New Boiler options

markwilliams82 · 29 Jan 2020 at 20:31

Evening all, I've been speaking to my gas man recently about replacing the old boiler system in our house and he put forward a decent quote but an extra of a Worcester Greenstar 18i system and upgraded cylinder to make a pressurised system and loose the tanks in the loft

All well and good but adds £1.5k to the quote

Are these new systems worth while and any good?

We live in a 3 bedroom link detached house with one bathroom / shower

Appreciate any help

daz · 29 Jan 2020 at 20:42

With only one bathroom I'd have thought you could lose the tanks and just have a combi-boiler?

A pressurised system is great - hot water at mains pressure, but you'll only really feel the benefit if you have multiple bathrooms.

rodders · 29 Jan 2020 at 20:45

As above, waste of money for one bathroom

markwilliams82 · 29 Jan 2020 at 21:02

Appreciate that and I did wonder that. it sounded great when he explained it but for the cost it seemed overkill

I'd like to go combi boiler but the missus thinks she knows better and would like to keep the airing cupboard with water tank

FlyingFish · 29 Jan 2020 at 21:27

As long as you have a decent boiler (every man and his dog has an opinion on that!) that is suitably sized and correctly sited and installed for best 'performance' then a combi should be fine for your needs.
Things to consider: Noise, distance from taps/outlets, preheat, warranty, reliability, system filter, adequate controls (thermostatic valves, programmer, weather compensation). Some of this stuff is part of building regs, depends how good your fitter is, and make sure he registers everything properly

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 29 Jan 2020 at 21:34

I suggest finding someone with one and asking to see what its like
We have multiple showers etc, but compared to the large combi in out old house its night and day awesome. I wouldn't even consider a combi again, but this is the real strength area of a system vs a combi

An extra £1.5k seems a lot though, probably best spent elsewheer

markwilliams82 · 29 Jan 2020 at 22:11

Know the other half doesn’t want a combi so we’ll be retaining the system but wondering if pressurised was worth the month and gauging feedback here

seems to be for size of house we have; it’s not

FlyingFish · 29 Jan 2020 at 22:16

Depends how old and condition of the rest of the system, whether it needs updating or just a boiler swap. If it needs modernising then yeah pay the extra and enjoy UVHW, you dont need a massive tank if there isnt the demand.

DXP55 · 30 Jan 2020 at 09:46

I agree with your wife - Just change the boiler -quick - easy and cheaper - - This is of course that your existing system is reasonably new.

I went to a combi and it was worst thing I have ever done -a WB as well - it's cost me a fortune in bits and servicing.

b0rn2sk8 · 30 Jan 2020 at 10:03

Unvented is one of those things you need to experience to realise what you have been missing all this time. I’d hate going back to a low pressure system now.

markwilliams82 · 30 Jan 2020 at 21:35

Thanks all, I know it would be a love to have but the extra money for it doesn't seem to warrant it for our useage and size of house so will go the easier and cheaper straight swap option to replace our aging boiler.
The rest the engineer confirmed is all OK

Teknobry · 31 Jan 2020 at 00:15

DXP55 said:
I agree with your wife - Just change the boiler -quick - easy and cheaper - - This is of course that your existing system is reasonably new.

I went to a combi and it was worst thing I have ever done -a WB as well - it's cost me a fortune in bits and servicing.

Should be at least 5 years warranty on it, what went wrong?

DampCat · 31 Jan 2020 at 08:14

My unvented/Pressurised system is an absolute dream. I've got 3 bathrooms on three stories in my townhouse and each one is high pressure hot water (mostly) on demand.

Considerations are:

We have a very large tank in a cupboard that uses valuable space in a townhouse in the city (space is a premium here)

It can take 10-15 seconds for the water to run hot downstairs.

You specifically have to state to any engineers that your system is unvented, as they require a certificate to work on it. In my experience, most engineers do not have that so you can end up searching around for your guy. Especially British Gas, who have sent me the wrong guy 3 out of 5 times now.

Otherwise it's brilliant, and if I was moving into a new place I would definitely consider the extra cost of installation as a factor of moving

Old Geezer · 31 Jan 2020 at 09:32

markwilliams82 said:
Appreciate that and I did wonder that. it sounded great when he explained it but for the cost it seemed overkill

I'd like to go combi boiler but the missus thinks she knows better and would like to keep the airing cupboard with water tank

If you want to go combi, swmo can still have an airing cupboard. Just plumb in a small radiator (with or without a thermostatic rad valve) where the tank was. Worked for me.

DXP55 · 3 Feb 2020 at 13:42

Teknobry said:
Should be at least 5 years warranty on it, what went wrong?

Circuit board - Y valve and just had a firebox gasket - Also I think the water and heating stats are going -radiators are too hot to touch and it's turned down to 1.5 - same with hot water -scalding hot then cold - Just had it serviced again (9th one) but couldn't be assed to tell boiler man as I have spent enough on service and parts to have bought another. He did say it's showing 91.2% efficiency. So will keep it for another few years - It's ten years old now.
I really do hate Combi boilers.

My old Eurocal (I think) was very good - I installed it and it was still running well when I left after 20+ years - it never packed up once and I only serviced it when I thought about it and each time I took the Minor 1 burner out it was as clean as a whistle.
Forgot to say mine are oil burners

have I said I hate combie's :rolleyes:

jellybeard999 · 4 Feb 2020 at 12:08

I have a WB combi in a 3 bed semi and have no problems.

Shower has good pressure. Heats the house well. Hot water taps all have good pressure.

The only time I can see any issues is if we turned every hot tap on at once. Just turning one hot tap on, the shower pressure drops a little, but not massively.

If you want multiple baths/showers at once, I imagine a combi would need to be supplemented with something else.

We have 1 bathroom and it's fine for us!

I suspect your usage and house layout etc will dictate what works for you.