Condensing boilers rule?

[Andy Hall]

There isn't a bedroom within reasonable proximity of the appropriate wall of the bathroom so at minimum a condensate pump would be needed

That still adds up to 590 + 350 + 100 = 1040.

[Capitol]

How about no repairs at all?

I believe there are very few Potterton boilers which have not been replaced within 15 years of installation. I'd be interested to learn otherwise.

Regards Capitol

[IMM]

This is a bit rich coming from incompetent. Here is this Plowman giving advise on CH..read on...

He also attempts to give advise and criticise views on heating, yet he said about his gas boier.......

"Mine managed over 10 years without being touched before it needed a clean. 'Sooting up' once it starts, happens very quickly."

He didn't have his gas boiler serviced for over 10 years, and knows all the answers in this field - he thinks. Only on the Internet you see this.

These people are dangerous man, very dangerous.

This what he wears, yes he does...he said... "Well, I got a rather flash pair of DeWalt boots from TLC, so there.;-)"

Sad isn't it. Big yellow boots. Yes. big yellow boots.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Well, yes. But nothing lasts forever.

The NetaHeat - which is a later model than mine is generally pretty reliable too. Think the rot may have started about 15 years ago.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm pleased to see you admit it at last.

Well, they started out black. But not cleaning them makes them yellow.

[Neil Jones]

g_032807.hcsp

non-condensing

I read this document as a simplistic attempt to estimate the payback of the installation. Long flues can be used but they will incur extra expense and so impact the payback period.

[Roger]

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

I have just looked in after several years away to find that nothing much has changed, at least as far as John Burns-Curtis (AKA IMM) is concerned.

FWIW I have a Potterton Profile Prima which I installed just after the gas regulations changed (I can't remember when that was but ISTR it was quite a while ago). It hasn't been particularly unreliable but last winter the sealed for life bearings in the fan dried up and I had to pay an outrageous price to get a replacement assembly PDQ. (Advice on a cheap source of genuine Potterton spares would be appreciated.)

[Andy Hall]

The scoring indicates that they are accounting for inconvenience and cost.

Moving the boiler to a different room involves new plumbing of water and gas connections.

A long flue (in some makes) adds a lot to the cost of materials, plus there may not be a convenient route to run it, plus making good after installation........

That's something for the vendors to address.

Having said that, I have a feeling that this exemption thing has the potential for abuse - i.e. if the customer doesnt want a condensing boiler or the non-condensing one remains cheaper etc. the form gets filled in. The wording is sufficiently loose in that the householder only has to say that a possible location is not suitable and the fitter signs off the paper. Nobody's going to pick it up AFAICS.

[IMM]

Not necessessily. I recommended to install a Keston boiler in a loft in a knocked up ply or MDF cupboard at a end gable, with some insulation over, and run the flue the length of the loft to the other gable using cheap plastic waste pipe. The heat of the flue pipe will assist in keeping the loft slightly warmer. Feedback was that the loft is far warmer in the recent cold snap. Plastic pipe is cheap enough to buy and a benefit too.

[IMM]

Wrong id. Several years away. Please stay away then.

You dork! Maxie sells them reconned for a fraction of the price and guarantees them a year. £35-40.

[Neil Jones]

Of course, but if you start saying "extended flue +200 points unless you can use twin plastic pipes in which case +50" it starts getting more and more complicated

[IMM]

This form assumes the person filling it in knows the market and what is available. That is a poor assumption when taking into account and industry that has only just accepted non-cast iron boilers.

[Tony Bryer]

But the appraisal form is about considering how reasonable it is to install a condensing boiler, and the notes do say that even if the points score means that you don't have to install one it may still be a good idea to do so.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Google shows him to have as strange a selection of views as you - and a similar style of 'writing'.

Perhaps he's your long lost twin?

[IMM]

Believe me this Roger chappie is no relation to me and is nothing like me. Thank God. It is almost as insulting as saying I am like you.

[IMM]

Until few condensing boilers are sold and the Ministry starts to see why.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Oh, have you changed your name then? It looks like you stopped calling yourself John Burns-Curtis about 2 years ago on the net.

[Neil Jones]

No, he still calls himself that in some places.

[Andy Hall]

About 2006-7 by the time data is gathered.

It will be interesting to see what the vendors do. Presumably condensing products will drop a bit in price as volumes increase. Whether older non-condensers will increase in price as volume drops or not because the return on development is already retrieved it's hard to say.

The implication would seem to be that for replacements of wall mount boilers that assuming they are on an outside wall that a condensing replacement would have to happen, since a) no move of room and b) likely to be on outside wall if present unit is oldish without fan flue.

Replacements of floor standing units in existing location could also not be exempt because if the points for a house plus long flue plus condensate drain are added it comes to 890 for detached/semi/end terrace or 940 for mid terrace. I guess that floor standing units in a flat are not that common.

So it seems to only leave back burners after the above cases.

Clearly the points system has been contrived with various combinations in mind to only exempt the corner cases - the numbers would be more rounded if not.

[Neil Jones]

suitable

In my case, I have a floor-standing cast iron boiler in the dining room, which is now not considered a valid position to put a boiler, so I automatically get an extra 350 points. So regardless of whether I keep the boiler where it is, I can decide whether or not to have a condensing boiler because I get over 1000 points.

It's interesting to note that I can put my new either-condensing-or-not boiler in extactly the same place if I want to but, as I read it, I still get the 350 points because the position is 'invalid'.

Neil