anyone opine on how old this gas boiler is please

newbiejim · 17 Feb 2013 at 14:49

Having had a cold winter and paying a fortune for gas I`m considering upgrading heating, my questions are, roughly how old is this kit, boiler and radiators, AND if I upgrade will I see a significant performance increase?, ie; will I be warmer and will warmth per £ be reduced by what % ?, I know the question is dependent on many variables unique to my circumstance but opinions welcome, esp from people with experience. Thanks.

boiler

radiator

radiator

newbiejim · 17 Feb 2013 at 15:56

thanks for the replies, yes Ive got the serial to mail WB to get definitive age, manual mentions 1994 regs or something so must be post 94, anyone upgraded and noticed huge improvement?

newbiejim · 18 Feb 2013 at 09:15

cheers for the input guys, now.......... IF I buy a combi boiler (currently thinking of Vaillant Eco Plus) how much should I expect to pay for an install?, I know every install can be different but a ballpark figure?

newbiejim · 18 Feb 2013 at 09:34

heres what I was thinking, surely it wouldnt take any longer than 2 days to fit, so £400?

newbiejim · 18 Feb 2013 at 11:20

and another issue (many thanks again guys for the input) I`m pretty sure my gas pipe is 15mm which I think means I need to get that upgraded to 22mm if I put new boiler in?, if so what is rough cost?

newbiejim · 18 Feb 2013 at 17:01

Nightglow said:
Will definitely need a 22mm feed

Quailty Black Label EN 1057 Copper Tube 22mm x 3mtr length presently £19:98p @ B&Q, joiners, elbows about £1- £1:50p each.

Cheers mate

inogen said:
We changed our boiler a couple of years ago from an old Worcester to a Veissmann. The old system wasn't a combi though.

Bills plummeted. In fact so much so that we now leave the heating on all the time (on a thermostat) rather than timed. I do work from home though, so it makes sense. Whereas before I'd just wear more jumpers. Bills are still much cheaper, another year or two and the boiler will have paid for itself. Despite having 24hr heating.

I actually had a hat on in bed lol

~Divine~Wind~ said:
I paid £2500 recently

WB 30CDi
7 Rads (various sizes and BTU)
6 TRV's (Drayton TRV4)
Wireless programmer (Proper WB one)

Work involved.
Removing old water tank and overflow tank.
Reomoving old boiler.
Moving boiler to a different location and installing
Connecting up to mains gas.

Moving and replacing all radiators.
New plumbing on 2 floors.
Chemical flush and inhibitor.

Took them 3 days.
Yeah the TRV's and thw wireless controller can cut the cost hugely.
But I read some of the cheaper TRV's were utter junk and thought I dont plan on redoing this anytime soon.

That seems a really good deal

newbiejim · 18 Feb 2013 at 18:28

Worcester Bosch mailed me back saying boiler is from 1998, I`m still of a mind to replace it as I have a largish semi (lol), three bedrooms large living room etc and this boiler output is only 24kw whereas I`m thinking the Vaillant Ecoplus one that is circa 31kw would be of a more appropriate output, give a better flow rate and ultimately be more economical.

newbiejim · 19 Feb 2013 at 08:00

Nightglow said:
That would be a Valiant EcoTec plus 837, but have a look at the Vaillant Ecotec Plus 937 Power Store Combi Boiler, which has twin 7.5 ltrs tanks of store hot water.

The hot water flow rate is even higher at 15.2 to 20.0ltrs.

http://www.vaillant.co.uk/stepone2/data/downloads/f4/42/00/ecoTEC_plus_937_sales_brochure.pdf

ah, so that would give me awesome flow rate, better shower performance, WHICH I am considering as I currently have a puny electric shower. My boiler is sited kinda outside in a small brick 'lean to' type part of the house and might not have enough room for both housings,hmmm

newbiejim · 19 Feb 2013 at 09:12

Nightglow said:
Confused?

The twin water cylinders are within the boiler.

ah, thought they were separate, thanks m8, I`m likin the increased flow rate etc because thats certainly one drawback with combis.

newbiejim · 19 Feb 2013 at 09:19

Nightglow said:
Depth of boiler is 597mm, so a little deeper than a normal boiler.

Shows layout design in brochure link.

aye I skimmed it and stupidly assumed they were separate lol

newbiejim · 19 Feb 2013 at 16:55

Tinders said:
24kw should be sufficient for a decent 3 bed semi, before you upgrade the boiler i'd replace the rads, or atlest have them cleaned, you'll be suuprised how much gunge gets built up over the years in em. Its a pretty decent boiler that tbh.

I'd also look at how well insulated your house is too, that again can make a big difference in terms of heat retention, for eg, my place has double glazing, but the seals are old so lots of cold air can get in.

Cheers, yes I had been told the boiler was decent for its day, I'm just wondering whether to do the lot while I'm at it , flow rate from this one seems pretty poor tbh, AND I have micro bore pipe too which maybe I should be replacing?

newbiejim · 19 Feb 2013 at 21:03

Nightglow said:
Well if your considering replace the whole lot, then split the heating into two zones ground & 1st floor with seperate room stat for each zone, it's known as Full Zoning, .

sounds interesting, sort of have a zone delineated by valve in pipework for each zone?, operated by a thermostat of course, is this trivial for most plumbers?