IMM wrote:
=

"Dave Ramage" wrote in message
om...
geoff, BW,

Thanks for this info....another reason to consider a replacement
rather than patch it up. It also seems that the seals are asbestos
according to other posts.
=

Yes they are.
=

This could also explain that when I tested the boiler briefly with th=
e
cover off to see if the fan was working there was a fair bit of flame=

emitted around the bottom of the fire box when it lit.
=

The Neataheat was the first pilotless ignition boiler made. It was quit=
e
advanced for its time, well by British standards. It is a "very" good =
and
reliable boiler, although the first models out had some problems which =
near
killed off the boiler, which were soon rectified. But times move on. =
It is
cast iron, even in the mid 1970s it was inefficient, and very inefficie=
nt by
modern condensing standards. By installing a good condensing boiler yo=
u
will drop your gas heating bills approx 35-40%.
=

Figures like that make you sit up and look. So if this is a pretty
expensive job to fix (probably =A3100 or more) then a new condensing bo=
iler is
well worth considering. Taking into account the money saved on repair a=
nd
then on gas saved, payback will be quite soon.
=

Whilst I expect a saving of upto 35% on the worst case older boilers to
a modern condensing boiler you would be hard pressed to get such a
saving. My combustion analyser can show efficiency (or rather
inefficiency due to exhaust gas losses - which is not _quite_ the same
thing). I have seen over 90% on a Keston flue; less than 70% on an Ideal
Concord; and over 80% of a Neatheat. Furthermore those fgures are during
operation, the heat losses when the boiler flame is out but the pump is
on can only make my argument stronger. =



-- =

Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html