Replacement Gas boiler - which option

[slowmotion]

Have you been to my house? We have an electric shower, no bath, cold water feed dishwasher / washing machine and we are both out at work all day. Please excuse my lack of comprehension (feeling very stupid) you are in fact advocating the removal of the tank and going for a combi boiler? Because of our light use of hot water, it is more cost effective to heat on demand rather heat and store for later use. Or have I got it @rse about face.

I broke in while you were at work and had a poke around.

I guess I would conclude that your DHW consumption is really very low unless you are an obsessive hand washer. The actual amount of money spent heating it is going to be small. Some people would argue that ,under these circumstances, the standing losses from the tank will be an a significant proportion of the DHW energy useage, so a combi might be the best bet. Personally, I would go for a conventional condensing boiler and keep the tank. If you do this you can match the boiler output to the space heating load. With a combi, you may have to oversize it. I have a suspicion that combis are less reliable, but that is just a suspicion.

Sorry for muddying the waters.

Edit: I forgot to look in your airing cupboard. It might be worth changing the hot water cyclinder for a smaller one if your current one is about 120 litres. You don't need to store that much water. Going for a smaller one will cut the standing losses. Re-heat times these days are pretty quick.

 

[Spinney]

Whether standing losses are really a waste is also questionable. To me, an airing cupboard is useful. Also, in the UK, heating is needed most of the year - a bit of heat leaking from the hot water cylinder helps keeps upstairs warm.

Good point here. I have no tumble dryer (no space, but I probably wouldn't get one if I did have the space. I put my wet washing on a rack in the airing cupboard, leave the door open a tad, and it is mostly dry by the morning - also out of sight. So 'wasted' heat from my hot water tank isn't always wasted!

 

[slowmotion]

Good point here. I have no tumble dryer (no space, but I probably wouldn't get one if I did have the space. I put my wet washing on a rack in the airing cupboard, leave the door open a tad, and it is mostly dry by the morning - also out of sight. So 'wasted' heat from my hot water tank isn't always wasted!

I agree. Airing cupboards are really useful.

 

[ACS]

I broke in while you were at work and had a poke around.

I guess I would conclude that your DHW consumption is really very low unless you are an obsessive hand washer. The actual amount of money spent heating it is going to be small. Some people would argue that ,under these circumstances, the standing losses from the tank will be an a significant proportion of the DHW energy useage, so a combi might be the best bet. Personally, I would go for a conventional condensing boiler and keep the tank. If you do this you can match the boiler output to the space heating load. With a combi, you may have to oversize it. I have a suspicion that combis are less reliable, but that is just a suspicion.

Sorry for muddying the waters.

Edit: I forgot to look in your airing cupboard. It might be worth changing the hot water cyclinder for a smaller one if your current one is about 120 litres. You don't need to store that much water. Going for a smaller one will cut the standing losses. Re-heat times these days are pretty quick.

That would account for the missing jaffa cakes then. Sorry that there was no sugar for your tea, give me a shout next and I will ask the SWMBO to lay out a little spread.

Lots of good advice, points to ponder and factors to be considered. To round the thread off we have decided to keep the tank and just get direct replacement for the boiler. Adding in a shiny new bathroom radiator and new thermostat valves on all other radiator’s I think we have nailed the job.

Again our thanks go to the CC community for your help with this we are really grateful to you all.