What boiler

[eithera]

Which/ what size Combi boiler folks would recommend for a 5 bedroom (loft converted) terrace house? And could it be fitted with perfectly working and about 6 years old existing rads and pipes? Many thanks.

[burbeck]

hi try this

choose from models from baxi, ideal, worcester bosh, valient etc regards bob

[Doctor Evil]

A high flowrate model. Worcester Bosch Greenstar 40 kW, Worcester Bosch HighFlow, Alpha CD50, etc.

They can be used on existing systems as long as they are flushed out with appropriate cleaner.

_________________________________________ Usenet Zone Free Binaries Usenet Server More than 120,000 groups Unlimited download

to open account

[Christian McArdle]

How many bathrooms? How many residents? What sort of residential area? Prefence for baths/showers? Teenagers? Teenagers to be? Likely to sell soon?

Christian.

[Simon Stroud]

... and don't forget Eco Hometec

I have one of their high flowrate condensing combis, as previously recommended by "Doctor Evil" in one of his earlier incarnations!

Very pleased with it.

Regards, Simon.

[Doctor Evil]

Yep, a class act.

_________________________________________ Usenet Zone Free Binaries Usenet Server More than 120,000 groups Unlimited download

to open account

[Ed Sirett]

Specifically to this post: Combi boilers are sized for the HW output. Even a 24kW unit will likely be adequate for you heating needs.

Professionally I would query your choice of a combi on the face value of your post but it may be that there are some other (unstated) reasons for that choice.

Even if the previous heating system has bad corrosion problems you will be OK to reuse the pipes and rads after proper flushing and dosing with corrosion inhibitor.

In general:

This question is truly coming up very frequently (more than once a week I'd reckon). It comes in all flavours such as "is make X any good", "why shouldn't I replace my existing boiler with a replica?", "is boiler X OK for a n-bedroom house?".

I'm thinking of a FAQ here along the lines of...

Link to the existing FAQ on boiler and heating system types for an over view. General discussion of why boiler choice is so anxiety prone. General discussion of modern versus tradition designs. Spell it out: You-get-what-you-pay-for. What you get if you buy on price. What you get if you pay for the top of the range. Good reasons why your fitter might recommend X. Bad reasons why your fitter might recommend X. Spot the pricing structure and make it work for you. How to check your boiler can be fitted - before buying it. Stock faults and some manufacturers. The aim is not to recommend a particular model, or to slag-off/worship particular manufacturers but to layout tools to assist in the decision.

I don't think "I believe that solution X can be made to fit every circumstance." would be useful.

Any takers for a cooperative effort here?

[John Stumbles]

In principle yes, just depends on the Round Tuit supply (which isn't too good around here :-()

[Tony Bryer]

At first glance there does seem to be a ludicrously large number of boilers fighting for the same market: a quick check suggests that there are currently 140+ condensing gas combis on the market - some of course will be minor variants of the same model. But there are things that do make particular ones better in certain locations: our church Keston Celsisus boilers were chosen because of the fluing and the remote run/warning light wiring makes it easy to see what is happening. For my own home, not large, heating split into living and bedroom zones, I specifically chose a Glow-worm combi because it will modulate right down to 4.9kW - which would not be very relevant on a place with a much larger heating load. No doubt there are other boilers that have particular USP's.

I'd certainly be interesting in cooperating on this - your list of headings is excellent.