Combi-Boiler - 3 bed/1 bathroom experience?

[Rob_Quads]

Anyone here have a Combi Boiler in a 3 bed / 1 bathroom house? Currently only the two of us although in the future hopefully that will change.

 

Do you have problems with temp changes as other things are used like taps in kitchens etc?

 

Only experience of a combi was in my wifes old house which was a 2 bed. It was not very good and could not handle anything else if you were having a shower.

 

Combi boiler will cost approx £300 more and is going to also require me to change my shower mixer which is going to be a bit of a sod to do BUT the replacement of the existing boiler with the same means installing an outside drain which I have heard horror stories of.

[HassanZ]

You will not have a problem with regards to the temperature of the water but the actual volume of water (either hot or cold) flowing through the taps elsewhere when someone is in the shower. I don't see you having a problem with a combi boiler in a 3 bed house with 1 bathroom, I know plenty of people with the same set-up.

 

It all depends on the water supply itself and the quality of the boiler in my opinion...

[rabbitstew]

I swapped my 50 year old boiler for a combi earlier in the year. The combi free`d up so much more space in the kitchen and loft as you dont need all those tanks etc.

 

My place is a 3 bed with 1 bathroom and I dont have any problems. The water is hot instantly, and because ive got quite a high pressure cold mains feed, the shower pressure is good.

 

The thing with combi`s is the pressure the boiler creates for the hot water depends on the cold water pressure going into it. If you have the shower on, then someone starts running a hot tap elsewhere, obviously the pressure on the shower gets reduced. Same as if you turn the cold tap on... less pressure going into the boiler, so the output pressure is reduced. But in reality this isnt a problem for me.

 

You also have to have a thermostatic mixer shower. They are cheap as chips from toolstation / screwfix.

 

I went for a 28kw? boiler, cost around the 800quid mark I think incl wireless thermostat and inline filter.

 

One thing to watch out for is that some plumbers seriously rip you off. I had 3 quotes to fit mine, the most expensive came in at £2500 labour and they reckoned it was a 5 day job. In the end I got a friend of my dad whose a qualified corgi gas & plumber to fit it, he charged me £700 and did it in a weekend.

[lukeaJones]

you want to try and get a quite high kw output combi preferably say a 30kw like one of the worcester's, the higher the output the better ltr's per minute you get of hot water. if you spend more on a good make now like everything you will save in the future mate trust me.

 

if you get a good output you wont have a problem, the 30kw will run two taps easy

 

where about are you based mate?

 

luke

[lukeaJones]

I swapped my 50 year old boiler for a combi earlier in the year. The combi free`d up so much more space in the kitchen and loft as you dont need all those tanks etc.

 

My place is a 3 bed with 1 bathroom and I dont have any problems. The water is hot instantly, and because ive got quite a high pressure cold mains feed, the shower pressure is good.

 

The thing with combi`s is the pressure the boiler creates for the hot water depends on the cold water pressure going into it. If you have the shower on, then someone starts running a hot tap elsewhere, obviously the pressure on the shower gets reduced. Same as if you turn the cold tap on... less pressure going into the boiler, so the output pressure is reduced. But in reality this isnt a problem for me.

 

You also have to have a thermostatic mixer shower. They are cheap as chips from toolstation / screwfix.

 

I went for a 12.5kw boiler, cost around the 800quid mark I think incl wireless thermostat and inline filter.

 

One thing to watch out for is that some plumbers seriously rip you off. I had 3 quotes to fit mine, the most expensive came in at £2500 labour and they reckoned it was a 5 day job. In the end I got a friend of my dad whose a qualified corgi gas & plumber to fit it, he charged me £700 and did it in a weekend.

 

12.5 kw boiler wow i dont think iv ever seen one so small in a house lol, and i work on about ten each day.

[Neilp]

I swapped my 50 year old boiler for a combi earlier in the year. The combi free`d up so much more space in the kitchen and loft as you dont need all those tanks etc.

 

My place is a 3 bed with 1 bathroom and I dont have any problems. The water is hot instantly, and because ive got quite a high pressure cold mains feed, the shower pressure is good.

 

The thing with combi`s is the pressure the boiler creates for the hot water depends on the cold water pressure going into it. If you have the shower on, then someone starts running a hot tap elsewhere, obviously the pressure on the shower gets reduced. Same as if you turn the cold tap on... less pressure going into the boiler, so the output pressure is reduced. But in reality this isnt a problem for me.

 

You also have to have a thermostatic mixer shower. They are cheap as chips from toolstation / screwfix.

 

Ive seem a few on commercial sites lol.

For a house your size depending on heat loss's etc id recommend Worcester Bosch greenstar 37cdi... Most popular and fantastic flow rate at very high temps in comparison to others.

Expect to pay between 1200-1500 for boiler from installer plus labor

 

I went for a 12.5kw boiler, cost around the 800quid mark I think incl wireless thermostat and inline filter.

 

One thing to watch out for is that some plumbers seriously rip you off. I had 3 quotes to fit mine, the most expensive came in at £2500 labour and they reckoned it was a 5 day job. In the end I got a friend of my dad whose a qualified corgi gas & plumber to fit it, he charged me £700 and did it in a weekend.

 

12.5 kw boiler wow i dont think iv ever seen one so small in a house lol, and i work on about ten each day.

[Rob_Quads]

I'm based in Southampton

 

I think we have quite a good flow rate at the taps. Measured it last night at the kitchen tap but forgot the numbers.

[lukeaJones]

just get a few quotes on some decent boilers, if you skimp on the price too much you might be disapointed and in a few years it will begin breaking down all the cheap ones do

[Neilp]

just get a few quotes on some decent boilers, if you skimp on the price too much you might be disapointed and in a few years it will begin breaking down all the cheap ones do

+1 !

 

Also the flow rate is determined by the flow rate capacity of the heat exchanger in the boiler. If you buy a crap boiler them you may lose the flow rate you have now. Worcester Bosch is tue best around along with vokera and valiant.

You could always invest in a solar system but that will cost alot more for parts and qualified labor

[lukeaJones]

just get a few quotes on some decent boilers, if you skimp on the price too much you might be disapointed and in a few years it will begin breaking down all the cheap ones do

+1 !

 

Also the flow rate is determined by the flow rate capacity of the heat exchanger in the boiler. If you buy a crap boiler them you may lose the flow rate you have now. Worcester Bosch is tue best around along with vokera and valiant.

You could always invest in a solar system but that will cost alot more for parts and qualified labor

 

 

im just getting parts together to fit solar on parents new house worth doing but takes up alot of space compared to combi

[Rob_Quads]

Had the first quotes through and it was

 

~ £2300 for Worcester 15Ri Boiler OR ~£2600 for Worcester 30Si Combi Boiler (Both 6 yr warrant)

 

(Combi requires moving the gas feed + removing old pipes etc so understandable its more)

 

I'm definately of the mindset invest with these sorts of things. Better to spend it now than in a few years time when it ends up costing X to repair and also happens at the most in inopportune momnents.

 

That as from a local but reliable company I have used before. Got a smaller company coming round Friday as well as a neighbours friend whos did thiers when they moved in.

[Neilp]

Had the first quotes through and it was

 

~ £2300 for Worcester 15Ri Boiler OR ~£2600 for Worcester 30Si Combi Boiler (Both 6 yr warrant)

 

(Combi requires moving the gas feed + removing old pipes etc so understandable its more)

 

I'm definately of the mindset invest with these sorts of things. Better to spend it now than in a few years time when it ends up costing X to repair and also happens at the most in inopportune momnents.

 

That as from a local but reliable company I have used before. Got a smaller company coming round Friday as well as a neighbours friend whos did thiers when they moved in.

You can buy the 30si for 970quid. It's only 24kw heat input. I would seriously recommend getting quotes for the greenstar 37cdi.

Removing pipes etc means they guys get money for that copper etc. 1700quid labor sounds pretty high. I would be able to do the 37cdi and install for around 2.5k but unfortunately not close enough. 1 day labor max for 2 guys.

Intact where are you? The warranty is standard with the boilers btw

[rabbitstew]

12.5 kw boiler wow i dont think iv ever seen one so small in a house lol, and i work on about ten each day.

 

lol, I meant 28kw. Its a remeha avanta plus. Got very good reviews and a 5 year warrenty on them as standard.

[Cheesypuff]

As a general rule of thumb I would always avoid a combi if possible. Where there is no other option then fair enough but never as a first choice. This come's from someone who until very recently owned a company manufacturing domestic central heating boilers including combi's.

[Rob_Quads]

Whats the reasons for avoiding it? Purely high failure rates?

[lukeaJones]

i work on combi's every day and id pursuade anyone to have one, but each to thier own i suppose. worcester 37 cdi is the best very good call, thats what i have at home. same here just abit far away lol

[magic84]

ive got a junior28 and think its brill, in a 3bed with one bathroom, i put mine under the stairs with it being so compact. all boilers will come with a warrenty and depending on the make you may get more than 5 years. remember tho its all well and good saying i can get the boiler for x amount, but that will not include things like a magna clean, scale reducer, chemicals and time clocks. many boiler makes insist of the magna clean and scale reducers being fitted for the warrenty to be valid.

[Neilp]

As a general rule of thumb I would always avoid a combi if possible. Where there is no other option then fair enough but never as a first choice. This come's from someone who until very recently owned a company manufacturing domestic central heating boilers including combi's.

what company and why?

 

I work on combi's and system boilers everyday... whats the reason for not using a combi?

[Rob_Quads]

I've seen many posts saying go one way or another but many do just say "Don't get a Combi" which without any info is useless i.e. many people who fitted them when they first came out had them wrongly fitted as the water supply was not good enough.

 

A simple flow test on my kitchen tap showed it to be around 17 L/Min. This probably means it would work quite well with the Greenstar 37CDi with a flow rate of 15.2 l/min

[magic84]

I've seen many posts saying go one way or another but many do just say "Don't get a Combi" which without any info us useless i.e. many people who fitted them when they first came out had them wrongly fitted as the water supply was not good enough.

 

A simple flow test on my kitchen tap showed it to be around 17 L/Min. This probably means it would work quite well with the Greenstar 37CDi with a flow rate of 15.2 l/min

 

good flow rate but a 37cdi overkill, if you get a 30kw that will be plenty and leave room for extiontion.

[Neilp]

I've seen many posts saying go one way or another but many do just say "Don't get a Combi" which without any info us useless i.e. many people who fitted them when they first came out had them wrongly fitted as the water supply was not good enough.

 

A simple flow test on my kitchen tap showed it to be around 17 L/Min. This probably means it would work quite well with the Greenstar 37CDi with a flow rate of 15.2 l/min

 

good flow rate but a 37cdi overkill, if you get a 30kw that will be plenty and leave room for extiontion.

The 30kw will satisfy the needs for the heat emitters fine. The biggest problem with combi's is the flow rate to the tap outlets having to be restricted to allow the water more time in the heat exchanger to get it up to the desired temp. A 37cdi is the lowest i would recommend to people for houses due to the poor flow rate of smaller combi's

[BulletMagnet]

Why didn't this thread exist like three months ago, haha

 

I had central heating installed and it took the plumber three days total, that also on a 3 bed / 1 bath house.

But yeah, deffo shop around, first quote I got was the highest at £5500, and that was using an Alpha combi, 7 radiators, wireless control unit and labour for a week.

My brother and I did some research and went to local plumbing supply centre and asked about Alpha and the salesman said that they weren't the best.

We then asked plumbers that randomly walked into the shop and the general consencus was that "Alpha? They're cr@p mate".

After getting three more quotes, we finally found a decent local plumber that did the job in three days and a Vaillant was used, job cost £4000 in total.

[Cragus]

seriously recommend getting quotes for the greenstar 37cdi.

 

We just got this and I can confirm it's the dog danglies. Get the central heating magnetic filter installed at the same time!

[lukeaJones]

I will say if your going to fit a magnetic filter like the magnaclean buy a good and stay away from the magnaclean. I do contract work for British gas and they have had so many leaks and joints blowing off with them they no longer fit them! I would recommend a spirotec which is made of brass rather than plastic and is what British gas would recommend.

[Cheesypuff]

As a general rule of thumb I would always avoid a combi if possible. Where there is no other option then fair enough but never as a first choice. This come's from someone who until very recently owned a company manufacturing domestic central heating boilers including combi's.

what company and why?

 

I work on combi's and system boilers everyday... whats the reason for not using a combi?

 

 

Don't get me wrong Combi's have there place but if I was spending my own money I would still avoid. Over the years I've seen combi's become the thing to fit and in some circumstances for good reasons, One problem though is the amount of installations where a combi is chosen simply because it's the easiest/cheapest option without enough thought for the demands to be placed upon it. The most regular customer complaint we came across was of poor DHW on combi boilers, usually the boiler would be working to spec though and it was just that it did not produce the dhw the user was used to from their traditional system. You could argue this isn't an issue with the boiler and more the person specifying the correct boiler however I think it's still something to bear in mind.

 

The other common issues with combi's included things like scale formation, where I am the water is exceptionally hard and it's not unknown for plate heat exchangers to fur up in just a few months, diverter valves becoming stuck due to scale build up and diaphragms splitting. Yes you can get water softeners to help with this but in the testing we did the cheap ones just didnt work and the expensive ones are expensive!

 

All combi's however well designed will have more components, moving parts, fittings, joints ect than a traditional boiler and all intricately crammed into a much smaller space than a traditional heating system so there has to be more potential for problems.

 

I see you say you work on Combi's everyday, would that be because they break down the most regularly? That's certainly my experience.

 

I'm not saying combis are rubbish just people should be aware they are not the be all and end all. If a particular combi fits a specific situation fair enough, we have sold many many combi's and have many many happy customers with them just be aware of the extra complexity of them and so the extra potential for problems.

 

As for system boilers I have no problem with them at all, they're a great compromise and if I was replacing my boiler it's what I would have. I would rather not name my company as I still have an involvement there and dont really want to become there spokesman on this forum, forgive me if I don't post on this much more either as I sold up so that I didnt have to spend 24 hours a day thinking about boilers and I'm already boring myself!