is my parents house, they are both retired and my father is has severe arthritis and is virtually house bound which is why they quality for a grant (they will contribute part of the system cost). They have not budgeted for a new central heating system and without a grant would probably have the Wilson fitted with a controller purchased as an Aga spare. The current system does have advantages, it is silent, works in power cuts (they were frequent in their area but are now rare) and hot plate on the boiler is great for warming the tea pot! Against that I think it uses nearly twice as much oil as my own Worcester Danesmoor WM 12/19 does to heat the whole of a (admittedly much better insulated) 4 bedroom house. I think this a reasonable case where the grant system is working as intended to get an inefficient boiler replaced.

The proposed grant supplied system will have an outside combi boiler and I believe new plastic pipes to new rads. A couple of local plumbers have advised against plastic pipe work (one says it has a limited life) although the manufactures spec them as OK for anything other than solid fuel systems and hot water loops. Maybe it is down to quality of the installation. I'd appreciate any comments. Hope its OK as I have just put wet under floor heating in my conservatory!
On the subject of pipes the current return pipe work is bedded in the floor screed. I think its pretty unlikely that any barrier was used to protect copper in 1958. Is this pipe work likely to start leaking, especially if pumped, or having survived this long is it likely to last a lot longer?

If anyone knows a museam that collects 1950 cast iron I'll see if we can arrange a donation!

 

[Gasguru]

Can't they downsize, allowing the grant money to go to more deserving causes? Seems a little immoral to me.

 

[sambotc]

the warmfront grant does not allow the use of any plastic pipe, only copper. Only in extreme circumstances (listed buildings etc) can we even use tectite, and i can;t see there being a differant set of rules for a differant region!

HTH Sam

 

[Agile]

Do you know why they will not allow plastic pipes?

Tony