Hello DIY-ers,

I am buying a house in a hard water area. It has no c/h system and no
boiler and I inted to install both. I gather condensing boilers are the way
to go these days, but what about the question of combi vs. regular? My
experience of a combi in my previous house was that it was constantly
furring up dure to the hard water, and I spent a fortune keeping it
running. Conversely, my parents had an old fasioned regular boiler and a
copper cylinder that never needed any repairs or maintenance. Bleeding the
rads once a year was all that was required. So, is there a good argument
for using a regular condensing boile rather than a combi? The house I'm
buying is a 3-bed semi.

Many thanks.

Al

Al 1953 wrote:
Hello DIY-ers,

I am buying a house in a hard water area. It has no c/h system and no
boiler and I inted to install both. I gather condensing boilers are the way
to go these days, but what about the question of combi vs. regular? My
experience of a combi in my previous house was that it was constantly
furring up dure to the hard water, and I spent a fortune keeping it
running. Conversely, my parents had an old fasioned regular boiler and a
copper cylinder that never needed any repairs or maintenance. Bleeding the
rads once a year was all that was required. So, is there a good argument
for using a regular condensing boile rather than a combi? The house I'm
buying is a 3-bed semi.


do a cost analysis vis a vis a combi and a softener, versus a mains
pressure system boiler without.

However I recommend a softener for all hard water areas. Its not just
boilers..shower heads, taps everything furs up and you spend an arm and
a leg descaling and repairing.

I dont personally like combis unless space is very limited and there is
only a single person or a well in tune couple. Peak flow rates are too
low frankly for all but one at a time usage.

And if you get a bigger one instead, it just takes up more space and
costs more.


Many thanks.

Al

On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:32:37 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

However I recommend a softener for all hard water areas. Its not just
boilers..shower heads, taps everything furs up and you spend an arm and
a leg descaling and repairing.

Though in the (few) houses I've seen with softeners (here in Reading: a
very hard water area) I've a suspicion that the 'softened' (i.e.
sodium-rich) water attacks some brassware - taps and suchlike.


--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

Fundamentalist agnostic