The Boiler/heating Megathread- all boiler & heating queries in here please

[Googleberry 10]

go play your silly games with someone else googleberry this is an inteligent question and the OP would like a answer from a person who actually knows the answer, someone who is both experienced and qualified and i have you down as being neither.

 

yet again the topic is turning to mud before my very eyes.

 

sorry tess hope you can read through the rubbish and pick out the information you need.

 

i will say no more on the subject (please dont troll the post)

Calm down, your boilers might have an over-pressure release valve, but you don't!

[jl-heating 10]

took an ideal out today .. it was 3 years old .... it was knackered.. oh sorry it cant be they last 14 years ......

[Googleberry 10]

took an ideal out today .. it was 3 years old .... it was knackered.. oh sorry it cant be they last 14 years ......

Yeah, sure it was, and no doubt every part was worn out and dangerous, and it was chucking out tonnes of lethal CO, requiring at least £2,500 worth of new boiler and labour, and it had to be done immediately in order to make it safe! I bet they were glad you were there to do it, what with the weather being so cold, and you having cut the gas off and all...

 

By the way, mine was a Wickes Combi 2000, and they are re-badged Halsteads, not Ideals.

 

If you can't repair a 3 year old boiler, you must be the most useless plumber on earth! Brave of you to admit it though!

[shaznay 10]

Basically the boiler will not go off, it has only happened for the first time this morning.

Got up and the heating was blaring out, the timer switch had gone off, I turned the thermostat to off but the boiler was still going.

Eventually I had to turn the boiler off.

ITs only 3 years old and is an Ideal make.

Any suggestions welcome before I call out the gas man. Thanks

[shaznay 10]

just tried switching it back on and put it on for a bit, it now seems to be working ok, thank goodness.

[wykewatson 10]

anyone know the dfference between a combi boiler and a condensor thanks

[matt1889 10]

Conventional boilers

 

Conventional boilers burn fuel in a combustion chamber surrounded by a water jacket. This heats the water, which is then circulated around the heating system. Unfortunately, not all the heat produced by the burning fuel is used to heat the water. Much of it is lost to the surrounding air, and more disappears up the flue. To overcome these inefficiencies, condensing boilers are designed to extract more heat from a given quantity of fuel than is possible from a conventional boiler.

 

Condensing boilers

 

Condensing boilers are high efficiency boilers that waste almost no heat out of the flue. They are environmentally friendly, but only work in the condensing mode when the working conditions are correct - less than 50% of the radiators must be fitted with thermostatic radiator valves, for example. They also have a shorter than average lifespan and can be very expensive to buy.

 

Combination boilers

 

Combination boilers provide both instant hot water and central heating, but not at the same time - they are "hot water priority", which means that when hot water is being run there is no heat output to the radiators. This also means they have low water rate, so they can only feed one tap at a time.

 

Hope that helps you!

 

Matt

[moneyworries 10]

think you have to have condesers now in uk

Try Vaillant condeseing boiler , used to be best (german) been making em years before we had to have condensers in uk. lot of rubbish condesing boilers in uk as manufactures not up to speed with technology required for condensing boilers. Dont go on price alone cos it will be expensive to run and get repaired if it's a cheap 'un Ask at plumbers merchants like Fairy's wot best ones are. Shop round for fitter too and make sure he qoutes for doing the electrics as well and ot just fitting boiler to gas, he may need to bring in a electricain

 

Good luck

[satman2222 10]

Don't get a Worcester Bosch as they have aluminium heat exchangers which are prone to failure......

[BeightonBabe 10]

Just replaced our 19 year old relatively problem free worcester bosch with another. I was told to always use a suitable corrosion inhibitor . Know loads of people who have worcester boilers and they are highly satisfied. Hope that helps!

[InTheUK 10]

Worcester Bosch as they have aluminium heat exchangers which are prone to failure

 

I have a Worcester Bosch combi and am very happy with it. I spent a long time researching on the web prior to purchase and so far anyway (2 and a bit years) it's been problem free. The only 'problem' is that unlimited hot water means loooong showers which have to be paid for eventually, and also that unlike a tanked system, it takes 5 mins+ to fill the bath.

 

Ed

[Strix 11]

have you considered solar at all?