Sitting in't cold

This happened last night and Mrs Plum shouts, " Toooooooom radiators gone off, panick panick , Ok Dearest leave it with me,

Been a busy day today

Tom. I have in the past posted that a few years back, five of my friends happened to be plumbers, and although they installed combies for others, they had eschewed combies in their own homes. (Two boilers)

I never quizzed them about why they had chosen to do this, but I am pretty certain that one thing they would have said is that when it goes wrong, can throw in a replacement pump/valve or whatever, and up and running again at minimal cost.

You have previously told me that combies have improved a lot, which of course I do accept.

I wish they were still around, so I could ask if they would still choose such an option today.

Tom

So what caused the heat exchanger to fail ?

Do you have anti rust stuff in your central heating water ?

Four years doesn't seem long for a boiler to last.

Ena. they have not improved any boilers, they Claim to have improved the efficiency of them and will offer figures to prove that But, The cost of service and repairs to boilers have gone ballistic , In 1970 when central heating was becoming the, home improvement of the day, We would fit a Glowworm cast iron boiler which would work for 40 years with the only breakdowns being, the seasonal pump, this was due to being switched off in summer and the odd thermacouple which was pennies to buy and a plumber could fit in 20 mins tops,
Todays Boilers need constant service at £100+ and regular breakdowns at £350 average and this is why, there are spares shops in every other street in all towns and cities, The boiler service and breakdown business is BOOMING because, All Boilers are more complicated that they need to be, They are, Heath Robinson gadgets for the home,,,

Tommy Tee, I used to recommend the Main Boiler because, Its built in the UK in Preston And I've fitted loads including my own house but. Since the A rated condensation Boilers of 2005 came in, They seem to have gone down the path of,
Lets make them break down more and therefore, we sell more,

Thatchers Britain

Tomplum ....... Click Here, Laaaaike!

We had a Baxi in't 1960's, but it burned coal

Tom

When we moved into our present house it had a cast iron GlowWorm boiler fitted. It was an enormous object weighing around 200 kilos. Its efficiency rating was about 70%. It had been in place for over 20 years and we carried on using it for several more years.
I replaced it with a A rated GlowWorm condensing regular boiler about 14 years ago. The only problem we’ve had in the 14 years it’s been installed is to replace the printed circuit board. It’s a much simpler piece of kit compared to a combi boiler.

actually Gaffer I replaced one of the motorized valves for you and, Although its not part of the boiler, It is part of the heating system which would be an internal part of a combi and I know you get it serviced regularly which also costs money, your old Glowworm would run on and on without servicing but. I take your point, It is lighter, cleaner and what you save in gas, will not match what you spent in servicing

I fitted a 'Gloworm 30ci, non-condensing combination boiler' at my house approximately 18 years ago (I bought three of them for £450, off a lad I know, they'd fell off the back of a lorry on the east lancs road). The only problem I've had was a short on the fan, which blew the main PCB.
A new main PCB was well over £300 and a new fan was £98. So, I had the same quandary as Tomplum. Do I buy a new boiler or do I buy the parts to fix it?

So, 18 years on, I still have the same boiler.
Tomplum has reccommended Baxi/Main to me in the past, I think he said somewhere in Blackburn, but four years and it's rotted through? That's not a good advert at all !

Ln fact, I'd be onto them about that!!

This is where ' them' men geet me, There is a 5 year guarantee with the boiler and when I towd um what happened, they said, Please supply us with the name of the gas registered fitter, his reg number and proof of the yearly services, because I'm retired my gas reg number is no longer valid because I no longer pay the fee so

on yer bike Tom,,,

Tom, I know a guy who ....... etc, etc, etc ....

In fact, you know him too!

If I said GB , how far off am I ?

These days, maybe having electric storage heaters are a better option

I would say a heat pump is the way forward and, I'm speaking from my son's experience in Canada, At the moment in Canada it is -23 degrees and his house inside is +20 degrees, He has 2 air heat pumps, they work like a fridge in reverse so, they use the energy cost of a fridge but heat a house like a boiler, amazing,,,

Tom, 3 and 17 !

Tonks,,, Too cryptic for me, over me yed,,

I think that the production of electricity is the way ahead, from somehow getting the holy grail of energy production to work, that being controlled nuclear fusion, to tidal power and other renewables, but as Tonker has always said, Solar energy is the future, with vast Solar Farms in the desert powering the rest of the planet, that could be achieved 'now' and vast in size pumped storage hydro schemes, to store that Solar energy for when the sun don't shine, and all of which would be carbon neutral

I agree with thee Tommy tee, Solar energy is real and clean but limited in our country, It will produce lights and small wattage appliances but, won't do a kettle or heating ,

i have one of you TOM last week may father in law calls me to say his hot water boiler needs bleeding ????

he lives in a 40 apartment building in Jerusalem that has one boiler that runs on oil that supply heat to all the apartments in winter for 4hour in the morning and 4hour at night..... it also heats the hot water boilers up ... it does not supply the water it only heats the water... it totally stupefied me!! But the plumber who had been working on the boiler had to go to every apartment and bleed the boiler

Peter the water in the boiler runs round the whole system through the rads and air can lodge anywhere in the pipes and a favourite place for air lodging is in the rads, So EVERY radiator will need bleeding,