On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:04:02 +0100, "JJJ" wrote:

A plumber just told me that you're lucky if you get more than 10 years out
of a condensing boiler - because of their complexity and the fact that the
condensate rots them from the inside out...

is he right? not much point in being 90% efficient if the saving gets
swamped by the cost of a new boiler if he is..

Jim




No, it's an old wive's tale that he heard at the plumber's merchant.

It is true that early generations of UK designed and manufactured
condensing boilers suffered limited lifetimes because they were badly
designed and made - many simply added a secondary heat exchanger to a
conventional boiler and unsurprisingly condensate (which is mildly
acidic) found its way to metal components that were susceptible to
rust.

In mainland Europe, especially Holland and Germany, condensing boilers
have been available for 15-20 years and are mainly now 4th generation.

Most condensing products coming onto the market now are based on
designs originating from these countries or even originate from them
to a greater or lesser extent.
Appropriate materials such as stainless steel and plastics are used
and condensate is handled correctly.

The complexity is now not significantly different to the more
sophisticated conventional boilers.

Non condensing boilers will fade from the market over the next few
months as new legislation applies from next April.


..andy

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