Essex Central Heating

Difference 1. The biggest difference is the energy savings. A condensing boiler is always much more energy efficient than a non-condensing boiler. This means that you get more useful energy for the money you spend on fuel which means better value. For example, an old inefficient boiler is approximately 60% efficient meaning that only 60p of every pound spent on fuel (gas or oil in most cases) is put to providing heat and hot water. On the other hand, a new condensing boiler is approximately 90% efficient; therefore 90p of every pound spent of fuel put to good use.

Difference 2. A condensing boiler produces steam from its flue which is called "pluming". This is made because the flue gas temperature is lot lower than on older boilers and is a sign it's working efficiently.

Difference 3. As their name indicates, condensing boilers make condensate inside them and condensation comes out of the boiler and gets taken away via a waste pipe, such as your kitchen waste pipe.

Type 1: A Conventional Condensing Boiler's job is to just heat up water in your heating system and nothing else. Other parts of your heating system elsewhere do the rest of the work. For example, pumps cylinder, tanks, and valves.

Type 2: A Combination Condensing Boiler. This does the job of all of your heating and hot water systems all in one unit. This means you don't need any storage tanks or cylinders or external components - it's just one unit.

Type 3: A mix of the two called a Condensing System Boiler. This does a similar job to the conventional condensing boiler (type 1) but with some useful elements of a combination condensing boiler (type 2) built in as well.

To comply with the building regulations, you need to have a condensing boiler of some description installed if you change your boiler over. There are one or two very small exceptions, but in 95% of cases you do have to have a condensing boiler, which isn't a bad thing because they save you energy and they don't cost you a great deal more.

Okay, let's look at combination boilers. Combination boilers are really popular right now. They're outselling conventional boilers, but they aren't suitable for everyone which I will talk about a bit later on.

Here are a few benefits of combination boilers:

They're really good if you've got high water mains pressure and flow coming into your property. This is because with a combi boiler, all of your taps, showers etc are supplied directly from your water mains (That's why you don't need tanks with a combi boiler). In most cases water mains pressure is quite high; therefore combination boilers usually deliver very good pressure at your taps and showers.

TIP: To get a rough idea of your mains pressure, turn your kitchen tap on full, and see how powerfully/fast the water comes out. If it's quite powerful, it's a good indication that if you had a combination boiler, the pressure would be very good at other taps/showers as well. When you get a quote for your boiler, the installer will be able to give you an accurate pressure/flow rate measurement when he/she visits.

Another advantage of a combi boiler is limitless hot water. You'll never run out, because it heats the water as it passes through the boiler as opposed to a conventional system that has a limited store of hot water in a cylinder (that can run out and need to be re-heated).

Combination boilers are also fantastic if space is at a premium and you don't want to waste space with big storage tanks and cylinders and all the extra pipe work.

The down side of having a combi boiler is that if there is a chance that there is going to be more than one tap used at the same time, you are probably going to notice the difference in water pressure, because two taps, showers, etc have got to share the same amount of pressure. Confused? Let's take an example: Let's say you're having a shower then someone else turns on a hot tap elsewhere, so there are two taps (or as we call them, "outlets") running at the same time.

The consequence of this is that you'll notice a drop in pressure at the shower while the other tap is running. You may also notice a variation in temperature. Depending on the pipework design, water pressure, and some other factors, the drop in pressure can range from hardly noticeable to severe.
With this in mind, a combination boiler is not ideal for everybody, but I would say in smaller properties or where there are not that many people in your property, combi boilers are a very good option.

Really, it's up to you to decide whether you can live with using one outlet at a time!

Pros and Cons of a Condensing Combination Boiler:

Pros:
> Good pressure for powerful showers
> No need for extra tanks, cylinder etc.
> Limitless hot water
> Space saving

Cons:
> Only works well if you have good water mains pressure
> No back up if the boiler/gas fails (e.g. no electric immersion heater like on a conventional system)
> Pressure drop if more than one outlet (tap) is used at the same time.

Now, moving on to conventional and system boilers...

The difference between these and combination boilers is that they don't generate hot water for your taps inside the boiler, like a combi does. With these boilers you need a separate hot water cylinder that heats and stores your hot water, which the boiler heats indirectly.

They're great if you use a lot of hot water at once, especially if you use two or three hot water taps at the same time. For example, if someone is in the shower and there is a washing machine filling up and you are doing the washing up at the same time. They cope really well with simultaneous hot water demand, because they won't heat the hot water instantly as they go like a combi boiler does.

The system as a whole, however, takes up more space than a combination boiler. This is because the hot water that comes out of your taps isn't generated within the boiler as a combination boiler does. Conventional and system boilers are connected to a hot water cylinder (see picture below). These cylinders store hot water that is indirectly heated by the boiler. They usually have an electric immersion heater as well. This is used to heat hot water electrically (rather like a kettle) in the event of the boiler failing.

Hot water cylinders come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Generally speaking, the larger your property, the larger the cylinder you'll need to provide hot water. Hot water cylinders usually get their supply water from a cold water storage tank, usually located in the loft. This is a good setup if your mains water pressure (as mentioned in the combination boilers section) is average to poor, because the hot water pressure will remain consistent regardless of mains water pressure fluctuations. On systems like this, you can also use a pump to boost pressure at the outlets to up to 4 bar (which is very powerful!) for power showers with body jets etc. This means that even if your mains water pressure is poor, with this set up you can still enjoy powerful showers and fast filling baths.

A Quick Word on Unvented Cylinders:
An unvented cylinder is similar to the hot water cylinder we were discussing above. The main difference is that it is fed directly from the mains water supply, rather than a tank in the loft. These cylinders have to be installed by a competent person, as they can be very dangerous if installed by unqualified people. The benefit of these is that there is a space saving advantage from not having a tank in loft, and very high pressures and flow rates without a pump (similar to a normal cylinder with a powerful pump). The downside is that you need exceptional incoming water mains pressure for the cylinder to work properly. Your installer will be able to test and advise you whether your property is suitable.

A Bit More on System Boilers compared to Conventional Boilers:

A system boiler is a relatively new concept; they have been around for about 10 to 15 years and they are blend between a combi boiler and a conventional boiler. A conventional boiler is a very basic unit, it only heats warm water and everything else gets done outside of the boiler, so you have got an external pump, an external tank and everything else. A system boiler on the other hand, is a halfway point between a combi boiler and a conventional boiler so it has got a pump built in, it sometimes has got a timer built in and it has got something called an expansion vessel and a sealed system kit built in as well, which means you don't need a small tank in the loft (called a feed and expansion tank).

Pros and Cons of a Condensing Conventional & System Boilers:

Pros:

> Back up hot water if the boiler fails
> Capability of using more than one outlet at the same time
> Boosted hot and cold water supplies with a pump even in poor water mains pressure areas
> Fast filling baths compared to a combination boiler

Cons:

> Takes up more overall space than a combination boiler system.
> Higher installation costs because of more labour and materials involved.

In Summary:

Combination boilers are most suited to those of you that have:
> Good mains water pressure,
> Live in properties with less than 3 bedrooms,
> Want to save space,
> And rarely use more than one tap simultaneously.

Conventional and System boilers are most suited to those of you that have:

> Average to poor mains pressure,
> Live in property with three bedrooms or more, or with more than one bath/shower room,
> Where space and cost aren't top priorities,
> And are likely to use more than one outlet at the same time regularly.

Heat Exchangers:

Important: There is a very important aspect about picking a good quality boiler and that's the type of material used to construct the heat exchanger. The boiler manufacturers won't ever speak about this "on the record" - and only some installers knew about this - until now!

The heat exchanger in a boiler is a bit like the engine in a car; it's a real big, major component of the boiler. It's what the flames from the burner heat, and what the heating water passes through to be heated.

With condensing boilers, the heat exchanger is exposed to quite aggressive acidic condensates from the combustion process. With this in mind, it needs to be made from a very resilient material. Boiler manufacturers use all kinds of materials to make heat exchangers, such as hardened aluminium, cast iron and stainless steel. In my opinion, some materials are much better than others!
Early condensing boilers had a bad reputation, because over time the acidic condensate produced inside the boiler ate away at the heat exchanger from inside and rotted it (making it leak). The only solution was replacing a heat exchanger. This is a big and very expensive job, by the way!

Every manufacturer will claim that their heat exchangers will never suffer from this, however from experience this doesn't seem to be the case. As an installer, breakdown engineer and having assisted in some manufacturers research and development, I'd avoid every material except stainless steel for heat exchangers. I believe that anything else simply isn't as good or will last as long. The better boiler manufacturers out there use stainless steel to make the heat exchangers and stainless steel doesn't suffer with acidic attack from condensate. As you can see, this is really important when you're choosing your boiler - always try and go for a stainless steel heat exchanger!

I'd always advise you to use the leading manufacturers because in central heating, you really do get what you pay for! There's a significant difference in quality and engineering between the top and bottom ends of the market with boilers.

I believe there are two market leaders in central heating boilers. The first is Worcester Bosch. They are very, very well made, well engineered boilers. They are made mostly in Germany now, but still have a factory in Worcester in the UK. They have been bought up by the international Bosch Group and their quality control reflects this. The only problem is that their heat exchangers, as I mentioned above, aren't made from stainless steel; they are made from hardened aluminium which in my opinion, isn't quite as good. Some say that this material is more prone to prematurely rotting and degrading. So they would be, if I was choosing a boiler, my second choice.

The top manufacturer, we believe, is Vaillant, who in my opinion are of a slightly higher standard than Worcester Bosch. Again, they are made in Germany and they have been around for about 130 years, BUT their heat exchangers are constructed from stainless steel and I believe are far less likely to rot or split than other materials. Also most of their components are manufactured "in house" in their factory, rather than outsourced to third party manufacturers. This makes a huge difference in reliability and compatibility, as each part follows the strict German quality control procedures.

Both of these manufacturers cost about the same, and aren't cheap. But as I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, you get what you pay for!

I won't mention any names here incase I get sued! You will however, get a very good idea of who to avoid!

Okay, the cheaper boilers out there: these are the type of boilers you can get from large DIY stores, some mail order catalogues, in the back of national press, and the real cheap ones on the internet.

As a rule these boilers are made to lower quality control standards, have limited spare parts available, limited technical support for the installer, and a small to non-existent after sales/warranty department.

Also, these boilers are usually modified versions of non-condensing boilers. That's why they are so cheap; because the manufacturers don't have to set up brand new manufacturing processes - they just bolt on extra parts to turn regular boilers into condensing boilers. They use things called secondary heat exchangers which are just bolt on parts, so I would keep away from those if at all possible.

From my experience as a breakdown engineer, I've rarely seen boilers of this sort last longer than 8 years before becoming beyond economical repair.

There are other boiler manufacturers out there as well that are still reasonable, but not quite up with the top two manufacturers. They are names like Glow Worm, Potterton, Baxi, Ideal and other household names. These manufacturers aim their boilers at the "average" market and new properties. Usually for the difference in price between these boilers and the top end boilers (about £200 at the time of writing) you're better off spending that bit extra overall for a superior product.

Generally, I would use these "average" boilers as your cheapest option and I wouldn't really recommend going any cheaper than that because you will probably suffer in the long term.

Summary:

You get what you pay for! Always try to buy the very best you can afford with a stainless steel heat exchanger. The extra investment will pay dividends in the long run.

Choosing an excellent boiler is one thing, but a bad installation can ruin it. Here's how to find a great installer:

The first check, that everyone should know, is to check to see if the installer is CORGI registered. CORGI have been doing quite a lot in the last couple of years to combat cowboys and rogue heating installers, and generally if your person is CORGI registered and you know how to check their card, you are on the right track.

How to check their CORGI card:

The front will look something like this. This is my personal CORGI card, which expires on March 30th 2007, so if you're reading this later, other installers cards may appear slightly different. This is because CORGI changes the cards slightly every year to prevent fraud and forgery. The number below the CORGI crest is the company's CORGI registration number. You can verify the company is registered by call them on 0870 401 2300 or go online at: http://www.trustcorgi.com/consumers.htmx. You also need to check that the actual operative is still registered and working for that company. You can do this by calling the number or going to the website above but entering the card serial number, which is at the very bottom of the card, slightly left of centre.

On the back of their CORGI card you will a chart on the left, with ticks next to it that tells you if they are competent to work on your particular gas appliance. So as we are talking about central heating today, if they have got a tick by their central heating list on the table on the back of the CORGI card that means that they are qualified and competent to work on your central heating system. As you can see from the picture on the left, there's a tick by the central heating line, which means I hold the specific qualification to work on domestic central heating. Also your installer needs to be Part L compliant; and there should be a line on the back of the CORGI card that says they are Part L compliant (this means that they can install and notify condensing boilers). On this card it's on the top right hand side. Notice on this one there isn't a tick, but a date in red. This is when this particular qualification will expire.

Important Tip: Just because someone is CORGI registered doesn't necessarily mean they are competent to work on all gas appliances. For example, my CORGI registration (see above picture) allows me to work on natural gas pipework, cookers, gas fires, water heaters, central heating and warm air. But if someone asked me to work on their gas tumble drier (yes, they do exist!) or a large commercial boiler, such as in a factory, I wouldn't be allowed to and would have to decline because I don't hold those qualifications. This is an important one to remember as some installers might need the work (even though they don't have the correct qualification) and accept work they aren't qualified or registered to do. This is illegal and will invalidate your home insurance, just as using a non-registered installer would. So check the back of their card!

So once you are happy that your installer is CORGI registered for your job, you need to make sure that the "Benchmark Log Book" is filled out once the installation is complete. The Benchmark Log Book takes on a few different forms; sometimes you will find it inside the boiler manufacturer's instructions; or it can be a loose A5 sheet, made from cardboard and it's usually either grey or blue. This is going to cover all of your boiler's details and what the installer has done.

The reason why this log book is so important is because it is a legal document, so if you feel the job has not been done properly you can use this document in court or if you are selling your property you can show your solicitor this document, and then they know that your boiler has been installed properly, so this is a really, really important bit of paper!

Thirdly, once your CORGI installer has installed your boiler, a few weeks afterwards you will receive a certificate from CORGI themselves. This is because every CORGI installer now has to notify their gas jobs to CORGI. They will go on line or will make a phone call to CORGI and say that they have installed your boiler at your address. Then CORGI will send a certificate of compliance to you to prove that it complies with Parts L of the Building Regulations and Parts J as well. CORGI keep a record of all jobs an installer has done and inspects them at random, usually every year, to make sure the installation is up to standard.

Sometimes, your CORGI registered installer will be Part P approved as well. Part P is the electrical regulations side of things. So if your installer holds an electrical qualification, Part P will be mentioned on the CORGI certificate as well. If he has used a subcontractor electrician, like a lot of CORGI installers do, you will get a certificate from either the NICEIC or NAPIT, which is the electrical equivalent to CORGI. And that will be sent through at a later date, from that particular organisation.

Value for money is always a difficult one for us CORGI registered installers. We find that there are many people out there that try to get the very, very cheapest deal with their central heating and, generally, that is a very big mistake.

It's usually best to go for and buy the very best you possibly can with heating, because you do get what you pay for. Generally, the cheaper installers are the guys that are going to cut the corners and not do the job quite as well. If you get a few quotes, you'll see some pretty big variations in price for what, at first glance, seems like the same thing. Let me explain the variations:

Most heating companies / installers get materials for roughly the same price, give or take 15% or so. Just make sure that when comparing quotes that you're comparing manufacturers on a like for like basis. (Compare Vaillant with Vaillant and Potterton with Potterton etc.) So assuming that the quotes you are comparing specify very similar materials, and say they'll do the same thing, the only difference can be labour, right? Yes, and this makes a huge difference. The best way for me to explain this is with two examples - a cheap quote and a more expensive quote. For this example I'll assume the job is to install a budget, basic heating system and the materials used will be identical on each quote.

Quote 1: Materials = £1200, Labour = £800, Total = £2000 plus VAT.

Quote 2: Materials = £1200, Labour = £2000, Total = £3200 plus VAT.

Let's break these down further. Quote 1 seems tempting as it's so cheap. However at that labour price, it's unlikely the installer will spend more than 2 days on the installation. This means they'll probably be in a hurry to get the job done quickly, get their money and go. As we say in the trade, "thrown in".
Quote 2 is a lot more expensive than Quote 1 isn't it? And the difference is all in the labour. As you can see, there's £2000 labour on this job which means that the installer will spend at least 5 days on the job, take their time to make sure everything is done properly, and install to a far higher standard.

These calculations are based on an installer's daily rate of £400/day, which isn't unusual in the south east of England and London. Daily rates vary from as low as £150/day for self employed installers, up to £500/day for larger companies. Don't be too keen to dismiss the apparently more expensive bigger companies, as their after sales service can be very good compared to a "one man band" with just a mobile phone number. The larger companies can sometimes bundle several years heating insurance with the installation and finance, adding more value to the deal.

If you look in your local papers in the classified sections, you will probably see some adverts for gas installers that do very cheap, all inclusive central heating deals for what seems like an incredibly low price. My advice is be wary of these guys because we have seen them before in the trade and they can do heating systems and boiler changes that cheaply because they are so quick. However in heating, quality is usually sacrificed for the sake of speed. You can't be very fast and very good.

Buy it yourself?

Okay, this takes us on to the subject of buying your own central heating boiler and is it really worth it? There are some deals on the internet - if you Google a lot of boiler manufacturers there seem to be some very cheap deals out there.

Sometimes it is worth it, and sometimes it can be a bit of a grey area. The problem is, if you buy your own boiler and employ a CORGI registered installer to fit it for you, if anything goes wrong with the boiler, your contract is between you and the company you bought the boiler from, not you and your CORGI installer. This means you'll be stuck in-between your CORGI installer, trying to see if it is through a fault of your installer that the boiler has gone wrong, or if it's a problem with the boiler itself in manufacturing. This can cause a bit of confusion with installers and the buyers of the boiler, so be careful with that one.

It is probably best all round if you get your installer to buy the boiler because they know how to choose the boiler accessories; if there has got to be any flue alterations, or just extra bits and pieces. They have generally got the contacts and the skill and knowledge to get hold of the parts a lot easier than you.

This is probably the most important part of getting the right boiler, because if you do find the right installer they can give you lots of specific advice for your property. In this book I am giving you very general advice because I don't know what sort of property you have and I don't know what your needs are, so a good installer can sit down, talk to you, assess your property, give you a survey and really help you out.

Some good places to start are the CORGI Consumer website, which is www.corgi-gas-safety.com, and also the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering is a good place as well. Their website is www.plumbers.org.uk. When you are on the Institute of Plumbing and Heating website be careful because you will probably find about 50% plumbers and 50% heating installers, so if you find someone you like on plumbers.org.uk, go to corgi-gas-safety.com and just double-check that they are CORGI registered. There is a very good chance they are, but it pays to double-check anyway. Generally, the better installers are members of both groups.

Call up and handful of installers, and test their response. You're an interested potential customer who is ready to spend thousands of pounds on central heating, so the installer should be pleased to hear from you and enthusiastic. If you get any negative feelings or response on first contact, imagine how things will be if you're calling up about your boiler if it goes wrong in the future!

Whittle the installers down on the phone before booking a quote. Avoid asking questions about price on the phone, as it's really impossible for an installer to give an accurate price without seeing the job. Book the ones you like for an appointment for a quote. 3 or 4 installers is enough, no need to go for loads of quotes. This will irritate the installers and waste your time, as 10 quotes will give you a no better picture on price and options than 3 to 5.

The magic question: Once you have got a shortlist of quotes it will really pay to speak to the installer's previous customers. This is because you can see the installer's standard of work and you can also speak to their previous customers and see if they have had any problems with them.
If the installer is a good one or if they are a good installation company, they will have no problem with that - they will just give you a list of people to phone without any resistance. If you do meet with resistance or a refusal, it's an indication that they haven't got a great customer base!

When you are getting a quote, make sure that the quote isn't too general. A lot of people I have spoken to have been caught up in disputes with gas installers, when they expect a certain thing to be done by the gas installer and it hasn't been because it hasn't been mentioned on the quote. So make sure they detail everything that they are going to do.

Also make sure that they say in their quote that the heating installation, or the boiler installation, is going to be compliant with all the relevant building regulations, and that the boiler will be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. This is because the manufacturer's instructions, believe it or not, actually override any British standard or gas regulation, so if it sticks to the boiler manufacturer's instructions, you will be absolutely safe.

> Installers / Company Name:

> What boiler, radiators and controls are they specifying?

> Does the specified boiler have a stainless steel heat exchanger?

> Your cold water mains flow rate (litres/minute):

> Does the quote include a Powerflush?

> Will the installation comply with parts L, J & P of the building regulations?

> Can you see their CORGI card? (If they're an installer. Some companies use sales reps to do quotes that aren't CORGI registered. If this is the case ask for the company's CORGI number, then check it on the CORGI website.)

> What is their policy on rubbish & waste disposal?

> Can you contact some previous customers for referrals?

Part L compliance checklist:

> For all systems: Is it a Band A condensing boiler?

> For all systems: Is there a room thermostat and programmer fitted?

> For systems with a hot water cylinder only: Is there a cylinder thermostat and programmer fitted?

> For systems with a hot water cylinder only: If you've had a new cylinder fitted, does the label state that it's Part L approved?

> For conventional systems only: Are heating zone valves fitted?

> For conventional systems only: Are hot water zone valves fitted?

> For properties with a total floor area of 150 sq metres of more: Is the heating system divided into more than one control zone? (e.g: upstairs and downstairs controls)

> For all systems: Are thermostatic radiator valves fitted to every radiator except the one where the room thermostat is?

> For all systems: Has an automatic bypass valve been fitted or is it built in the boiler?

> For all systems: Has the system been flushed correctly? (With the exception of a brand new system, you need a Powerflush.)

> For all systems: Is there chemical inhibitor in the system?

> For all systems: Has the installer left the boiler manufacturers instructions with you?

> For all systems: Has the installer demonstrated the system to you?

> For all systems: Has the Benchmark Log Book been completed and signed by you and the installer?

LEGAL STUFF:

PLEASE NOTE - this guide provides only a general review of the topics contained within it. Therefore, it cannot be relied upon for any particular case. The need for specific tailored advice for your circumstances should always be considered. Any liability arising from you acting, or refraining from acting, on any information contained in this guide is excluded.
If you decide to access other third party websites, resources or advertisements set out in this guide, you do so at your own risk.