I have a 20 years old Glow-worm Spacesaver wall boiler which works fine,
providing pumped CH and gravity DHW.
B/Gas 3 star engineers keep telling me the they can "no longer guarantee to
be able to source spares"...ie a sales ploy to sell a new boiler.
Our local council are supplying discounted high efficiency boilers as a
greening initiative, but I reckon the bill will be £2k with fitting and
maybe mods to the exisiting system.
Any of you experts got any impartial advice ?
My gut instinct is to try and source spares for my existing boiler to keep
it going as long as possible.
What do you think.?

In article , Roger wrote:
Our local council are supplying discounted high efficiency boilers
as a greening initiative, but I reckon the bill will be £2k with
fitting and maybe mods to the exisiting system.
Any of you experts got any impartial advice ?
My gut instinct is to try and source spares for my existing boiler
to keep it going as long as possible.

It really depends on how much you are spending on gas. You can
probably reckon on your existing boiler being 65-70% efficient at
best, against 90% for a new condensing boiler so if you do the swap
your bills will probably drop by about 25%. Do the arithmetic and
you'll see what the likely payback period is.

Your best way of saving money is probably to ditch the BG *** and
find a local guy who will sort out any problems if needed.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm

"Roger" wrote in message ...
I have a 20 years old Glow-worm Spacesaver wall boiler which works fine,
providing pumped CH and gravity DHW.
B/Gas 3 star engineers keep telling me the they can "no longer guarantee
to
be able to source spares"...ie a sales ploy to sell a new boiler.
Our local council are supplying discounted high efficiency boilers as a
greening initiative, but I reckon the bill will be £2k with fitting and
maybe mods to the exisiting system.
Any of you experts got any impartial advice ?
My gut instinct is to try and source spares for my existing boiler to keep
it going as long as possible.
What do you think.?

You have an outdated boiler and system. I reckon it is getting 55%
efficiency. If you can get a good deal on new high efficient boiler then
go for it. The bills will noticeably drop. Also DHW recovery, using a
quick recovery cylinder will be zippo. It may work out more in total
running costs to keep the old boiler as you may be nickel and diming it.

"IMM" wrote in message
...

Also DHW recovery, using a
quick recovery cylinder will be zippo. It may work out more in total
running costs to keep the old boiler as you may be nickel and diming it.

Err... where exactly did you go on holiday?

Jim A

I like the Buderus condensing range, the system boilers are very reasonable cost, and the combis are excellent. Slight problem with size (BIG) and they are more noisy than most but beautifully engineered and a dream to service/repair. They've been at the condensing game over 20 years on the continent where it took off a lot sooner.

For a good condensing system boiler pay £700 or so, for a combi a little over a grand. Should be a days labour, maybe a day and a half in certain circumstances. If someone in your area is trying to get £1,000 out of you for a days work give me a call I'll travel anywhere in the country for a days work at half that pay. I charge £300 for a combi swap in my area but I'd need more to travel a long way.

"Paul Barker" wrote in message
...

Roger Wrote:
I have a 20 years old Glow-worm Spacesaver wall boiler which works
fine,
providing pumped CH and gravity DHW.
B/Gas 3 star engineers keep telling me the they can "no longer
guarantee to
be able to source spares"...ie a sales ploy to sell a new boiler.
Our local council are supplying discounted high efficiency boilers as
a
greening initiative, but I reckon the bill will be £2k with fitting
and
maybe mods to the exisiting system.
Any of you experts got any impartial advice ?
My gut instinct is to try and source spares for my existing boiler to
keep
it going as long as possible.
What do you think.?

I like the Buderus condensing range,
the system boilers are very
reasonable cost, and the combis
are excellent. Slight problem with size
(BIG) and they are more noisy than
most but beautifully engineered and a
dream to service/repair. They've been
at the condensing game over 20
years on the continent where it took off a lot sooner.

I thought they were British from Ipswich. They are mainly know for oilers,
not gas. Not a big player in the UK. I know they have been bought out by
Bosch and the Ipswich plant is moving production to Worcester's factory. I
asume they wanted the oil boiler range, not the gas range.

I like the ease in which even the heat exchangers can be changed. They
virtually clip in and out, so no ditching the boiler if the heat echanger
fails.

I like the ease in which even the heat exchangers can be changed. They
virtually clip in and out, so no ditching the boiler if the heat echanger
fails.[/quote]

Yes me too. Also the pcb is in a plastic module, you just undo one big screw and the whole thing pulls off. No taking pictures of all the edge connectors with your digital camera necessary.

The 28kw combi has a small amount of storage; the practical DHW performance is the best I have come across from a 28kw combi. Of course it's only a shaddow of the 40kw Worcester condensing combi, but it's a close second, though maybe ahead in the repair situation.

One gripe, I had to buy sensetive equipment (Kane 400) just to comission this boiler properly. That bugged me, but that's the future, we'll be required to set up gas and air ratios by quite a few more manufacturers in the days ahead.

"Paul Barker" wrote in message
...

The 28kw combi has a small
amount of storage; the practical DHW
performance is the best I have come
across from a 28kw combi. Of course
it's only a shaddow of the 40kw
Worcester condensing combi, but it's a
close second, though maybe ahead in
the repair situation.

What's the prices these days? And who is a big stocker? Parts should become
easy as they are merging into Bosch. I fear they may drop these gas boilers
in favour of the Worcester range. If they do, vested interest triumphs
over superior design and make yet again.

There are lots of small makers turning out boilers these days, even Johnson
& Starley have a boiler range now.

One gripe, I had to buy sensetive
equipment (Kane 400) just to comission
this boiler properly. That bugged me,
but that's the future, we'll be
required to set up gas and air ratios
by quite a few more manufacturers
in the days ahead.

For DIY I try to avoid recommending these types of boilers simply because of
the commisioning equipment and knowledge required.

"Paul Barker" wrote
| If someone in your area is trying to get £1,000
| out of you for a days work give me a call I'll travel
| anywhere in the country

Unst? ;-)

| for a days work at half that pay. I charge £300 for
| a combi swap in my area but I'd need more to travel
| a long way.

And would you want your ferry fare and sandwiches additional? :-)

Owain