Can anyone give me some idea as to what's saved by a new boiler? Current boiler is a Glowworm Space Saver RF which is around 20 years old. The house has been cavity wall insulated and loft insulated so I'm hoping that new radiators due to the lower temperature of water from a new boiler may be avoidable...
The reply I got to exactly the same question from a reliable heating engineer.
"Yes. Excellent example of a dead basic boiler. Equivalent of a Morris 1000 in car terms.
Designed for reliability in the seventies when fuel was regarded as a cheap and limitless resource. Extremely ecologically UN-friendly due to the amount of fuel in burns for a given amount of usable heat output. Typical fuel efficiency 65% to 68%
Only three working components that ever fail. Thermocouple, gas valve and thermostat. All still freely available. New boilers have dozens of components prone to failure."
I didn't agree with the three components as I've had to fit a new cap ! This boiler has cost me approx £130 since it was fitted in the early 80s.
Yes you will save £100+ / year but I am amazed that people now appear to accept fitting a new boiler every ten year or so, so allow another £200 - 250 / annum for renewal costs, plus parts because they are both more complex and less reliable and because you are tied to a manufacturer, bits don't come cheap.
I'm paying just over half of what I used to. Insulation everywhere, double glazing and cavity wall insulation. Just don't make the mistake of not allowing fresh air in or it will lead to condensation. The old boiler was a back boiler that used to be behind the old gas fire. That was replaced by a boiler hanging on the wall in a cupboard on the landing upstairs and a living flame fire downstairs. The fire hardly gets used as it eats gas. With my old system the boiler seemed to come on every 10mins and stay on for a bit, then go off, then come back on etc. the new one will come on for say 15mins and heat everywhere much faster, then stay off for a lot longer. The new ones are more efficient, but people using less gas means that companies will not make the same projected profit for shareholders unless they increase the costs by a huge amount.
A /good/ modern boiler should last 20+years. And will not cost hundreds a year to maintain. I expect that you may have already read the BoilerCHoice FAQ and so reading it again will not alter your opinions.
I would expect the OP to save about 30% on the gas usage.
So we'd be waiting a fair few years for it to pay itself back then.
I guess my fundamental concern is not trusting anyone to tell me the truth when if comes to servicing. Too much "Rogue Traders" perhaps !
When I clean out my boiler, I then rust proof it all. It's fundamentally as good as new. That's what I call servicing, not what my BG aquaintance was allowed to do. i.e. put a sniiffer in the flue. He resigned in disgust. Then if there is anything wrong, condemn it and explain they are doing £800 off a replacement.
Perhaps if there was an individual I could really trust to do the job properly and mend it all the time the parts were availble, I would be more willing to get it changed. As the guy said who gave me the orginal information, all the parts are still available for this boiler. but how many engineers would admit that, when there's the prospect of a nice little profit ?
As a matter of interest, what do you think the average annual maintenance charge is ?
=20
=20 We were quoted =A360 a year for annual maintenance at a house in Coventry,= =20 recently fitted with a condensing boiler...
--=20 John W To mail me replace the obvious with co.uk twice
Why? I've just chucked out a near 30 year old cast iron heat exchanger boiler and there was only a few spots of surface rust on it. Unless you mean internal rustproofing in the form of inhibitor.
Well that wasn't the case with mine. There was a seam of rust along the top edge of the heat exchanger which had caused a hole in the cap - though not so bad as to cause any further problems. I just suspect that your average maintainer wouldn't have bothered and I didn't intend that to happen again. Your "30 years", will no doubt come as a surprise to those who have now been persuaded that 10 is an acceptable life for a modern boiler, even if the better quality - and therefore most expensive ones - can last double that.
Clearly I will have to make the change but it will be a substantial outlay, both upfront and in ongoing maintenance, even if it does save the suggested £150/annum. For what it's worth, I don't trust garages either and haven't had a car serviced for over 30 years but I admit it's getting increasingly uncomfortable, grovelling about on the drive ! :-(
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So this is a steel rather than cast heat exchanger?
I changed my old Potterton Kingfisher simply because it was a convenient time to do it due to major works in the room where it was situated. It was still working perfectly - and the only faults it ever had was a couple of thermocouples and O rings between the heat exchanger sections. I asked a local boiler spares place - they do keep some secondhand stuff - if they wanted it for spares and they declined. No demand.
FWIW I've gone for a Viessmann system boiler to replace it. Potterton was top of the range when I bought it and I'm told Viessmann is the same today.
Of course with the vast increases in gas prices - with, I'm sure, more to come - the savings are likely larger. Assuming one can continue to afford central heating at all.
I look after one of mine myself - the newer one gets garage servicing. And you're absolutely right about garages - the main dealer who serviced mine was incompetent, dishonest and incredibly expensive. Luckily I've found a half decent specialist now it's out of warranty.
No. The heat exchanger is cast iron but the cap is a folded and rivetted steel box which sits directly on top and is sealed to the flue. The bottom edge of the cap had a hole in it but I found one for £75 and replaced it.
I'll look into Viessmann. When the time comes I'll spend what it takes to get a quality product.
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