John Orrett wrote:

Hi all; my wife has advised me that we are getting a new bathroom suite! she
would like one that has the taps in the wall rather than on the bath itself.
The shop told her that we cannot do this at present as we only have a
Gloworm Ultimate 50 boiler and an immersion heater, and not a combi.

Not sure I quite follow that. It may be the taps they have are of
continental design and are intended to run on mains pressure hot water.
They would probably still work with your gravity fed setup but at a
reduced flow rate to that which you are used to. It will depend how far
above the taps your cold water cistern is (i.e. the amount of "head" you
have)

Note that a combi boiler is only one of several ways to get mains
pressure hot water, heatbanks, thermal stores etc are also options. You
can google back through this group for the many discussions on the pros
and cos of combis and work out if one is appropriate for your
circumstance... (be prepared for some long threads!)

Couple of questions that I would like some help with please.

1. Does a combi need any more ventilation space around it or external
venting than the present boiler (which is situated in the kitchen behind a
false cupboard door)?

No. They are all room sealed with regard flue gasses anyway. Most need
space above to accommodate the flue exit (approx 20cm), and a variable
amount around depending on the make and model of boiler. Some require
practically none.

2. Can I run the central heating via a combi?

Yes. If you could not then it would not be a combi but a multipoint
water heater.

3. Cost wise, will a combi work out more cost effective than the current
boiler/immersion setup?

From a running cost point of view then it most likely will. Especially
as modern boilers are far more efficient in general than the older ones.
Your gloworm is down in the 73 to 79% efficiency range according to the
SEDBUK database. A modern condensing boiler would be 95%+. So all things
being equal, you could expect to use 10 - 15% less gas with a modern
boiler.

Whether you would ever recoup the costs of ripping out a functional
system ten years (or however long) before its natural end of life and
replacing with a cheaper to run system is debatable if it costs you a
couple of thousand to make the change.

4. How much should I be paying for a decent combi, and any recommendations
on make and model etc?

If you went for a good condensing combi then prices tend to be between
600 - 1500 ranging from small entry level to top end models. Have google
back on this group for recommendations, but in general many of the
continental makes are well favoured.

My wife likes lots of baths, so the immersion is on quite a lot, and
obviously the central heating is now on a fair bit. To give an idea on
costs, our electric bill per month is ｣52 and the gas is ｣36. I am in the
process of swapping from British Gas for both to Powergen, saving ｣200 per
annum, but that's another story :-).

Those bills don't sound vast. I would expect that moving to gas water
heating will perhaps knock 20 quid off the electric and add a fiver to
the gas - all other things being equal. Allowing for improvements in
boiler efficiency you may find your gas bill stays about the same and
the electric goes down.

--
Cheers,

John.

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