Radio4 "Home Planet" does Combi pros and cons

[Phil Addison]

BBC Radio 4's Home Planet did a piece on the pros and cons of Combi boilers with respect to convenience and efficiency vs stored systems.

Home Planet is billed as "A weekly programme about the environment and international development, in which informed panelists discuss listeners' concerns about the world in which we live."

The Combi piece was quite well balanced and brought up most of the points that get exercised here. Summarising, they concluded that the better combis are *possibly* ok, but the basic ones have several snags.

They have links on the Home Planet page, one of which is the "DIY Frequently Asked Questions"

actually linking to the Combi page of our FAQ

You can listen to the programme online, for about a week. The combi piece starts 8 1/2 minutes in

uk.d-i-y FAQ is at Google uk.d-i-y archive is at NOSPAM from address to email me

[Mary Fisher]

What puzzled me was that one of the 'drawbacks' was that it would take nine or ten minutes to run a bath.

So?

We don't have a combi but that wouldn't be a problem for us.

Mary

[David Hansen]

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:15:00 +0100 someone who may be "Mary Fisher" wrote this:-

Perhaps the water will get a bit colder by the time one has done that.

Personally when I start to run a bath I like it to be ready in a few minutes, which my gravity system does without fuss and without any sort of pump. The head is around 2.5m.

[Phil Anthropist]

Poor flow rate for filling baths is confirmed here:

[Mary Fisher]

Oh come on David! 9 - 10 minutes IS only a few minutes and it's no fuss - it's not going to chill in that time. I spend about an hour in the bath and it doesn't lose heat!

But as you know we use solar heated water :-)

Mary

>

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Then it's presumably stored and fills the bath quickly?

I agree with the others - anything much longer than it takes to undress would be a pain.

[Phil Addison]

Indeed, especially as they said that some could take 28, 29 even 30 minutes.

Phil The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at

Google uk.d-i-y archive is at NOSPAM from address to email me

[Owain]

Imagine the frustration of waiting 30 mins for a bath and knowing that for just a few pounds extra one could have got a better combi that would have filled it in 29 minutes.

Owain

[Guy King]

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

Undress in a more langourous and suggestive manner.

[Mary Fisher]

Quite.

Better still, get someone else to do it ...

But first:

Turn on the tap, put down the mat, open the cupboard, select towel and place it in an accessible place. And facecloth on side of bath.

Go into bedroom for the wheelie phone.

Get radio and put it on linen box at side of bath near phone, making sure it's on station.

Take mobile phone out of pocket and put it with other gear.

Call for cup of tea/glass of gin/champagne whatever to put with other essentials.

Go next door to empty bladder.

Choose what flavour bubbles you favour for that day. Remove cap and invert bottle, watching beautiful, pear shaped bubbles slowly moving to surface. Get bath brush and waggle in water to make masses of foam.

If it's a dull day pull down blind.

Go back to bedroom for clean clothes.

By that time there should be enough water to sink into, more can be added by toe power.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I heard nine or ten minutes! But the water doesn't get cold in my hour of wallowing! And in a cast iron bath.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

That's a point, well considered!

Mary

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Mary Fisher" saying something like:

Don't you get a bit prune-like?

[Dave Liquorice]

Cor yoor posh, but why bother the neighbours you are about to have a bath.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Fresh towel already on the heated rail. Dirty towels get binned after use

- not before.

Phone installed in the bathroom..

Hi-Fi system installed in the bathroom...

Comes out of pocket the second I get in....

I'd bring that with me.....

Loo in bathroom. Not the only one, of course......

The speed of the water filling the bath does that nicely.

No windows.

No - I'll dress in that room.

If it took that long I'd have a shower instead.

[Mary Fisher]

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Yes, but someone has to put it there.

Cor, now there IS posh!

Have you room for a bath?

Yes.

Oh, poor thing. You don't have someone to do it for you!

I wouldn't have that!

Yes, but it's a childish pleasure to make more and see the big ones.

Ah! I knew there's be a drawback. I love lying back and seeing the sky.

They have to be taken into the bathroom, you don't keep them in there permanently do you?

You have no idea of the luxury of time for hedonism!

Sybaritic Mary

[Doctor Drivel]

These programmes clearly don't have people doing research who know the market. 90-10 mins is just plain tripe as many will fill as fast as a cylinder system.

[Doctor Drivel]

notice of his FAQs.

[Doctor Drivel]

Yep, even with a slow combi you can still get in and have it filling while you are in the bath.