Most modern condensing boilers are side or downfiring so any crud falls away from the burner, not on to it, a much more robust design than traditional boilers. I've heard the reps of several such boiler firms say that if it is running OK (exhaust checks within limits) leave well alone
- apart from the condensate trap check of course.
I think I do :-)
I think there's an argument that for a SI such as (say) the Gas Safety Installation and Use Regulations any benefit from parliamentary scrutiny would be more than offset by the added burden on parliamentary time of, effectively, rubber-stamping it, and overall would be counter-productive to parliament's job of trying to ensure that legislation reflects to some tiny degree the will of The People.
AIUI the SI mechanism attempts to delegate parliamentary workload by saying that parliament agrees a certain piece of legislation in principle but leaves the appointed civil servants to work out the details in line with the principles agreed. Given the far from perfect nature of the electoral and parliamentary system the obvious scope for error and abuse in the SI system probably falls into the mote & beam department. :-)
CORGI do the building regs notification for you (where 'you' == registered gas installer :-)). The householder then gets a piece of paper sayng it's been notified, to add to their next HIP (or paper their loo with). I doubt it shows up on any wibble the public can access.
Our council certainly has FENSA notifications on the wibble. I would imagine it has CORGIs too. I'll be off and report back.
Probably true, but it obviously depends on what you are comparing with.
It includes the fan... 90% is the low end of the efficiency gain - 96% is not unheard of - so potentially a 12% increase on yours.
Unless you rads are undersized now, you are unlikely to need larger ones. The only time it may be an issue is on very cold days, in which case you could turn up the boiler flow temp. This would cost you a little in reduced efficiency on these days, but the number of days per year with sustained sub -3 deg temperatures we have in this country is quite limited.
If you have rads already installed - then stick with them. The boiler ought not be any bigger...
It's a ghastly wibble, and has been re-vamped. My FENSA notification doesn't appear to be there any more, but Building reg applications and PPs from 1990 onwards are.
The question is not one of availability by Mail order or otherwise, or the source location. Non condensing boilers are readily available although probably no off the shelf except at the largest stockists.
It is a matter of your neighbour's reluctance/ignorance of the law, nothing will come of the matter, in all likelihood.
There just might be a raised eyebrow when the house is sold. There is also the matter that your neighbour has _potentially_ foregone the guarantee.
In what way is the new one beyond your capabilities. I'd guess the most likely difficulty is that the only thing that can be checked is the flue gas and that requires expensive kit.
I'm fully expecting the condensing boilers I'm currently fitting to go 25+ years. If anything they could potentially have a longer life than conventional units.
As a matter of interest then, which model are they and how much maintenance do they require ? I sadly can't keep my old boiler going for ever.
Andy
He has a building company, is well aware of the law and a Corgi registered colleague is checking the installation.
There will when ours is sold too. So what?
Again, so what? He has enough contacts to address any problems.
Mary
Read the Boiler CHoice FAQ. Try to pay over £700
All of which just goes to show we need less laws and/or better enforcement.
At the moment we seem to have more laws and voluntary compliance.
This is part of EU harmonisation to bring us in line with the Mediterranean countries.
Laws are easy and cheap to pass and look like 'something is being done'. Enforcing those laws is a different matter. Prime example being the use of mobile phones while driving. And I mean held to the ear - not using a hands free kit, etc.
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