It can leave us with a cold feeling, literally. You wake up in the middle of a cold winter’s morning seeing your breath in the air. Or, worst still, your nice warm shower suddenly turns stone cold. The cause? There could be many – but you know your old boiler has gone on the blink again.
Short of wearing a thick woollen jumper and washing in cold water there are few options if the old, unreliable boiler is irreparable. It could be time for a new one.
Prepare for some disruption
Installing a new boiler is not as simple as plugging in a radio. Homeowners can prepare themselves for some disruption whilst a new one is being installed; and this can usually take a couple of days, depending on the home’s construction and existing plumbing. If one is to be installed in the heart of winter, it can be an idea to stay somewhere away from the home for one or two nights as the home might just be on the ‘cool side’.
Leaner and greener…
Installing a new boiler can not only achieve greater reliability; it can also achieve greater efficiency and eventually pay for itself over a given number of years. Intriguingly, there are still boilers in use which have an efficiency as low as 55% compared with the current ones in use. For installations and other plumbing work we can recommend following companies: https://craigprescottplumbing.co.uk/, https://www.simplyheatingltd.co.uk/ or http://www.phdboilerservices.co.uk/
So which types of boiler are there?
System boilers
A nice way to get your clothes and bed linen nicely aired is in an airing cupboard. This is where a pressurised or sealed system boiler, using a sealed hot water storage cylinder, comes in handy. There is usually no need for an expansion tank in the loft as both the cylinder and boiler allow mains pressure hot water to be run from more than one tap outlet at the same time.
Heat only boilers
This type of boiler, a heat only (or open vent) boiler, is typically plumbed into a pair of tanks in the attic, and a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard. The boilers and radiators are supplied by a small expansion tank, while a larger cold water storage tank provides the cold water feed to a hot water cylinder.
Combination boilers
Economical to run due being without an external hot water tank, ‘Combi’ boilers deliver hot water on demand. They are popular because they are compact and can give instant hot water when it is needed. Combi boiler’s compactness also make them a popular choice, particularly in homes such as flats which have little or no space for a storage tank.
Installing a new boiler with help from a loan as part of home improvements can help towards its cost. Hopefully there will be no need for thick woollen jumps and cold showers.
