We have had several quotes for the job, to replace a 30yr+ old boiler but it was suggested by one of the companies that we should have new radiators throughout the house as the new system is under more pressure and the chances of leaks are high, plus efficiency would be increased if we did. However this adds considerable cost to the job, is it really necessary?
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No, its nice to have, but not necessary, you can always change the rads later if you want to ( one at a time – when you decorate ?)
It all depends on the condition of the radiators you now have. Modern ones tend to have less volume and so heat up more quickly. ( they are also thinner so do not last as long!). Why not try the boiler and if there are any problems then replace the radiators if and when necessary?
The high efficiency condensing combi or combination boiler is an ingenious space-saving idea, and an increasingly popular choice in UK homes. In fact, combis now account for well over half of all the new domestic boilers installed in Britain every year.
The major difference between a combi and any other type of boiler is that a combi eliminates the need to store hot water — so no hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard. It is both a high-efficiency water heater and central heating boiler, combined (hence the name) within one compact unit which usually sits in the kitchen or utility room, or sometimes in the airing cupboard. The space savings result from the fact there is no hot water storage cylinder, cold water storage cistern or other familiar components of a regular (conventional) heating system.
The further benefits of this are a significant saving on hot water costs, and the fact that hot water is delivered through your taps or shower at mains pressure. So you can enjoy powerful showering* without the need for a pump. Another combi benefit is that it can generally save you money on installation time and costs — no tanks in the roof space means less pipe work and a shorter installation time.
if the radiators are also 30+ years old, the effeciency of the new boiler will be greatly reduced, due to the amount of sludge and sediment in the radiators. If you don’t wish to fork out on new rads then i would reccommend that you completely flush out your system, (use fernox) before you install the new boiler. Otherwise this sludge can invalidate the guarantee, and cause lots of problems
I changed a system last week, from low pressure to high pressure,the guy didn’t want to change his radiators.
we cleaned his radiators out (power flush adding £230 to his bill) to comply with the guarantee of the boiler.
fitted a Worcester 24i junior, left the job, everything working fine….
next day the guy phones saying three of his rads are dripping water and some water is coming from pipes buried under his floor. we had to refit the system anyway.
if your radiators are 30 yrs old they will be very corroded inside although it is not necessary to change them, be prepared that you might have a problem.
Although the normal operating pressure of a sealed system is around the 1 bar (14 psi ) mark that is only about 4 psi above an open vented system in a two story house. What you have to remember is that the pressure can increase to 3 bar just by simply overfilling at that point the safety valve should operate and prevent any further increase.
Depending on the make of radiator some manufactures 30 years ago did not spot weld the panels as much as others. Look at the channels on the radiators if the spot welds are at least every 1.25″ then you should have no problems as regards the design strength.
I did have one once inflate like a balloon and it sounded just like a burst from a machine gun but that had only been spot welded every 4″ or so.
Power flushing will weaken old radiators and find leaks partly due to the chemicals used.
If your system has had inhibitor in over the years then they should be OK.
According to “The Gas Installer” only 2 pipe small bore systems can be power flushed. Single pipe systems and mini bore systems can not be flushed without removing each radiator and flushing individually.
oh boy what they will do for extra work !! just get a new condenser combi fitted and thats it and make sure you get a Corgi reg to do the job and you had your wear out of the old one my combi valient is 20 years and i thought i was pushing Good luck