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> new regulations brought in on 1st. april this year state that new and
> replacement heating units have to be of the high effieciency condensing
> boilers.
> these boilers have been available for a number of years now in britain but
> were never popular,does anyone stateside or in europe have a comment on
> the
> reliability and life span of these types of boilers,i`ve heard some
> reports
> in the trade of boilers having to be replaced after only four or five
> years.
>
>

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>I don't think anyone anywhere has much long term experience of condensing
>boilers

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>I don't think anyone anywhere has much long term experience of condensing
>boilers, maybe the Scandinavians? These boilers really have only started
>gaining popularity here since the late 90's.
> I first fitted condensing boilers as part of a British Gas test project in
> the west central Scotland area in the early 80's while contracting to them
> at the time. The boilers came in from Ireland, long forgotten the make,
> but they used 2 seperate 40mm Mupvc waste pipes for the exhaust and
> intake. The layout of the boilers were kind of similar to Kestons are now.
> At the time no one had much of a clue about them and they were prone to
> going off balance if they weren't handled with care when fitting whereby
> an Irish guy had to jump on a plane and come and fix them! Haven't a clue
> how long they lasted or performed but it wasn't until the 2000's British
> Gas started really pushing condensing's.
> Things have no doubt developed a lot on condensing boilers since then.
> Some of the earlier boilers were probably badly designed (in an attempt to
> jump on the wagon) and probably did have a shorter lifespan compared to
> the traditional type of boiler, but they are "allegedly" better now.
> I've fitted them personally, usually on request from "switched on"
> customers or architects playing with their SAP figures, for around 4 or 5
> years now and never really had any serious problems.
> Their lifespan now will, according to any manufacturer you speak to, be "
> similar or maybe only slightly less" than any other boiler type if they
> are correctly fitted and maintained. We will have to wait and see! 10
> years?
> Long gone are the days of the cast iron boiler which would run for ever if
> properly maintained, and where the only thing to break down was a gas
> valve or solenoid, a thermostat or change a thermocouple.
> I don,t agree with the powers that be where every boiler fitted must be
> condensing, very few exceptions. But who are we to disagree? Mere
> tradesmen.
> People are very aware of condensing boilers and energy efficiency now from
> all the press coverage and stuff, but no one mentions that the slight
> savings in energy consumption, only around £40/year compared to a similar
> low water content boiler will be outweighed by increased initial costs and
> increased service and maintainance costs and perhaps shorter lifespan.
> Thats perhaps why the Government, as way of an incentive were offering
> £100 cash back for the customer who had one fitted and there is now the
> "Magic Boiler Scheme" subsidising prices to installers.
> Btw as yet the new regulations don't apply in Scotland, though that will
> change next year. In the meantime there will be some good deals to be had
> here this year on standard efficiency boilers as the manufacturers ofload
> their "dead" stock!
>
>
> Tam
>