Anyone swapped out an old Firebird oil boiler for a condenser boiler?

Stovepipe

Hi all,

as the title suggests, I want to change my Firebirdas it is 21 years old and has failed a few times and is probably past it's best. Any suggestions for a condenser type replacement?

jimf

where is your old boiler situated indoor/outdoor/boilerhouse

grant vortex would be my boiler of choice

Stovepipe

Outdoors,traditional Firebird enclosure about 20 feet from the house.

Stovepipe

Would a Vortex be a drop-in fit, ie,simply attach existing piping (to house) to new unit?

jimf

not exactly a drop in fit as such

a few things to consider

new boiler will need a permanent live for frost protection so a 4 core cable if not already supplied will be needed

new boiler will have a steam plume coming from the flue so this may be a consideration for neighbours if close by

all in all not a big job for a good plumber just make sure new boiler is commissioned and passport returned or your warranty may be invalid

Stovepipe

thanks for the comments. It's been in place for 21 years from new/first installation on site so it has whatever type of cable was specified then. There's a very high wall and a tall shed nearby so a plume of steam is not an issue.

thanks again

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058230080/anyone-swapped-out-an-old-firebird-oil-boiler-for-a-condenser-boiler

Not exactly answering your question but your boiler is not that old at 21, a new Riello burner should cost less than €450.00, that and a good clean out of firebox (which should be done annually as part of full service ) it should last another 15 to 20 years assuming of course that the cast iron boiler itself is in good nick. Also ensure that there is no water ingress in boiler housing. Do some number crunching before consigning, what may very well be a good boiler, to the bin.

mickdw

Ya I'd only swap them out if a lost cause.

Efficiency wise, it will take a very long time to recover the outlay.

Stovepipe

It is on it's third Riello unit in it's 21 yrs so far.

mickdw

Something wrong there.

What was the problem - pumps or?

We have a 19 year old firebird indoor all original.

jimf

sounds to me as if your boiler guy is not very good at diagnosing faults

3 burners is away over the top

at a boiler today 23yo needs a new fuel pump no water in tank just wear and tear will do motor bearings as well

full service inc new hose and nozzle and set up with flugas analyser she is running sweet again for approx 240eu

Max H

we swapped an ancient Firebird 1980's vintage for a Grant Condensing boiler 4 years ago. We keep a record of all our oil deliveries since we bought our Dormer Bungalow in 2014. We are using around 500-600 litres less of oil per annum, since the new Grant was installed. With 500 litres of oil at around 450-500 euro, we reckon over 4 years the boiler has paid for itself or nearly has.

Bif

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546633#Comment_118546633

Good savings there. How much oil were you using originally?

connected1

I've a 3 bed semi, approx 100 sqm and since putting in a grant vortex boiler, back in Sept 2019, we've not even used 2 tanks of oil.

No other heating source in the house, & it's built in 1970 with a D rating BER.

So the boiler will definitely pay for itself

Max H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546655#Comment_118546655

Between 8/3/2016-21/03/2017, so 1 year plus a few days with the old Firebird we used 1800 litres

Between same period in 2018 we used 1100 litres with the new Grant, so 700 litres saved, looking back over 2019/2020 its around 5-600 litres per year

Bif

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546720#Comment_118546720

Thanks. Great info to have.

Stovepipe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545096#Comment_118545096

First Riello was changed before we bought the place in 07, then we changed one for continuous failures to relight and had lots of spare parts and number three is continuing to run.

Irish Steve

32 year old Rio Sime boiler here, and in that time, it's had one replacement burner, but that was as a result of 18" of flood water, which didn't do things like blower bearings and the electronics a lot of good, as it couldn't be dried out and run for several weeks due to other issues at the time, we ended up out of the house for 7 months while everything was restored. That was 2002, and the replacement is still running, it was changed from Gas oil to Kerosene 18 months ago as we had to move the oil tank, and Kero at the time was a LOT cheaper, and a second tank made the change over easy.

Trying to decide if it's worth upgrading to a condensing boiler, among other options, and there's way too many people trying to sell snake oil these days, it's hard to know what is the best option going forward, the original was oversized to ensure quick recovery if everything was on, which was a good policy at the time, we're in a large (200 sq Mtr) dormer bungalow with a non standard fast recovery hot water system, it wasn't great BER wise when constructed, but as a result of upgrades we've done, we're now a C1 BER, with more to come when the windows are upgraded, so the heat demand is now lower, the original boiler sizing was 120K Bthu, and from the information I've collected over the years, the burner actually runs for about 50% of the pump "on" time, based on elapsed time meters that I put in. I'm guessing that a new condensing boiler would need to be sized more closely to the demand in order to get best efficiency and performance out of it, so some of the posts here have been of more than passing interest. The existing boiler is in a separate boiler area inside the structure of the house, but only accessible from outdoors, and is a standard flue type connected to a dedicated flue in the chimney, so very easy to replace with almost any traditional boiler.

I don't have long term oil usage since we changed to Kero and the effect of the insulation changes that have been made, but my impression is that our oil usage is down significantly, but this winter is not a good one for getting comparative figures, as it's been so mild for so long, and this is our first winter since the major roof insulation upgrade, which we know has improved things massively.

Gas is not an easy option, as we're over 70 metres from the main in the street, and there's a major ongoing flood prevention scheme going through our garden that's taking for ever to complete, and preventing any civil works to install a gas pipe down beside the drive, and the thoughts of upgrading to an air to water heat pump are not getting positive comments, due to the size of the unit that would be needed, and no way to put underfloor heating in due to the entire ground floor being tiled (another consequence of the flood in 2002), so tearing up the floor to put heating coils in is a non starter. Upgrading 20 or so radiators is not an ideal thought, and the impression I'm getting is that if that's not done, due to the heat pump operating at a lower temperature, the existing rads will struggle to heat the house effectively, even though we've made changes that have reduced the heat needed, and an air to water system won't be able to heat the water to the necessary temperature without electric boosting.

Catch 22, so I'm watching this thread with more than a passing interest to see where it goes.

Magilla Gorilla

Late to this. Swapped out a 12 year old Firebird for a Grant condensing boiler in 2011. Have used one fill less of oil per year since.

Got 250 for the old one, so well paid for now. 😁

John.G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546720#Comment_118546720

That's truly remarkable, by my very rough calcs your old firebird must have been running with a flue gas temperature greater than 700C