Dave Fawthrop wrote:

There is a disagreement in another thread as to the adequacy of hot water
supplies from combi boilers.

There must be lots of people here with them, so will these people please
answer the question
"Are you satisfied with hot water from a combi boiler, without extra
storage".

Aside from the usual problems with self selecting surveys, I can give
you a few answers to the question:

My own combi (35kW 91% (i.e. 32kW delivered to hot water) Ideal Isar)

General impression - the best combi I have used by far - good control of
temperature at low flow rates, no surprises (slugs of scalding water
etc), instant hot water
Hot water flow rate - on the low end of acceptable
Showers - very good
Bath filling - moderate (depending on ground water temp)

This boiler replaced a poorly designed and implemented storage system.
In comparison it is much better for showers, not as fast for baths, but
can do more than one. The storage system suffered from lack of head,
undersized cylinder, and very slow recovery times.


My Mums Combi (29kW 70% (i.e. 20kW delivered to hot water) Myson Midas)

General impression - reasonable control performance in use, temp control
at low flow rates fluctuates, instant hot water, 'kin large box on wall

Hot water flow rates - unacceptably slow
Showers - ok
Bath filling - very slow (10 - 15 mins)
System replaced a multipoint gas water heater. The combi has slightly
better control at low flow rates (i.e. multipoint only worked when you
turned the hot tap full on). The multipoint did not have the small
internal store of the combi and so had a longer warm up time before
producing hot water. It did however include flow regulation to maintain
the water temp at the selected temperature - so there was no need to
turn the tap down to get hot water.


Neighbours Combi (old design of Valiant - not sure of spec)

General impression - crude
How water flow - slow
Showers - unusable (water temp switches between warm and unheated)
Baths - very slow




--
Cheers,

John.

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