s plan

[Haldean]

Hi all. My nan has an oil run boiler in her cupboard. I called a few plumbers to update the system for her. The nicest guy with the most references wants to do the following (this is from memory..hope it makes sense)

He wants to put a new boiler on the wall outside. Strip out the old oil contraption and change the cylinder upstairs to an s plan.

what does this all mean, how will it work. any info is appreciated!
Thanks all
Haldean

 

[so-solar]

boiler on the wall outside?

 

[Renewable M]

It makes sense. The 's plan' is a vale and pump arrangement and will be linked to a cylinder thermostat, room thermostat and programmer to set the times. As such, it is controllable, fully pumped and more efficient. sounds like her hot water is probably on gravity so will be oil thirsty.

Can't comment on the oil boiler without knowing the type. But his method sounds spot on and a moderate amount of simple work without going bonkers.

Make suer the installer is oftec registered, fills in the warranty card and completes a 'work notification'. The work notification is a way of informing building control that the work has been done to a standards, and they then issue a completion certificate, which is a legal requirement for work carried out subject to building regs. Sounds complicated but its very very simple. Within 3-4 weeks you should receive the certificate. If not, chase the installer. The work doesnt become legal until you have the building regs sign off.

Hope it goes well.

 

[Blackcatgas]

My parents had a very similiar set up to what you have at the moment, 4 yrs ago I converted thier existing boiler into a fully pumped S plan system.
they used to have to fill up the huge oil tank twice a year, after the conversion they are using aprox 1 and a quarter tanks a year which is roughly a saving of £400 a year, they live in a large old house with no double glazing etc so you might not see a saving as drastic as this, but you will have a saving non the less, especialy if your installing a modern more efficient boiler.

 

[REDSAW]

boiler on the wall outside?

yes, its a condensig boiler, blows back the warm air indoors. sedbuk a+ 100%

 

[Plucky]

Quite comman to have external oil boiler

 

[Renewable M]

what are those through the wall, horrid things called? do they do those in condensing yet?

 

[Haldean]

Thanks for the excellent responses. I did a little googling myself and found there is a thing called a y plan. Just out of interest what does s and y plan mean and how do they differ does it meen we keep the copper cylinder? I couldn't really grasp the explainations I found as they were far to complex so a simple answer (if thats possible!) would be appreciated

 

[stevetheplumber]

Thanks for the excellent responses. I did a little googling myself and found there is a thing called a y plan. Just out of interest what does s and y plan mean and how do they differ does it meen we keep the copper cylinder? I couldn't really grasp the explainations I found as they were far to complex so a simple answer (if thats possible!) would be appreciated

s plan and y plan achieve the same degree of control over your system the difference is s uses two single two port valves and y use one three port vave
personally i prefer s plan as its easier to fault find i find two ports more reliable than three port valves
s plans will be slightly more exspensive but theres not a lot in it

 

[Plucky]

what are those through the wall, horrid things called? do they do those in condensing yet?

Ah the wallstar???

 

[Bernie2]

Basically the different plans are for different combinations of control valves.

They are Honeywell plans. Google Honeywell heating controls and find out.

The C plan controls hot water with one valve. Which basically means you can choose whether the hot water is on or off. The central heating is controlled by the pump.
There is more to it of course but that is it in a rough form. Usually the c/h is pumped and the dhw natural circulation on separate circuities.

The S plan is one flow pipe serving dhw and c/h which is fully pumped. The circuities where they split are controlled by a separate valves on each. It makes the heating and dhw able to be controlled separately and being pumped the dhw heats up faster.

The W plan is the same idea as fully pumped but instead of having two separate valves its controlled by a single diverter valve which allows you to have one or the other, but not both.

The Y plan is the same idea as the W but the valve lets you have both or one or the other.

All been out quite a few years now and well tried.

Hope this helps a bit!