Posted 21 January 2024
25+ years Potterton boiler issue...time to replace?
When we moved in 8 years ago, we kept the original boiler, a Potterton Netaheat Electronic, which we believe is 25+ years old. Had an issue 2 years in and managed to find a niche gas engineer, who came down and fixed it. Was completely fine since then until yesterday, where we realised after a few hours that the central heating was not on and no hot water.
The boiler starts up on demand (from our Nest thermostat installed in Nov) just fine and I can see the fire lighting up in the little window and it's definitely noisy enough to be doing something. However, no heating or hot water
I can't get through to the niche engineer as he's been busy but last time I enquired about a service, it would cost £500 because he lives quite a while away and that includes his travel cost. He did do a good job and seems to know his stuff about this old boiler but at that cost, not including fixing our issue, which may add up more, would it just make sense to replace? I've tried calling up some places but most are giving me 'we'll come out and will have a look but there's a call out charge, no guarantees' or 'we don't fix that, better to get a new one'.
So small two bed house, semi-detached, circa 650 square feet with hot water tank and I don't think is particularly well insulated (absolutely freezing in the house despite it being 12 degrees outside as the weather says!), what are my best options? Which boiler to go for, what sort of price should I expect for installation etc?
Thanks for any help!
The boiler starts up on demand (from our Nest thermostat installed in Nov) just fine and I can see the fire lighting up in the little window and it's definitely noisy enough to be doing something. However, no heating or hot water
I can't get through to the niche engineer as he's been busy but last time I enquired about a service, it would cost £500 because he lives quite a while away and that includes his travel cost. He did do a good job and seems to know his stuff about this old boiler but at that cost, not including fixing our issue, which may add up more, would it just make sense to replace? I've tried calling up some places but most are giving me 'we'll come out and will have a look but there's a call out charge, no guarantees' or 'we don't fix that, better to get a new one'.
So small two bed house, semi-detached, circa 650 square feet with hot water tank and I don't think is particularly well insulated (absolutely freezing in the house despite it being 12 degrees outside as the weather says!), what are my best options? Which boiler to go for, what sort of price should I expect for installation etc?
Thanks for any help!
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33 Comments
sorted byI also went whole hog and replaced my open vented gravity hot water copper cylinder with a Mefaflo. Again was a bit sceptical about it as it cost me around £3.5k including installing a new loft hatch as the old and new cylinders are in the loft. Again what a difference, with the old we never had any hot water left over after washing up after dinner and now we have loads, the system timings are still the same but the new tank stores more hot water, heats the water up quicker and as my entire house is under mains pressure it means hot water comes through to the taps a lot quicker now.
How long does the boiler fire up before shutting down?
A lot will depend on the layout of your house in particular....where the boiler is at the minute and whether you could possibly move it to where your hot water tank is now...usually your airing cupboard.
I understand a combi boiler doesn't need a hot water tank, provides water on demand and is good enough for small places. So I assume this would work for me.
Does that mean I need to remove the hot water tank?
My current boiler in inside the kitchen and hot water tank is in an airing cupboard next to bathroom.
you might be able to find someone who can do a straight boiler swap with leaving the hot water tank in place for cash. (edited)
You've done well to keep that old boiler going - would definitely replace if you can afford to.
The new boiler is so much quieter and I’m already seeing a difference in my monthly gas usage.
Is there a link i can take a look at?
We have a Nest thermostat (only installed in Nov) and he said because it's a two way channel, it might not work so potentially £300 down the drain there for me
Boxt for the same boiler is £3645. Also £40 per TRV so it'll be another £200 on top. Their quote includes:
Is the Vaillant Protector the same as on the things mentioned in the Boxt quote? Is there anything important included in the Boxt quote that is missed from the plumber's? I'm assuming half of the stuff there is just standard trimmings.
The plumber is registered with Vaillant but he said he would also do Worcester Bosch Greenstar 4000 30kw at the same price. I enquired about the WB 2000 model but he said the 4000 is better as it's more powerful. Is the 4000 adequate/too much for my small 2 bed terraced 600+ square feet?
Are these prices about right?
I have been thinking about getting a water softener (any recommendations? :P) so might get it done at the same time. It shouldn't cause any issues right? Would the scale reducer be redundant or better to have it anyways? (edited)