is there an faq for this ? we live in a semi-detached ex council house and need to fit a diffent type of boiler as the chimney has been condemmed quite awhile ago. so we need a wall fitting one with external chimney pipe. is it relatively easy to do and is it worth saving money by diy'ing. ?
Yes, providing you clue yourself up on the regs and do it competently (this business is covered by criminal law). (As a rule of thumb I'd say that if you can't solder copper pipe fittings you shouldn't be thinking of diying it.)
thank you, though i wouldn't have thought of looking for gas fittings for a boiler. not that i actually looked that is... :)
i wouldn't do that bit, my husband would, i'm more interested in what type/what performance would be needed considering the layout performance of the current pipes/radiators etc.
i've had a look on that webpage, it looks quite complicated just even deciding what kid of boiler you need never mind getting himself to install it etc. so, i'm thinking of getting someone else to do it, trouble is i'm quite clueless and would believe anything i'm told is 'right' in that direction and my husband hasn't got time to check everything out. so, roughly what kind of boiler am i looking for and roughly what should it cost the complete installtion plus, ideally i would like to get rid of the hot water boiler i have in my bedroom. also, it's a gravity feed system and at some point i would like a shower in the bathroom. is it better to get a boiler with that in mind or not ? thanks.
If you are a shower person and want to get rid of the hot water cylinder, then do consider a combi boiler, which will provide mains pressure hot water. They don't provide as much flow rate, so bath filling is slow, but bearable once a week.
If you still prefer a storage system, an unvented cylinder or heatbank will also provide mains pressure hot water, but will do so at vast flow rates, allowing multiple bathrooms and rapid bath filling (i.e. 2 minutes). These can be installed in a loft to recover bedroom space. However, they will be much more expensive than a combi based solution.
Whatever you buy, consider a condensing type boiler, which is more efficient. Almost all modern boilers use a fanned flue arrangement. This allows long distances and bends to be accommodated, although most people just push out straight through an external wall and terminate there. Some designs of condensing boiler will plume a bit, though, and the effect of this should be considered.
More tripe again. You do actually know that there are high flow rate combi's that can provide more than one bathroom. Why do you persist is telling lies.
Depending on the mains pressure and flow of course. I note you failed to mention hat.
Would you care to mention a wall mounted combi capable of modulating down low for heating that will fill a bath quickly?
To define quickly I'll be nice and say 4 minutes, although that is a little tardy for my taste. Lets say 5C incoming mains (winter, when you are more likely to be taking a bath instead of shower) and 40C in the bath. Shall we say 120 litres for the bath? (I'm not talking about wartime plimsol line conditions). It has to be done with a normal domestic gas supply and one boiler, rather than a heath robinson contraption taking over the entire kitchen.
Alpha CB50 AND Eco-Hometec to name but two. Most have a boiler and a cylinder. You could have have two small combi boilers, taking less space than a boiler and a cylinder, on the wall next to each other (Worcester Junior) and combine the outlets and this will also fill a bath pronto.
There is a lot of info in the varous FAQs and more below (which is also accessible from the main FAQ).
There is some advise about weather to diy or not in the gas fitting FAQ.
Also bear in mind that people who fit boilers for a living have tools which could not be justified for a one off use which make the job much simpler. E.g. Diamond tipped core drills.
I don't know about the Alpha. The Eco-Hometec is an excellent boiler, but only manages 22lpm at delta 30K. At delta 35K, this drops to 18.5l, filling the bath in 6.5 minutes. A very good performance for an instantaneous combi, but doesn't fulfill the specification I suggested.
Whilst systems with an integral heatbank or unvented cylinder are likely to be able to make the specification, these are frequently not compact wall mounted types.
But quite a few are. You asked for examples and were given a few. You can also get high flow rates by doubling up two small cased combis, which take up very little space at all, which works out cheaper than one boiler and one unvented cylinder, and high flow rates that never run out.
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