Another boiler question...

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stevewestern

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We have a boiler that heats the house and hot water in an indirect tank - like we all had many years ago.
The boiler is a WB Greenstar 12i that was installed just a few years ago (2?) so has plenty of life left, but the tank is tiny and I want to get rid of the header tanks in the attic.

So, what would you suggest I do - replace the boiler with a decent combi to allow a decent flow of water or keep the boiler and get a mains pressure hot water tank that can go where the current indirect tank is, free up my attic and give me a good flow.
There are 4 of us, but we are not big users of hot water - no one has a massive bath, and there is an electric shower that may be replaced in time, so we don't need endless supplies, but we do want to be able to wash up while a bath is running at times (can modern combi's cope with this ?)

Obviously I will take advice from whoever actually installs but hearing users opinions is always good!
 
Keep the boiler and get a bigger tank (with the header). Parents had a mains pressure tank and had the pressure vessel replaced 3 times under warranty. HW header tanks aren't huge and maybe you could build a shelf unit to go over it to keep the extra storage?
 
If it was me I'd go the unvented cylinder route, not only cheaper than a boiler replacement but a unrestricted flow of hot water and with an immersion aswell it'll be a good back up if the boiler fails.
Worth paying a bit more and getting something like a megaflo, 25 year guarantee on the stainless steel cylinder, whatever you do don't go for cheaper options like a Ariston, I've replaced quite a few that are only a few years old and, I think, only a 2 year warranty.
Make sure you have a descent mains flow coming in and consider where the cylinder is as a pipe will need to be run to outside for the temperature and pressure relief valves.
 
Thanks for the replies - I am leaning towards a megaflo or similar - I know of one that has been in use for about 15 years without a problem.

Nod - One of the reasons for getting rid of tanks is that my daughter is a very light sleeper and her room is up near the header tank. I would also be happy to remove all the water from upstairs. Having a header tank closer to the boiler/tank would result in much lower pressure as well.

It goes against the grain having to junk such a new boiler, so maybe it'll be a magaflo then, however, keep the ideas coming please !
 
It's always going to come down to an installers preference as to what they recommend with unvented hot water cylinders but we usually install Worcester cylinders they're a similar design to the megaflow but they don't have the internal air gap but an external expansion vessel so they don't need to be checked or re pressurised every 12 months.

They're currently the market leaders with regards to how well insulated their cylinders are. I'm not sure of the exact figure but I think they're around 20mm better insulated than any other.
 
That's interesting Ben - I didn't know Worcester did them, and I like the idea of stuff all being from the same make - the same sort of reason why I buy Canon lenses for my 5D2 rather than Nikon !

I'll take a look at what they make shortly ..
 
Ben6 said:
It's always going to come down to an installers preference as to what they recommend with unvented hot water cylinders but we usually install Worcester cylinders they're a similar design to the megaflow but they don't have the internal air gap but an external expansion vessel so they don't need to be checked or re pressurised every 12 months.

They're currently the market leaders with regards to how well insulated their cylinders are. I'm not sure of the exact figure but I think they're around 20mm better insulated than any other.
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Sorry Ben but have to disagree, Vaillant are the market leaders as regards to how well insulated there cylinders are they were all upgraded at the beginning of the year.
 
beefybarn40 said:
Sorry Ben but have to disagree, Vaillant are the market leaders as regards to how well insulated there cylinders are they were all upgraded at the beginning of the year.
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No problem I'm a worcester accredited installer so I'm quite blinkered to the worcester brand to be honest.
I've only ever taken the cover off a handful of Vaillant's so I know very little about the brand other than they are Worcester's main competition haha.
I'm only speaking of experience with worcs, megaflows, range tribune and other unvented cylinder brands

If you can advise any vaillant product please do as ive not even looked into one of their brochures lol.
 
have you ever tried to use the Vaillant tech.help lines?? they are the worst,even worse than Ferroli and they are shoite,if you ever have the need to ring them at peak you could ( and I have been) be kept on hold for 45 minutes to wait for the next available operator. Also and this I can't get my head around, if you order a flue,say standard horizontal for a Vaillant,its cheaper,by some considerable margin, to order the very same flue system but this time in a Glowworm box?. Service a vaillant and replace the burner gasket, £18 or so quid for the Vaillant, £12 or so for the very same part this time (and you've guessed it) in a Glowworm box, its the same with a whole host of Vaillant and Glowworm parts. I went on the Glowworm factory visit in Belper and they cannot/will not explain the price difference for the parts,even though Glowworm and Vaillant are the same company. Taking the proverbial if you ask me. I install Baxi btw.
 
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Ben6 said:
No problem I'm a worcester accredited installer so I'm quite blinkered to the worcester brand to be honest.
I've only ever taken the cover off a handful of Vaillant's so I know very little about the brand other than they are Worcester's main competition haha.
I'm only speaking of experience with worcs, megaflows, range tribune and other unvented cylinder brands

If you can advise any vaillant product please do as ive not even looked into one of their brochures lol.
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You're not based in the south are you Ben...?

Would you be able to give rough figures for having one of these cylinders installed if I gave you enough info?

Thanks
 
DorsetDude said:
You're not based in the south are you Ben...?

Would you be able to give rough figures for having one of these cylinders installed if I gave you enough info?

Thanks
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I'm not quite as far south as Dorset sorry but I'd be more than happy to just give you a rough price you should be expecting to pay if you could send me a few details. Ie how many bathrooms you have? How far from an external wall the cylinder would be.
 
why not leave the header tank and system as is and just fit a silent fill ball cock
 
mex said:
have you ever tried to use the Vaillant tech.help lines?? they are the worst,even worse than Ferroli and they are shoite,if you ever have the need to ring them at peak you could ( and I have been) be kept on hold for 45 minutes to wait for the next available operator. Also and this I can't get my head around, if you order a flue,say standard horizontal for a Vaillant,its cheaper,by some considerable margin, to order the very same flue system but this time in a Glowworm box?. Service a vaillant and replace the burner gasket, £18 or so quid for the Vaillant, £12 or so for the very same part this time (and you've guessed it) in a Glowworm box, its the same with a whole host of Vaillant and Glowworm parts. I went on the Glowworm factory visit in Belper and they cannot/will not explain the price difference for the parts,even though Glowworm and Vaillant are the same company. Taking the proverbial if you ask me. I install Baxi btw.
Click to expand...

Never had an issue with the tech support lines, been fitting Vaillants for over 20 years. Must agree about the price difference on parts between Vaillant and Gloworm considering they are practically the same tech now.
 
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