V
v8pete
Well, after 20 years of faithful service it's time to kick out our old Baxi Bermuda back boiler (!!) and donate it to the local museum! It was already probably 10 years old when we bought the house, but has only ever had one minor fault since we've been here. With gas prices rising, I'm looking at getting rid early next year and getting something a bit more modern. To that end, I'd be grateful for some advice if you think I'm on the right lines here ...
I don't want to rip out all the existing rads and plumbing as most of them I replaced only 3 years ago. The plumbing is the original installation, still in good order, but is a slightly odd setup in that it uses fairly large diameter copper for the main runs but has 8mm OD microbore tails to most of the rads. This doesn't overly bother me as the flow rate that we get with the current system seems fine. I'm keen to retain a hot water cylinder, as this allows us to keep the airing cupboard, and have an immersion heater as backup. Don't mind at all keeping header tanks in the loft space either..One thing also to note with our current system is that it does seem to let a bit of air into the rads now and again, which I'm thinking would be a major problem if I should try and convert to a sealed system combi boiler.
So, after a bit of Googling around, I think that my best bet, is to go for an open-vented condensing boiler, and it appears that something like the Viessmann Vitodens 100-W open vented would probably fit the bill best? From what I read, these have a good design of heat exchanger that's generally less prone to blocking when used with old plumbing/rads than some of the other makes. I've also heard that it's essential to fit a good filter too when reusing the old plumbing.
I'd be grateful for any advice and general comment on my plan and possible pitfalls and gotchas or any other stupid stuff I've blissfully overlooked! Many thanks for any input, Pete.
I don't want to rip out all the existing rads and plumbing as most of them I replaced only 3 years ago. The plumbing is the original installation, still in good order, but is a slightly odd setup in that it uses fairly large diameter copper for the main runs but has 8mm OD microbore tails to most of the rads. This doesn't overly bother me as the flow rate that we get with the current system seems fine. I'm keen to retain a hot water cylinder, as this allows us to keep the airing cupboard, and have an immersion heater as backup. Don't mind at all keeping header tanks in the loft space either..One thing also to note with our current system is that it does seem to let a bit of air into the rads now and again, which I'm thinking would be a major problem if I should try and convert to a sealed system combi boiler.
So, after a bit of Googling around, I think that my best bet, is to go for an open-vented condensing boiler, and it appears that something like the Viessmann Vitodens 100-W open vented would probably fit the bill best? From what I read, these have a good design of heat exchanger that's generally less prone to blocking when used with old plumbing/rads than some of the other makes. I've also heard that it's essential to fit a good filter too when reusing the old plumbing.
I'd be grateful for any advice and general comment on my plan and possible pitfalls and gotchas or any other stupid stuff I've blissfully overlooked! Many thanks for any input, Pete.