Replacing a Boilermate - options?

[DavidSN]

All,

i appreciate you get many requests of this nature, but was hoping if you could help give me some advice with regards to our Hot water problem.

We have just moved house (4-bed, 1 bath, 1 shower, in a very hard water area), and have encountered an issue with our hot water. In short, the house has an original Boilermate system (20 years old) and a less than 2 yr old Worcester 18 Ri. The heating is ok (controlled by a Drayton1+RF), but the hot water seems to have a few issues.

A local plumber came in and found 2 leaks, a partly fried circuit board and (probably) a malfunctioning mixing valve. The result: Hot water is produced, but not at a consistent temperature. (Hot water is initially ok, but then temperature drops. Switch it off, then back on and the same problem keeps occurring. The problem is less severe if I demand a reduced flow of hot water, but opened up fully the flow of hot water is completely varied. Having a shower / bath is a bit of a nightmare. The mixing valve is thought to be the core problem, but the other indicators (bad leaks, circuit board, etc) indicate that the hot water is limping along.)

The cost to fix all these issues was said to be £900 approx, but the engineer said that he would rather not complete the work as he could give no assurances that something else wouldn't go wrong with the system within weeks. He said he would recommend that it would probably be better (in the long term) to pull out the Boilermate, and replace it with an unvented cylinder.

We have now had 3 other engineers attend and having talked through the issue with them they seem to agree that ripping out the Boilermate would probably be wise. Having previously had a Boilermate 2, I'm aware that these systems can and do go wrong, and as such I'm leaning towards removal of the Boilermate.

I'm happy to go with an unvented cylinder (Megaflo 170 litre has been mentioned twice, but 1 engineer said he would avoid a megaflo as they tend to go wrong after 6 years), but the quotes so far have been higher than expected - ranging from £1900 through to £3200. We have asked for quotes to include a different control system, such that we can programme the hot water and heating separately, on a 7-day basis, which might have pushed the cost up a little, but the predominant cost is the unvented cylinder, VAT and labour.

Before committing such a large amount of money I wanted to check whether an unvented cylinder is the best and only way to go? An offhand comment from a colleague (who is not an expert) got me wondering whether the installation of a larger capacity combi-boiler could also be an option. (I'm wondering whether in my discussions with the engineers I have guided them to only suggest an unvented cylinder. A vented cylinder and header tank were mentioned, but I'm not keen.)

If an unvented cylinder is the way to go, then any thoughts on a Megaflo?

Thanks in an advance for any advice!

regards

David

 

[b.lynch plum]

The plumbers that have bin round already would of taken in to account the size of the house and the hot water demand so the guys on site would have a better idea then any1 hear I would of thought mate

 

[michael c]

if you have a decent flow rate unvented systems are a great way to go. Unfortunately, you can pay a premium on labour as not as many people do unvented. However you wont save much from your lowest qoute by fitting a combi. Most unvented cylinders carry a 25 year warranty anyway if fitted correctly so i wouldnt worry too much about the 6 year prediction.

 

[REDSAW]

should imagine the £3200 is bg then.lol

 

[DavidSN]

Thanks for the answers so far.

I'm noting no major objections to the advice (say bye to the boilermate), and no objections to a megaflo. That's promising!!

Yeah, £3200 did make me wince, but it did seem to have a few whistles and bells and a larger tank size to provide extra capacity for future house changes. I've emailed them all to drop the specification to drive the price down, but can still see a £2k to £2.6k bill coming. It's a far cry from being cheap, but if it makes sense (value for money in the long term then ok!)

 

[DavidSN]

Actually, it wasn't BG!!! :-( It was a local guy, trying to go with Checkatrade recommended Heating Engineer!!!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

if your in a hard water area then some sort of softener needs to be fitted to what ever you fit ,its down to choice really if you have a high hot water usage then go unvented if not i have fitted many baxi duotec 1 40 kw combis that will run a bath and shower but at a reduced hot water rate, megaflow is a baxi product and seen as a premium cylinder baxi also own santon whose products are identical but cheaper

 

[Kev the gas]

Look @ an Albion Mainsflow Contractor indirect. I have an estate near me where the Gledhills are dropping quite regularly:stooge_curly:, with these you can pipe in as a regular system and will give independent control over heating and hot water, also does away with the need for an expensive warning pipe if the cylinder is fitted upstairs.

Kev.

 

[Plumb Ugly]

The problem with the hot water is normally caused by faulty temp sensors on the boiler mate. It might be worth checking out Gledhill response to get a boiler mate specialist to take a look if you don't fancy shelling all that money out to replace it

 

[TBServices]

Take a look at the alpha flow smart. Looks a great bit of kit.

 

[Kev the gas]

The problem with the hot water is normally caused by faulty temp sensors on the boiler mate. It might be worth checking out Gledhill response to get a boiler mate specialist to take a look if you don't fancy shelling all that money out to replace it[/QUOTe

the op has the original Boiler mate (20 years old), def sounds like the blending valve has scaled up.

 

[stevetheplumber]

ive got a boiler mate of similar vintage which i find to be a good bit of kit in 20 plus years its had one pump and two mixing valves you say it leaking if thats true then it does need to be replaced however if its not the main shell of the cylinder thats leaking i would seriously consider finding the necessary parts to recondition it the mixing valves are pricey at £100 a throw and tend to grow scale all over them for a long while before they fail the coil can easily be descaled with a powerflusher pumping descaler through rather than sludge remover

 

[DavidSN]

Thanks everyone!

I'm considering all your advice, including double checking that a repair isn't still an option. Looking into a Santon cylinder, instead of a Megaflo.

I did type a more detailed reply yesterday, but it seems not to have posted.

Thanks again.

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

I think an unvented cylinder is the way to go rather than a combi. Not sure i'd have a mageflow, check out OSO unvented cylinders

 

[Plumb Ugly]

I agree with the above if ytour going to replace an unvented will be better than a combi and if your boiler is only 2 years old seems a shame to change it. Lots of cylinders now have 25 year guarantee's too but require an annual service not sure if this has already been mentioned. And the guy installing it must be accredited for unvented cylinders they can blow up if installed by an ape!

 

[Dannypipe]

I'm removing a boilermate in a couple of weeks. I'll post details up later, and photograph the job. Got to go out in a second.

 

[kay-jay]

Take a look at the alpha flow smart. Looks a great bit of kit.

I agree. Same performance as a 200l unvented with multi draw offs and 25% less gas used on heating same volumes of water.

 

[DavidSN]

Thanks everyone.

We finally decided to go for a Santon 170 premier plus, and it has now been fitted. (It seemed to meet most of our requirements.) It's lovely to have a reliable heating / hot water again.

regards

David

 

[Dotty]

Thanks for coming back and letting us know how you got on, David.

 

[vern]

Thanks everyone.

We finally decided to go for a Santon 170 premier plus, and it has now been fitted. (It seemed to meet most of our requirements.) It's lovely to have a reliable heating / hot water again.

regards

David

Nice one David they are a good piece of kit!

 

[DavidSN]

Thanks for coming back and letting us know how you got on, David.

It's the least I could do, the Santon was a recommendation on here and after some research it seemed the best way to go!


David