I've a 9 year-old Gloworm conventional boiler (ie. gas fuel, chimney flue and pumped + gravity heating system) in my house. Just casually wondering how efficient such a boiler might be by today's standards.
Also, servicing wise, is there anything in particular I should be paying attention to? Been here over 2 years, but haven't had it serviced yet.
a
There is a website giving efficiency comparisons for boilers, try Googling for SEDBUK, boiler and efficiency and see what you get. Someone else on this newsgroup will have the URL I'm sure if you don't turn it up,
Andy.
Pretty poor, I'm afraid.
Then you should. Non room sealed boilers - ie those with a conventional flue - can be lethal when faulty. If there's any problems with the air supply, or blockages in the flue, or they're not burning efficiently for any reason, they can produce carbon monoxide which is a killer.
Personally, I'd not even bother with a service, but change it for an RS condensing type.
The flue at least is sealed behind plasterboard, which should help a small amount. But yes, CO emissions are a worry.
"RS"? Don't think I really have the money to replace it right now. Being doing too many other major renovations to fit it in :o(
a
Room sealed.
Do a regular check that the flames are blue with no yellow.
The boiler maybe 9 years but its design is much older.
As it has a conventional flue, you absolutely need to have it checked over and probably cleaned every 12 months. This is not vested interest s**te its serious essential safety. It does not matter that the flue is partially enclosed. It draws its combustion air from the inside and if anything goes wrong it will dump CO in the house.
With all the right controls and a new boiler you could save perhaps as much as 30%. Adding a wall themrostat and a few TRVs would however give you a saving right away. Going to fully pumped and a cylinder stat also.
I'm not sure I'm describing it correctly. I found reference to it on the Sedbuk web page though. It's either a Glow-worm Hideaway 40 or 50 (described as regular, floor standing, non-condensing, gas, indoor, open flue: no fan) with a power output of either 8.8kW or 11.7kW and SAP efficiency of either 70.8% or 71%. That was a mouthfull ....
Does that match what you were thinking? Regarding servicing - is there anything to choose between getting BG to service it or any other gas servicing company? Are "normal" servicing costs much cheaper than BG's annual plans?
I have a wall stat and I'm putting TRV's in all the upstairs rooms and the hall as we speak! Haven't really looked into replacing the boiler, but I'm thinking it would cost £1000's between the boiler cost and installation?
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