which LPG Hot Water boiler for home, no central heating

[OneLooseCrank]

Hi all,
I'm after some advice on what to replace my now defunct hot water system with. What has died is a Heatrae Sadia R6 (S#61927). The steel tank has rusted, gone porous and leaked hot water across the attic. I'm exploring whether simply replacing this is really the best solution for our property. The property has no mains gas and so, the tank is an immersion heater running on economy 7. There is no central heating (instead we have storage heaters and log fires). The issue is that the hot water isn't generally hot enough by the evening when we will come to use it, and we use the electric shower more regularly than a hot bath - so in effect we are heating up an un-used amount of hot water every evening to go cold in the day which must be a huge waste of energy.
Ideally, I would like an instantaneous boiler such as this , but in LPG. I'm struggling to find such a thing. They exist for caravans, but I think the pressure will be too low. Can a gas boiler be converted to LPG as cookers can?
Can anyone point me in direction of a suitable product?
Cheers

 

[ShaunCorbs]

best way would be to talk to a local heating engy as he will be able to tell you the pros and cons etc you can post here [DLMURL="http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/im-looking-plumber-gas-engineer/"]I'm looking for a Plumber or Gas Engineer[/DLMURL] if you would like

 

[OneLooseCrank]

Yeah, I've had a guy out but he seemed more interested in just replacing like-for-like, which avoids having to do any solution finding... I might have to get another fella in. I wanted to get some ideas first so that I understand what they are recommending and why.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

have a look at Rinnai range of multi points

 

[OneLooseCrank]

Cheers

 

[Atouchofgas]

Or if your pressure is OK an intergas combi boiler and if you want to in the future add radiators to the system it would be easy

 

[kris]

Yeah most boilers can be converted to lpg so you've a huge choice of options it's simply a mater of how far you go. I e. Combi with rads or system boiler with cylinder etc or a simple hot water instantaneous heater on log.
Ariston Launch NEW Gas Fired Water Heater Ariston Thermo

Not a fan of there boilers but I've fitted a few if there water heaters and they've been pretty good.

 

[newcastle phill]

It depends how far you want to go. A larger Kw faster water heater will require more gas and as such (if using propane cylinders) more cylinders.

All this can be calculated at the initial stage by an lpg engineer who will calculate your usage and required installation.

Personally if its occasional use for ease id just stick an lpg combi in ( natural gas converted) and as above there is always latitude for heating at a later stage

 

[OneLooseCrank]

I've just realised that I've said lpg... but mean propane - calor bottles. I'm currently trying to decide if the higherexpense of calor bottles will out weigh the loss in energy from a storage tank. If a gas heater can be converted to lpg, will it be happy with propane?

 

[SimonG]

Fit oil.

 

[OneLooseCrank]

Fit oil.

Too big-a job. Cowboy builder fitted wrong RSJs, failed structural engineer's report. Water tank failed at worst possible time (financially). I'm weighing up running cooker and hot water on propane to save money both long and short term over replacing a direct heated water tank. Oil boiler looks at least a grand more than a gas heater. But if the gas approach isn't going to benefit I'll replace what I have (had).

 

[newcastle phill]

If its just for hot water then i think propane LPG could be a viable option via large propane cylinders.
You would need to consult re the installation as the cylinder location has limitations

 

[stevetheplumber]

just use an intergas as a multipoint water heater

 

[Atouchofgas]

Agree same as post 6

 

[Roger Welton]

Another option would be a heat pump cylinder

Floor Standing Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater - NUOS FS 250i

 

[OneLooseCrank]

Cheers. A web I read noted that if it is only used for hot water, it's overall efficiency is reduced. I'll read more into it. I have now discovered economy 7 specific copper combination tanks. After reading around, the general concensus is that stored hot water is more efficient than propane powered on demand which has surprised me. The copper tank will be future proof as it wont rust as the steel one has. Would you believe the guy at my local plumb centre effectively said there was no such thing as a direct heat cylinder with the transfer coil inside which totally threw me...
I'm now needing to work out if the beams in the loft can take the weight of a 100kgs of water.