Boiler replacement for holiday home

Effects

The boiler in my family holiday home is giving up after a decent shelf life since 1986. I just wanted to ask a few questions about a replacement before I find a plumber just so I have a better idea of what to get and what work needs doing. Am I right in thinking all oil burners have to be condensing boilers since 2008? Is there much of a difference between standard and condensing and will the savings take long to kick in? The house is used 3 out of 4 weekends and the heating is on two hours a day during the winter when no one is there. I've read that there needs to be a 20 degree difference so does that mean adjusting the flow rate to make sure the return is cool enough in order to make the savings. One family member wants to use a plumber that fitted a few rads in the house before christmas. He used compression fittings instead of soldered joints when fitting them and when refilling the system he didn't use any inhibitor. Is this a big deal? It seems a little lazy to me so I don't know if I'd fully trust his work.
Another question is about fitting a stove or back boiler on the system. There was previously a range fitted that was removed and the connecting heating pipes are just blanked off. Is it just a simple enough job of connecting a stove with a non return valve to these with a pump.
While the heat is on it's also heating the immersion tank via the coil. This seems like a waste to me for the times there is no one there and the heating is on. Can I out a stop valve on the coil? The house was plumbed in the late 70s early 80s and is only a single zone.

ccsolar

Effects wrote: »

The boiler in my family holiday home is giving up after a decent shelf life since 1986. I just wanted to ask a few questions about a replacement before I find a plumber just so I have a better idea of what to get and what work needs doing. Am I right in thinking all oil burners have to be condensing boilers since 2008? Is there much of a difference between standard and condensing and will the savings take long to kick in? The house is used 3 out of 4 weekends and the heating is on two hours a day during the winter when no one is there. I've read that there needs to be a 20 degree difference so does that mean adjusting the flow rate to make sure the return is cool enough in order to make the savings. One family member wants to use a plumber that fitted a few rads in the house before christmas. He used compression fittings instead of soldered joints when fitting them and when refilling the system he didn't use any inhibitor. Is this a big deal? It seems a little lazy to me so I don't know if I'd fully trust his work.
Another question is about fitting a stove or back boiler on the system. There was previously a range fitted that was removed and the connecting heating pipes are just blanked off. Is it just a simple enough job of connecting a stove with a non return valve to these with a pump.
While the heat is on it's also heating the immersion tank via the coil. This seems like a waste to me for the times there is no one there and the heating is on. Can I out a stop valve on the coil? The house was plumbed in the late 70s early 80s and is only a single zone.

Hi
You would be better to fit a new boiler and claim the Seai grant for the heating upgrade
You can have 2 zones + fit some trv's on the rads, when your boiler is on in winter you will be able to decide if you want heating or hotwater only.
You should also put in some heating protector when doing the work this time.
I don't see any problem fitting the stove but would it be really worth it if your not there in winter?
Cc

padraic buckley

A condencing boiler has a extra pipe usually white directed to a open drain. It is not complusery to put in condensing boilers since 2008 u can still get standard efficency boiler.it would be advisable to zone your heating to prevent fuel wastage. Soldered fittings was correct procedure you cant use soldered fittings in a system that had water in it you wouldnt get enough heat up in it to solder as there neaely always dead water in the pipework even after draining it he should have put inhitor in as your system will sludge up in a shorth time.

Dtp79

padraic buckley wrote: »

A condencing boiler has a extra pipe usually white directed to a open drain. It is not complusery to put in condensing boilers since 2008 u can still get standard efficency boiler.it would be advisable to zone your heating to prevent fuel wastage. Soldered fittings was correct procedure you cant use soldered fittings in a system that had water in it you wouldnt get enough heat up in it to solder as there neaely always dead water in the pipework even after draining it he should have put inhitor in as your system will sludge up in a shorth time.

It's building regulation to fit A rated boilers. There is only a few instances where you cannot. ( usually because of plume build up ). There's nothing wrong with compression fittings. Putting inhibitor into a dirty system is absolutely pointless unless the system is flushed with a machine and chemicals

Effects

I'll look into how much work it would take to make it two zones, one heating and one for hot water. As for the stove, I'm planting a couple of hectares of trees as a future source of fuel for both this home and my usual home here in Dublin. There's also a lot of wood available already that my family have been using for fuel but they don't see any point it burning it in a stove when they can just burn it in an open fire, unseasoned.