Replacing a floor-standing boiler

[phykell]

I'm currently doing my kitchen and one problem I've got is my floor-standing boiler. The boiler is a Gloworm 52B and apart from looking a bit unsightly, works just fine. Maintenance is simple with very little to go wrong. The real problem I have is that now I'm fitting a new kitchen, I'll be losing a lot of space to the boiler and of course if i'm going to replace it, I may as well do it now, before the kitchen goes in!

I thought it would be simple, but it's not. I thought the automatic choice these days is a combi boiler but I've now found that there's several major types - condensing, non-condensing, storage types, vented, unvented, etc. and that the choice depends on the way you intend to use it!

After reading many posts here I'm not going to ask simply what combi should I use, but I will ask what type is the best to go for bearing in mind there's just me and the wife in a 3 bedroom semi. We have an electric shower installed and the current heating system is basic radiators and a copper cylinder in the loft area.

Is there any justification for keeping my existing boiler or replacing it with something similar (if such boilers are still made).

 

[ollski]

To keep costs to a minimum and provided your system is in good enough condition I personally would do a straight swap for a wall mounted fan flued conventional boiler with a cast iron heat exchanger.....something like an Ideal classic.

 

[phykell]

To keep costs to a minimum and provided your system is in good enough condition I personally would do a straight swap for a wall mounted fan flued conventional boiler with a cast iron heat exchanger.....something like an Ideal classic.

Are these significantly smaller and more efficient then? It would be nice to see some comparison charts between old boilers and the new ones. As far as I'm aware, old boilers are much more inefficient than their modern counterparts but I haven't seen any metrics and I certainly have no idea as to what difference in would make to my heating bills!

One of the things that does concern me about my current system is the fact that I have so much pipework going all the way up to the loft area, and of course, the water tanks up there and the hot water cylinder. The boiler is in the kitchen (an extension), and to get hot water in the same room, the pipes travel from the boiler all the way up to the loft and back down to the kitchen again. Unsurprisingly perhaps, it takes ages to get hot water at the kitchen tap and even when you do, it's not exactly piping hot (no pun intended).

 

[DP]

I would start with system cleanse (it is mandatory when a boiler is replaced) and control upgrade. If the boiler fails, change it. If you want to replace the boiler anyway, stick with conventional as Ollski suggests. Conventional boiler will be dearer than a combi.

Alternative would be to install a combi to supply hot water in kitchen and retain cylinder for water for sanitation. Bear in mind this alternative will call for greater system appraisal as minute leaks will effect system operation.

Ensure Benchmark logbook is completeed and signed by you and the installer.