BoilerMate 2000

[noname]

My daughter has had an offer accepted on a house that is about 12 years old. The house has a gas boiler, a combi boiler I think though I have not seen it myself. However, in a cupboard on the first floor there is what is called a Boiler Mate 2000 tank of some description. I understand it works to store hot water, though why that should be necessary if there is a combi boiler I do not know.
Could anyone who has experience of this set up please give me their opinion of its advantages and likely problems? Would it be better to have the BoilerMate 2000 removed if it starts playing up and would its removal be fairly straightforward for a plumber? I ask because it looks to me to be an added complication to a combi boiler which itself may have its own problems after 12 years.

 

[gassafe]

Are you sure you have a combi? As a boilermate stores hot water & the water that goes round your central heating!

 

[noname]

No, I am not sure at all. If you tell me they would not have installed a combi with a Boiler Mate then I will accept what you say. However, the estate agents description says it it a combination boiler.

 

[Dotty]

Wouldn't be the first time an estate agent hasn't a clue what they're looking at.

 

[noname]

True. A different estate agent, who sold the house two years ago simply described it as a GlowWorm boiler

 

[stevetheplumber]

its most likley an open vented boiler as most of the 2000 boilermates had a tank on top like this
[DLMURL]http://www.gledhill-response.net/documents/BM2000-Iss10.pdf[/DLMURL] lots of people dont like them but ive got an earlier version at home and its great lashings of hot water

 

[noname]

Thanks for the link steve. At least if my daughter buys the house I might be able to tell her what the BoilerMate should do.

 

[Ermintrude]

It "should" work really well. In reality .... It's a sludge bucket that ideally needs to be replaced.

 

[joni os]

Boilermates give hot water at mains pressure via a heat store and heat exchanger. Your boiler is almost certainly not a combi. After 12 years maintenance should be anticipated but no more so than a 12 year combi. Circulating pumps are easily replaced and capacitors on PCB can fail due to proximity to heat from thermal store.
PCB easily replaced at cost circa £220 new, £100 reconditioned or for less than £10 if you can use a soldering iron and replace the 5 capacitors yourself.( get the polarity right)

 

[noname]

Thanks all. One matter that occurs to me. If the boiler has to be left switched on for 24/7 and presumably cycles on and off to keep the heat store up to temperature, will this not result in more wear and tear on the boiler together with higher gas bills due to heat loss? If so, it seems to go against the grain of getting higher efficiencies and lower running costs for home heating. However, it's the extra potential for faults and long run maintenance costs which concern me the most. A normal H.W storage tank would seem to be less prone to faults and a lot cheaper to install.

 

[Ermintrude]

It's a glowworm and a boiler mate. They were fitted to 10000 new builds 9999 have been removed or repaired. Just budget for a new boiler and cylinder or a storage combo like the vieasmann 111 or 242 with solar

 

[joni os]

Boiler not needed 24/7 as heat store does what it says. 4 hrs a day on HW, would satisfy most households. Advantage, boiler sized to heating demand, not hot water output. i.e 15Kw conventional equates to 38Kw combi.
As previous post has said budget for future replacement. Replace with unvented cylinder as mixer valves on showers etc. may not be suitable for low pressure system. Boiler and cylinder are separate items and do not need to be replaced at same time.

 

[noname]

Clearly, if my daughters house purchase goes through, the boiler and Boiler Mate will need a good inspection and probably a service to see if they are still working as they should. The information about the boiler size i.e boiler plus boiler mate v. combi is very useful as is the point about pressure for shower operation. Thank you all for your opinions and information.

 

[gizmolang]

theres alot of these near me a fair few have been swapped out already

 

[stevetheplumber]

when they work they are great ive got one thats over 20 years old had a couple of pumps and a mixing valve

 

[joni os]

Suppose it's like an old car, simple to service if you have the knowledge, but not worth keeping if you use main dealers.

 

[noname]

Was speaking to an experienced plumber today. He was quite supportive of BoilerMates. He emphasized something that has been said earlier which is, the heat exchanger will not stand hard water. He also said that if there is restricted headroom and the make up tank is on top, working on an inlet valve can be fiddly. I am a little more confident now that if my daughters house purchase goes through the heating/hot water system might not be an immediate write off.

 

[TheHeatingGuy]

Boilermate 2000 is a thermal store not a combi as previously suggested. Decent bit of kit. Common faults are scaled heat exchangers (in hard water areas) pump speed sensors and printed circuit boards. The sensors are relatively inexpensive to replace however a circuit board will cost you around £300 with labour. Make sure the thermostat on your boiler (not boilermate) is set to max.