Re: Central heating boilers

[Martin Howell <martin.howell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thought I'd start with BG and use them as a benchmark. Also, we
already
have a service contract with them, and when we started the contract
there was much head shaking and teeth sucking about the (non-BG) install
which resulted in me paying them a wodge to replace the flue pipe in
order for them to cover it - as it turns out it was a good investment as
they've been pouring money into the boiler repairs ever since, although
a chunk of that is down to engineers not having a clue what they're
doing and/or being contractors paid by the hour so deliberately finding
stuff that needs doing.

I will get some independent quotes, but the plumbers I've spoken to all
seem to recommend stuff that they are comfortable fixing, not
necessarily the best boiler for the job.  BG seem to offer a range of
makes, so there's a bit more choice provided I do my own homework :-)

M

Martin Howell
Woodworker, artist and engineer

On 28/07/2013 11:31, Vargster wrote:
> BG? Seriously?
> This was three years back, but I had a quote for a new gas boiler
> (non-combi as I have solar panels) from BG. It was £3.5K.
> Another quote from an indi was £2K for that exact same install. I
went with
> a recommendation from a relation to another indi (ex-BG engineer) who
> installed a better in his opinion boiler for £1.5K. Which (touch
wood) had
> been spot on for three years...
>
> Lee
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 27, 2013 at 4:03 PM, Martin Howell
> <martin.howell@xxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> **
>>
>>
>> Thanks to all who offered boiler suggestions, currently waiting
for the
>> man from B Gas to come and give a quote in a couple of weeks. The
old
>> boiler has done a good job of heating the place and if it wasn't
so
>> unreliable I would keep it. It lives on a north facing wall so
adding
>> the weather comp won't be a problem, I guess its benefit depends
on how
>> much Mr Gas charges for it. Watch this space.
>>
>> M
>>
>> Martin Howell
>> Woodworker, artist and engineer
>>
>> On 21/07/2013 21:42, Simon Haslam wrote:
>>> I've got a Viessmann WB1B system boiler (there's a newer WB1C
version
>> now) and have been v pleased with it - it has a long warranty (5
years or
>> so) and hasn't missed a beat (3 winters so far, serviced
annually). I had
>> some questions for their technical support and they were superb -
same day
>> usually, even when referred back to Germany. They're still fairly
unusual
>> in the UK I think - my plumbing firm sent one of their engineers
on the
>> Viessmann training in Telford to get them certified (and for the
extended
>> warranty). I did consider Keston as it would have been nice to use
a
>> British manufacturer and their specs looked OK, but sadly read
nothing but
>> trouble about them online. Vaillant was on my short-list too -
definitely
>> more plumbers know them but they didn't have an OpenTherm
interface (which
>> was on my HA wish-list, though as yet unused!). I think having
something
>> that your plumber will be familiar/happy with is important - in
that
>> respect Worcester
>>> Bosch is probably most common.
>>>
>>> I've also got weather compensation, plus my HA system can
switch in an
>> additional resistor (using a 1-wire controlled relay) to lower the
flow
>> temp further. If you compare the performance charts you will see a
10% or
>> more (IIRC) difference in efficiency at something like 70C flow
compared to
>> 40C (UFH) IIRC and so there are gains to be made. The benefit
probably
>> partly depends on whether you can be bothered turning down/up the
boiler
>> output between autumn/spring and winter though. Weather
compensation is
>> built into the Viessmann circuit board (this is their entry level
too) but
>> you need to buy their thermistor/cable assembly, though it wasn't
a
>> ludicrous price (~£20 I think) - providing you can get a
cable to a north
>> facing wall it seems pointless to scrimp on it. I think with a
better
>> insulated house the gain from weather compensation should be
better than an
>> old house too as you don't need a high output to change the
temperature,
>> only to maintain
>>> temperature in very cold weather. I can't remember if weather
comp is in
>> the building regs for new build yet but I expect it will be soon.
>>> Anyway, my new heating system made a huge saving on gas usage
(~50%) but
>> that was due to a lot of factors other than just the boiler
(re-siting the
>> boiler in the middle of the house & moving the pipes out of
the loft,
>> having a small condensing boiler instead of a 10 year old F-rated
oversized
>> (44kW!) clunker, proper controls (7 zones), etc, etc).
>>> HTH
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Simon
>>>
>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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