My current boiler Is a WB System Boiler 30 CDi, with a Vented Cylinder and a cold water tank in the attic. my house is 4 bedrooms plus study, 1 ensuite with shower and 1 bathroom with Mira Excel shower above the bath, and a downstairs toilet. I use a shower pump to help with the flow to the ensuite shower, which improves it but it’s certainly not brilliant! I measured the flow from the rainfall shower and it’s about 9 lpM. Gives only a reasonable shower. The hot water flow rate in the rest of the house is lousy, some of this is down to the small bore tail pipes fitted to some of the taps. We have to wait ages to get hot water in the kitchen and then ages more to fill the basin. My first thought was to replace the hot water cylinder with an unvented one. I had 3 plumbers come out who gave me an estimate but the last one suggested I ditched that idea and fit a combi boiler, a 40kW WB 8000 Life….he’s an accredited WB installer who really knew his stuff(I asked him about an issue with the current boiler and he knew how to fix it) so 12 years warranty. I said i would think about it and so he went away and Sent me 2 quotes, one for an unvented cylinder and the other for the boiler…but he specified a 35kW boiler as being more than ample for our needs. He wasn’t the least bit pushy, just wanted me to make the right decision for our needs.
Although we live in a fairly big house, there is normally only 2 of us and the idea of a new boiler(our current one is 10 years old) with anytime hot water at a decent flow rate throughout the house seems attractive and simpler. It’s a good bit more expensive than the unvented cylinder but long term maybe a better solution. But I can’t make up my mind whether to go for 40kW, which would require an upgrade to the gas pipe(it’s 22mm ATM) or whether a 35kW is more than sufficient for our needs. I want to ensure that the ensuite shower is at least as good as at the moment but hoping for better. I don’t mind replacing it if need be as it’s not a particularly good quality one.
The standing pressure on my outside tap is 4 bar with a flow rate of 26lpM. If I open the utility room cold tap fully the pressure drops to 3 bar.
so, my decision is made…a combi boiler but 35kW or 40kW, that is the question.
Thanks!
Although we live in a fairly big house, there is normally only 2 of us and the idea of a new boiler(our current one is 10 years old) with anytime hot water at a decent flow rate throughout the house seems attractive and simpler. It’s a good bit more expensive than the unvented cylinder but long term maybe a better solution. But I can’t make up my mind whether to go for 40kW, which would require an upgrade to the gas pipe(it’s 22mm ATM) or whether a 35kW is more than sufficient for our needs. I want to ensure that the ensuite shower is at least as good as at the moment but hoping for better. I don’t mind replacing it if need be as it’s not a particularly good quality one.
The standing pressure on my outside tap is 4 bar with a flow rate of 26lpM. If I open the utility room cold tap fully the pressure drops to 3 bar.
so, my decision is made…a combi boiler but 35kW or 40kW, that is the question.
Thanks!
