Servicing a very old gas boiler - still done?

I've been asked about getting a very old gas boiler serviced. I think it is from the 1970s when the house was built. It certainly looks very much like the one we found when we moved into a house in 1984.

For our old boiler a service was basically lifting out the very large burners (about the size and shape of a loaf of bread with holes in the top) and wire brushing them.

Run a vac around the area to clean out any dust and stuff and Robert is your relative of choice.

The only problem we had was fine dust blocking up the pilot light jet (remove, clean, replace) and the occasional thermocouple. Amazingly simple bit of kit.

I think we had it done professionally (safety check) about every 5 years and it just kept on working.

I would fettle it between the formal checks.

I'm now looking back about 15 years, so I have no idea if this is still the case. Is there a risk that the boiler could be condemned just because it is old? If so, February is probably not the best time to have it serviced.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David
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We used to have one of those until about a decade ago - a big Potterton cast iron lump.

First (90s) BG refused to cover it under their service contract. Then they refused ad-hoc servicing as 'we'll never get parts for that'. We went somewhere else, and it kept on working.

I'd find a good independent to service it - less likely than BG to condemn it because they can't be bothered. But if anything breaks be prepared to have trouble getting parts - unlike a contemporary Morris Minor there isn't the aftermarket, unless you have someone who can machine a new one from scratch.

Theo

Reply to
Theo

Go for a small local independent Gas Safe technician. My mother's boiler is around 25+ years old and still working OK. She gets an annual service done by a local family firm who have given the warning that it may not be repairable if it goes wrong.

Reply to
alan_m

Regulations have changed; one that catches people in flats is that flues have to be visible their whole length for inspection.

Owain

Reply to
spuorgelgoog

Hmm, I don't think so normally. If you just want to keep it going and you have the sensors to protect the rest of the people in there, then do it, but the way things are going such things might be too expensive to run soon in any case. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)

Also need to check the heat exchanger for soot buildup & flame colour, and that the flame pattern is ok. And that the thermocouple cutout works. Flue gases would also be checked and the gas power input, and the flue condition & suitable termination. If not room sealed, and 1970s ones weren't, it would be condemned in a rented property for that. You can look up how many people boilers killed a year back when that was the norm, I forget the numbers. Each generation older killed more per year.

Reply to
tabbypurr

I had a big old Potterson cast iron thing, in the house already when we moved in, 1976. Looked after it much the same way as yous your've described. 2009 decided to update modern condensing boiler (Worcester Bosch Greenstar). Our annual gas consumption went down by over 30%. Good enough reason on it's own to update from the old one I would have thought. Mind you, I don't expect that WB boiler to last as long as the old Potterton one did - that's just progress for you!!

Reply to
Davidm

A good maxim is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" - particularly in February.

I'm reluctantly accepting that my 30-year-old Baxi Solo is going to have to be replaced soon because some parts - particularly things like baffles - are no longer available. I'm doing my best to nurse it along at least until the weather is a bit warmer. I've had to clean out the pilot assembly today because the high winds has blown some crud into it. I'm pretty sure that BG would condemn it, so I'm not going to let them get anywhere near it. I suspect that an independent might also condemn it.

Reply to
Roger Mills

Roger Mills snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com posted

Does anyone know what is going to happen to energy bills when they ban the installation of gas boilers in new homes in 2025 or whatever? Gas is about a fifth the price of electricity per kWh, and it comprises the majority of my house's energy consumption. Have people cottoned on to this yet?

Reply to
Maxwell Boltzmann

The mind boggles! I actually spend more on electricity than on gas even though I use far less of it and all my space and water heating uses gas. The cost of heating with electricity would be colossal. What I really need is a gas-powered generator to provide my electricity. [Not sure how efficient they are].

I was recently looking at the economics of heat pumps. It seems that, to produce X kW of heat you need to supply X/4 kW of electricity. If that is true, it would cost me more in electricity to drive the pump than it currently does to do the whole job with gas - even though the heat itself would be "free"!

Reply to
Roger Mills

You will have to fit an air source heat pump which can give 5KWh heat output for every 1KWh electricity input (in the Summer)!

Has the Government considered where all this EXTRA electricity will be coming from with gas, petrol and diesel all being replaced by electric sources of power?

Reply to
alan_m

from gas? At great expense.

Reply to
tabbypurr

Yes and it can do quite well in winter months. I know someone who's got one..

Small modular nuclear is where it "could" come from, 'tho i very much doubt it will:(

Reply to
tony sayer

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