On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:45:09 +0100, "Capitol"
wrote:
There's no point in a 25% energy saving, if you have to replace it every
5-10 years.
That depends on your motivation. If it is purely economic and that
really were the motivation then that may be the case.
However, if you are also concerned about CO2 and NOx emissions and
fossil fuel consumption then it may be a factor.
There is no reason to assume that a well designed and made (and I
emphasise well designed and made) condensing boiler would be any less
reliable than a simplistic one with mechanical parts.
For example, the flame failure thermocouple used in most "simple"
boilers is an item that fails regularly. Granted they only cost £2 as
a part, but if professional labour is used to fit then that goes up to
at least £50 if not more. Bimetallic thermostats aren't that
brilliant either. Other components such as gas valves are of
similar technology and used in both cases.
That only leaves a fan, some thermal sensors, a microprocessor board
and the condensate drain arrangement. Provided the electronics are
of good design, using good quality components and not situated in a
hot part of the case, reliability should be high. There is very
little in a condensate drain.
The replacement cost for a non diyer is probably £1000. There
seems to be a total lack of 10 year warranties!! Where are the projected
reliability figures?
Condensing technology is only relatively new in the UK, and it is well
known that several manufacturers made a pig's ear of their early
designs.
However, in most of the rest of Europe, notably Holland and Germany,
condensing technology has been commonplace for 15 years.
German consumers are noted for their expectation of reliability and
good engineering so had condensing products been flakey for any length
of time, it would not have survived.
http://www.dvgw.de
http://www.dvgw.de/pdf/portrait_e.pdf
where you will note that there is a lot of emphasis on quality
We know that Ideal Concords have a working life span of
20years under normal conditions, with only minor maintenance.
Regards
Capitol
..andy
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