Non condensing VS condensing boiler and BER

stimpson

Can anybody give me an idea of the difference in BER rating for a condensing boiler against an old Riello oil boiler?

We put EWI on the house and our BER came in at 226.99 KWh/m^2/yr which is just shy of a C3 rating.

We have since fitted a Logic condensing gas boiler, installed TRV's and changed the old wooden front door to a composite one.

As we are selling the house we were thinking of getting a fresh BER, but only if it brought us up to a C1. Would anyone hazard a guess as to wheather it would be worthwhile?

MAJJ

stimpson wrote: »

Can anybody give me an idea of the difference in BER rating for a condensing boiler against an old Riello oil boiler?

We put EWI on the house and our BER came in at 226.99 KWh/m^2/yr which is just shy of a C3 rating.

We have since fitted a Logic condensing gas boiler and changed the old wooden front door to a composite one.

As we are selling the house we were thinking of getting a fresh BER, but only if it brought us up to a C1. Would anyone hazard a guess as to wheather it would be worthwhile?

I know we're in the plumbing forum but in this market it would be likely a waste of money and give you no ROI.

roy rodgers

Did you get zoned heating controls when you got the new boiler installed??
I've seen heating controls changing a house say a D rating to a C rating .

stimpson

roy rodgers wrote: »

Did you get zoned heating controls when you got the new boiler installed??
I've seen heating controls changing a house say a D rating to a C rating .

Wow. No zoned heating. Just as per OP

Dardania

Would probably make a significant difference - to what degree I don't know. The main energy consumption in a house is heat, so if you significantly improve the efficiency of the heat source, it reduces the energy input significantly (so should affect the BER correspondingly). 
Are there any similar houses to your own in a housing estate with similar upgrades you can check out online (have a look at their daft / myhome page, and if the BER number is given, put it into: https://ndber.seai.ie/pass/ber/search.aspx
And from a buyers perspective, as they scroll through Daft / myhome, the higher the BER rating is, the less renovation work it implies they'll have to do. The whole "come in and hang your pictures" appeal.

I found when in a similar scenario to you, I contacted the original BER assessor and negotiated a cheaper price, as they could just update their original calc rather than full measurement surveys etc. If you got EWI under the SEAI grant, you should have a relationship with a BER assessor?

Other simple tips to consider including if you do get a new BER done:
- fitting low energy (e.g. LEDs) lightbulbs to all of the fixed lights - has a surprising impact
- install an optimiser type thermostat like this https://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/room-thermostats-c-21.html/programmable-thermostats-c-21_31.html/hardwired-programmable-thermostats.html/danfoss-randall-tp5000-si-p-132.html (or nest etc.) - give you some extra brownie points on the BER calc for the optimisation function
- good thick lagging around how water cylinder - the DEAP software has a selection for greater than 80mm if I recall, so buy it, fit it, and leave the packaging with the 80mm visible beside the cylinder so the assessor has every reason to record accurately
- Insulate all visible pipework in the hot press

To give some perspective, my house is at C2 based on EWI, composite door and those tips I gave above, still on an old non-condesing boiler.

stimpson

Unfortunately my asssesor is no longer in the game. I've done a lot of that work - have a factory insulated tank and have installed a Nest (didn't think it counted towards BER) and CFL and LED everywhere.

I think psychologicaly any C looks better than a D so I think I'll go ahead with it. Will report back with my results.

Can anyone recommend a BER assessor in north Dublin (by PM)

stimpson

Had a chat with the Estate Agents BER guy. He said there were a lot of cowboys in the game that lost accreditation with SEAI and their assessments may not be reliable. He said you could end up with a worse rating for the same house and the improvements might only bring you back to the same level. Even without that he said the improvements done would be unlikely to bring us up to a B rating which the EA said would be the minimum worth doing. We've decided to spend the money elsewhere instead.