Oil Fired Boilers – Satisfaction Survey
We are often asked by Heating Oil users to recommend a Boiler type, style or manufacturer. Given the many options to choose from we have decided to dedicate this blog section to your own views and experiences so potential purchasers can make a more informed decision, with the ultimate goal being to find the overall market leader.
When replying to this blog please clearly state the make and model of your boiler and current length of service together with its current efficiency rating if known from last service, along with your general comments and views.
We have a four year old Sandyford Lady, in yellow. It is a stunning centrepiece in my kitchen that I totally enjoy using. Cooking on this type pf stove is not like `modern`cookers and my Husband cannot seem to get used to it. He feels the stove controls him rather than him being in control and he is a little frightened of it. However he does agree the food I produce is lovely. Problems – few and minor. The door guage for oven heat is not acurate but I don`t rely on it anyway.
Good points – quality chrome shelves make them easy to clean, in fact whole stove is fairly easy clean. Quiet, much quieter than friends stoves of other makes. Quicker to heat than my electric oven was. As efficient as a normal central heating boiler I thhink but with the added bonus that you can put the stove on separately for cooking as the Sandyford has two jets. In the spring and autumn when you may not want the c/h on I can cook a meal and then enjoy the residual heat for the evening in the kitchen. Proper Balanced flue, none of these power flue problems, in fact very little to maintain. Jet change each year and that has been it costing about £130. All in all a good product. We recommend Sandyford to everyone. Other probllems – Watchman on the oil tank was not a success the bit on the tank got damages in a storm so we now rely on the old fashioned way of reading the tank llevel. General builder who fitted radiators put PTFE on the threads of olive compressions joints and we have had tiny leaks reducing the pressure in the system so long haul to find and correct but think we are now there. Used micro-bore plastic for system and seems to work well enough.
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wendy trebilcock June 7th, 2010 10:10 pmI have a Grant Combi 21 external boiler – 2 years old and it keeps cutting out for no rhyme or reason. The Overheat Cut-out light illuminates and I have to press the Overheat Reset and then it fires up and will keep going for weeks on end and then just stop. Have had 3 different Engineers – one private, one appointed by Grant and eventually a Grant Engineer. Have had the PCB replaced at the beginning of the year and the Grant Engineer did somthing in February but it has cut out twice over the past month.
If anyone has a magic solution to my boiler problems PLEASE let me know as I am getting very frustrated. Also, if anyone else is having the same problem with the same boiler it could be a deisgn fault.
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adrian Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Check the power supply to the boiler and that it remains around 240volts if the power supply is fluctuating this can cause the boiler to trip out intermittently
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I have a Grant 26e Oil Combi, installed end of January 2010, broke down in the very cold weather with the expansion vessel filling with water, took me ages to establish where the water was going, opened up floors etc to prove to grants the problem was with the boiler. They did eventaully respond quickly, but the expansion vessel has again filled with water, boiler has been down for 3 days now. grant are meant to be replacing the expansion vessel but have tried to say it must be a problem with the system and dirt puncturing the bladder, it doesn;t sound very plausible to me, will check all the water that comes out of the expansion vessel when removed. Is this an isolated case ? it appears others may have a similar problem.
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Andrew taylor Reply:
June 11th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
HI
I have had a Grant External combi for 6 years now. Engineers I’ve used are uselessa as don’t understand how it works.
The problem with mine was loss of pressure causing the boiler not to work.
Problem is the red expansion tank which over time loses pressure or water gets in it. The idea is that as the boiler heats water the water expand and increases in pressure. The expansion tank should be pre pressurised with air at 1.0bar then as the water expands it goes into the expansion tank where it crushes the rubber bag. This stops the water pressure building above 3.0bar and being lost from the discharge pipe.As it cools the bag pressure pushes the water back in the boiler.
On mine the exp tank pressure was nil and it was full of water allowing no expansion at all so as it was heated it rose in pressure and discharged from the overflow valve.As it cooled the water pressure dropped below the limit stopping the boiler from firing up.
Let the boiler cool down then chek the red exp tank, lift it of its mounting and it should be relatively light. If full of water theres a problem. Get it emptied then pressurise to 1.0 bar and refit.Mine works fine. The pressure hould be checked annually.Like you I checked everywhere for leaks. If you find the overflow valve pipe, put a container under it and if this is the problem you will find it filling up with water.New expansion tank is easy to fit and less than £50.
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I have a grant Vortex Combi external boiler. Pressure at just over 2.5 bar cause dripping from the overflow valve outside. I know how to tur nthe pressure value to increase pressure, how do i lower the pressure back to 1.5/2 bar to stop the dripping?
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Michelle Davison April 25th, 2010 10:17 amI have an outdoor Grant Combi 90 which has been in for about 10 years, it doesn’t get a great deal of use as the premises is a holiday home. About 5 years ago the boiler started to become unreliable, it would fire up first thing and cut out once the heating system was up to temperature. The problem then was that as the heating system cooled down, the boiler did not cut back in again and neither would it fire up for hot water. I called an engineer out who fitted a new optical sensor and nozzle on the burner which appeared to resolve the problem.
The problem has now returned and whilst the boiler may sometimes fire up first thing although more often than not, the air blower runs and if we’re lucky we get tepid radiators and water. This last week-end, the boiler refused to fire up at all.
There is plenty of oil in the tank and the water traps are clear, the pressure in the heating circuit is sitting at 1.5bar.
Having sat down with the electrical circuit diagrams and fault finding chart it would appear the the problem is within the electronic control box.
Given the experience with this boiler, I certainly would not buy another one from Grant.
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Jonathan Hutt Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Have now tried replacing the electronic control box, the boiler still will not fire up.
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Loss of water through relief valve means that the system pressure has reached 3 Bar. Usual causes are – No air charge in the expansion vessel or too high a charge. Default level is 1 Bar. Amazing how many “heating engineers” think that the air top up valve is a bleed point and let all the charge out. Second likely reason – the filling loop valve is either passing water when off or not properly turned off. this would be obvious if the filling loop is disconnected after filling as the regs specify.
Some other less likely reasons can be a leak in the coil of an unvented cylinder or in the heat exchanger of a combi boiler or simply a plumbing error out on the installation connecting the potable supply ino the heating primary (not easy to find).
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T C Jones Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Sorry but must be DIY plumbers,, or been in the game to long and unqualified.
Your points are all valid but a good heating engineer would know about expansion vessels etc
also try volume of water in the system, diverter valve passing, etc
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Grant Vortex 6 months old, keeps losing pressure,burns twice as much oil as old boiler,some radiators cold. Grant says there must be a leak in system, no sign of leak –
the theory being that to lose this amount of pressure we must be losing water from pipes -but to lose this amount of water the house would be a swimming pool. There is intermittant water loss (fairly large amounts) through the release valve. Installer at complete loss and agrees leak unlikely.
Anyone any ideas?
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Pete Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Hi there, I had similar problem, changed the pressure release valve & all is fine now. Have a look outside, if the pipe where the pressure release valve exits the building is dripping then that is the problem!
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We had Grant combi fitted about 10 yrs ago. It has been a complete failure. It has just cost me another £335 for parts. Problem seems to stem from hard water, even though we have a water softening cartridge. These cartridges are useless. It may have been better to pay for a proper £500 water softener to protect the boiler. Having said that we must have replaced just about every part on the combi boiler, and there is *always* something wrong with it. For instance this morning could I get a hot shower – not on your life. At the earliest opportunity we will be ditching it and returning to conventional hot water tank etc. Also would not touch Grant with a bargepole.
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MGB Reply:
March 7th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
We have a similar one – about 8 years old, Same problems with hot water never knowing if it will flow for more than a couple of minutes. Central heating part works fine. We now turn off the heating, then 5-10 minutes later put on the hot water, sometimes this helps..
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We have a 20 year old potterton boiler. Serviced every year for around £60 and it has never let us down. We built an extension and had a combi boiler installed. In the last 3 years we have spent at least £750 on repairs and servicing and now the engineer says it will need replacing soon. Enough said.
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olddog January 17th, 2010 7:24 pmHi
Has anyone got or has fitted an external wall mounted Grant Vortex? I’ve been looking at one to replace my 17 year old Trianco and want to try to gain some kitchen space back.
Any feedback would be great.
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BoiledGnat January 14th, 2010 2:53 pmI have a Grant Vortex Combi (external) Boiler that keeps sooting up. I have had four different OFTEC registered plumbers come to try and fix it and they have all failed. I paid the last one £1500 to relocate the boiler, fit new parts and change the oil in the tank in case it was contaminated. Can anyone help?
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tom mccoy Reply:
June 2nd, 2010 at 1:20 am
air intake failing ,oil pressure too high ,inncorrect nozzle , positive pressure acting on terminal call someone who knows
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We had a Grant outdoor combi fitted in October there has always been a problem with the hot water it just was not there some times, Grant engineer ordered PCB then did not fit them just fiddled about with oil valve took away PCB, suprise no change, second engineer came out changed oil fire valve complained about the use of plastic pipe although there is more than a metre of copper from the boiler as specified by Grant said the PCB was at fault, still no hot water now no central heating either, Grant being most unhelpfull, service line always busy this tells me something about their boilers,(RUBBISH)
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MGB Reply:
March 7th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
We have a similar problem – partly solved by turning down the mixer valve to 4.5. This is located on the exhaust side, a black vertical knob you need to twist. This advice came from grant themselves..some maintenance people have it on max…
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hi i had a grant vortex oil boiler and the rst remote thermostat, was working great until had work done on the kitchen and electric was off for a couple of weeks, when restarted it doesnt seem to click the burner in when temp falls below set level, any one got any ideas??????????????
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cockmore Reply:
April 19th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
had the grant engineer out who was very helpful. fitted a new rst kit on the wireless thermostat and mounted the reciever outside the boiler, the unit fails with the heat inside the boiler,
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We had a HRM 20/24 Walstar until a week ago.We went away for Christmas and left the heating on.When we came home 3 days later the boiler had exloded at the dimple and emptied 180 Gallons into the house,together with bringing out all the circuit breakers.So when we arrived in the dark we didnt have a clue as to what we would find.The boiler was seven years old and had been serviced annualy,and we were told these things do happen,when the metal deteriorates from the inside there is nothing you can do about it.My answer to that is use better material!
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PAUL January 3rd, 2010 4:54 pmI have a myson de lux velaire oil boiler 50/70 installed 25 years ago but fitted a RIELLO BURNER 15 years ago. burner started to give a bit trouble now can you recommend a good replacement new boiler .
Jim.
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Jim Davidson December 25th, 2009 3:17 pmI have a 30 year old boiler house boiler – has anyone any idea how efficient it might be? I’m trying to work out if it is worth replacing it with a new boilder.
Thanks
colin
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Colin November 27th, 2009 5:20 pmtry either grant or mistral boilers both are very good
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steve September 24th, 2009 9:27 pmI need to replace my boiler…I have no idea about anything to do with boilers exept that mine is a Turco 2000 oil combi boiler……I am looking at getting a couple of companies out to give me a ‘free’ estimate, but is there anything I should know about it before I do this? Any suggestions on what type of boiler I shoudl ask for or anything else??? I am in North East Scotland if that makes a difference!
Thanks to anyone who can help me!
Nicole
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Nicole Bell September 22nd, 2009 11:06 amI suggest you all have a look at this petition on the No10 website;
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/oilboilers/
“The EU Commission proposes a reduction in permitted levels of NOx emitted by central heating boilers from 250mg/kWh to as low as 35mg/kWh – as per the Eco-Design of Energy Using Products Directive.
To achieve the proposed reduction, consumers will be required to fit larger burner units, of a type prevalent in mainland Europe but unusual in the UK. Many mainland European installations are either outside or in cellars, whereas many UK boilers are situated in confined spaces e.g. kitchens or cupboards. Whilst the EU proposals suit mainland Europeans, they discriminate against 1.5 million UK consumers.
If the EU proposals are enacted unchanged, British householders with oil heating systems could be forced to switch to more expensive and less efficient fuels. The EU proposals also threaten up to 20,000 British jobs – many in high added value, manufacturing industries.
This petition urges Her Majesty’s Government to reject these ill-considered proposals as being unworkable. It instead urges Government to work with the oil heating industry, to devise a realistic, common sense and considered response to the challenges raised in the EUPD Directive.”
It may be very relevant…
Mick
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Mick Lynch August 1st, 2009 10:16 amLooking at replacing 35 year old oil fired boiler in a 2 bed bungalow, with 5 radiators. Currently favouring Grant Vortex Pro combi. Could anybody advise me if this is a good choice? Noticed that someone had been quoted £3000 to fit boiler and flue. Is this a average price guide? Secondly when upgrading your boiler, should you replace radiators?
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Keith Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
You do not necessarily have to replace radiators when you fit a replacement boiler but you should ensure the system is cleansed, flushed and filled with a corrosion inhibitor. Check the new boiler warranty as most manufacturers specify this procedure to maintain a valid warranty
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kevin Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
If you fit a new oil fired boiler, (as from april 2005) the whole system should be treated as a new system. The tank should be updated according to OFTEC and building regs, and also new controls ie room stats and programer etc to provide interlock with your boiler. The building control office should be notified of the change as this is a building regulation
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tony Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 8:42 pm
hiya i fit mistral boilers and i think grant boilers are expensive for wat they are if you have old radiators then it might be advised because new radiators convect the heat and be more effecient to run
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We would like to reroute the feed to our boiler, from our oil tank. Can I do this myself
(qualified electrician) prevously intstalled gas central heating apart from controls ect to boiler.
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Patrick July 7th, 2009 12:11 pmI’ve had a worcest Danesmoor Utility 50/75 for three years – VERY efficient (serviced anually) Had a problem with a leaking condensate seal (the acidic condensate destroyed it) as it was inside the boiler it leaked for a while and made a mess. WB were excellent – fixed and repaired otherwise no problems! I would definately recommend – but have no experience of Grant. My local (retired) engineer has kept me on as he says these are easy to service and reliable (have to keep quiet he dropped a couple of my neighbours who had other makes – but not sure what these were!) Hope this is some help!
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Chris July 1st, 2009 9:45 pmSam, I am looking at exactly the same choice of boilers, with the same lack of independent comment on their respective quality, reliability etc. Have you made any progress on this? Johnny
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Johnny Torrens-Spence June 14th, 2009 10:18 amHi,
I’m just about to replace a 35 odd year old Potterton oil fired boiler. I’ve had a quote for either a Wocester Greenstar Danes UtilityHE 32/50 kw or a Grant Vortex 26/36 kw. I think we need approx 30kw – anyone any advise on which to choose as the feedback for both Grant and Worcester that I can find is all pretty good?
Thanks
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sam george June 10th, 2009 1:42 pmHi
My 18 year old warmflow boiler is leaking water badly and I am looking for a replacement can anyone suggest a reasonably cheap alternative as my plumber tells me the warmflow is no longer available? I live in Northern Ireland.
Many thanks.
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Gil Irwin April 28th, 2009 4:29 pmI have an oil fired Worcester Heatslave 20/25 which is about 13 years old. It has been serviced regularly. I can’t get really hot water through the (new) showers and the bath takes an age to fill. Do I need a new boiler and should I get away from a combi?
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j dennis Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
sounds like poss scale or sludge in plate heat exchanger get your engineer to check as water transfers heat from boiler slave tank to domestic water
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I have an old cottage & want to upgrade the kitchen. To maximise space I want to replace my old oil-fired boiler which is in the corner of the kitchen with an external model. Can anyone recommend an external model including approximate costs please.
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anthony Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
i reccomend a mistral boiler they are very good
as for cost you need to specifiy wat type of boiler you require
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John Reply:
February 25th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Anthony
Thanks – I have been looking at Worcesters but will look at the mistral. I’m looking at external condensing oil boliers – either wall mounted or floor standing.
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We downsized to ‘the country’3 months ago and have discovered a house a third of the size with itsy bitsy windows costs the same to run with oil central heating and an electric cooker as our old house with gas central heating and leccy for the lights and shower
We have had a multi fuel stove installed and an electric shower but still our costs are HIGH..
Its such a huge dissapointment that our new green life should be so expensive. From being blase about sticking the heating on, we have become really tight. We have already gone through £250 of oil in three months and our electric s/o is about £60 pm. not including all the coal and wood we have bought. We reckon we are about £150 down already – for a better insulated, smaller eco friendly house. Shocking.
Our boiler is only 10 years so it should be ok we hope. We now just have the boiler on for a couple of hours in the morning and heat our house with the multi stove, but its not as wonderful as all the adverts say and it doesn’t heat the whole house, even though it does warm upstairs. Our teenage child is now continually moaning about how cold it is in her bedroom and we are all so aware about how expensive it is to ‘pop on’ the heating for a boost.
Love living in the country but we are horrified about our new heating costs. Never gave it a second thought in the past. I think now its a national scandal how rural people have to cope.
When I first went into this website, I thought ‘oil people’ complained too much and now I realise that gas prices are less than a third of the price…. scary stuff.
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sheryl February 6th, 2009 1:51 amUpdate on yesterdays post on the Worcester Bosch 20/25 oil Heatslave. My service technician came and fitted a new control box to the blower, pump and burner assembly. Once he had done that it fired first time. This is the second component from this location that has failed. The service technician thinks that the failures are due to higher operating temperatures as the installation has a vertical balanced flue that is pretty much on the maximum height allowed. He thinks that this makes the incoming air to the burner very warm compared with a horizontal balanced flue that just goes straight through a wall with a very short run where the incoming air does not get so hot. This means that the components inside the burner cover box run very warm and this leads to shorter lives. Over the 7 years we have had the boiler, parts and labour repairs are now about £360.
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Sid January 21st, 2009 6:18 pmOur boiler is a Worcester Bosch oil fired Heatslave20/25 commissioned on 16/12/2001. It has not been super reliable but works well when it does work. The expansion tank has been replaced as the feed to it became blocked with black magnetite corrosion residue from the old boiler/radiator installation. Our fault as the clean out of the old rad and pipe system wasn’t good enough. We kept the old expansion tank as it is still serviceable. Then the solenoid that holds the oil feed valve open failed. After that the flow control switch on the cold water feed for hot water developed a leak in the casting and had to be replaced. Today ( 20/01/2008) the boiler won’t ignite although the blower continues to run and it doesn’t lock out. It has been serviced regularly and apart from the expansion tank problem, all the failures to date seem to have been component failures.
As far as a new one is concerned, we paid about £1000 for the boiler in 2001, and fitting was probably about £500 but we helped the installer with some of the work.
I would be interested in any views on what seem to be the most efficient and most reliable condensing boilers available today.
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jas Reply:
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 pm
get a grant vortex mate they r superb.repaired quite a few heatslaves they were good in there day but not very efficient. the most common fault in heatslaves is exp tank and diverters.build quality,layout,effeciency for the grant makes it the weapon of choice for me.
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Our Thermecon 65 oil boiler has been giving us grief for many years (it’s 9 or 10 yrs old) and we do need a new oil condensing boiler. The price seems much higher than for gas, so we need to be careful! Can anyone advise a good make? We have a 1930s 3 bed, 2 bath house with a heated area over the garage used as office space (not insulated). 13 radiators in all.
One heating engineer quoted me £3000 plus Vat to fit a new Grant boiler, to include the flue and his labour, but not re-siting. This seems a lot!
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Mike Reply:
January 18th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
If you have been quoted £3000 to replace your old boiler with a Grant boiler it seems a reasonable price if he is going to upgrade the system as well with TRVs and full control system. The grant condensing boiler is one of the best on the market and are the only ones we fit.
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We moved into this 1920′s house in July. It has a Eurocall boiler which was installed in 2003. We just had it serviced and it is running at 96.8% efficiency. It is not a Condensing boiler. It seems very good. We have quite a large 5 bedroom house but is able to heat it up pretty quickly.
Mark.
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Mark December 16th, 2008 5:56 pmJerry Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I have a balanced flue boiler which emits a huge amount of steam through its exhaust on the side of the house. On colder days it looks like the house is on fire! Does anyone know of an attachment to the flue which will condense the steam?
Yes you can buy diverter kits that will allow the balanced flue to be connected to an external vertical flue system so that the exhaust plume can be vented at a higher level where it will be less obtrusive. Grant UK make one. IMHO best to live with the plume if you can because you are looking at spending a lot of cash to sort out a purely cosmetic issue.
Suart
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Stuart November 18th, 2008 4:05 pmI have a balanced flue boiler which emits a huge amount of steam through its exhaust on the side of the house. On colder days it looks like the house is on fire! Does anyone know of an attachment to the flue which will condense the steam?
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OddJob Reply:
November 21st, 2008 at 12:11 am
If it’s a condensing boiler then that’s the way they work, pluming can be a problem if the boiler is not sited correctly. Yes Grant do make a vertical flue kit, but that will just fit Grant boilers. Fitting it to a non Grant BF boiler may create problems.
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Im at present installing a new heating and hot water system, the boiler im using is a thermsaver 70/90 condensing outdoor type, Thermsaver have been very helpful regarding the installation ( im not a plumber). when speaking with them i learnt that you can have the most efficient boiler produced but without proper controlling you are not getting the full advantage of high efficiency condensing boilers. Zoning heating areas using programmable thermostats coupled to 2 way zone valves is the answer, by doing this you have complete control of your heating, TRV valves fitted to radiators do not switch the boiler of when the temperature of the area heated is reached if all TRV reach the required room temperature the boiler will still be running. programmable thermostats linked to zone valve will turn the boiler off. I have used wireless controlled room thermostats to eliminate lots of wiring.
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Terry November 7th, 2008 9:11 amI have a Boulter “Economy” 70/90 oil fired boiler which appears to be working Ok but is almost 11 years old.
It was recently serviced and on flue testing the efficiency of burner was 90.9%.
I am considering changing to a condensing boiler which will have an overall efficiency in excess of 90%.
I do not know the overall efficiency of the existing boiler; can anyone advise please so that I can then estimate oil cost savings from making the change.
Does anyone know the likely life of these Boulton boilers before they need serious repairs ?
Thanks
Graham
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PeterL Reply:
November 20th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Our old Boulter boiler lasted 17 years before it developed a leak in the cast-iron heat-exchanger. Our neighbour’s identical unit apparently did worse at 12 years.
Once the heat-exchanger rusts through its goodbye.
We currently have a Grant Vortex condensing boiler with their special flue pack which sends the steam up a liner in the old flue. The flue option was about £2k more expensive (with fitting) but I consider it to be money well-spent; the alternative was to have a “cold-day cloud” right at the front of the house.
Very happy with the economy/fuel savings of the Grant Vortex boiler!
Cheers!
Peter L.
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anthony Reply:
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
hiya i ave not serviced a boulter condensing but i ave serviced several mistral condensing and effciency was 98.3 and grant vortex was 98.3 aswell i live in shropshire hope i ave been of sum help
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In 1998 I had to replace an electric central heating boiler (yes electric, it was horrendously expensive to run and often ran out of heat in cold weather).
I installed myself a Potterton Statesman System boiler 65/85 which I purchased from the local Plumb Centre with a good discount. I connected it into the existing radiator system which has thermostats fitted to all rads. It stands in the corner of the kitchen and runs reasonably quietly with no smell. We have a medium sized 4 bed house plus conservatory. Hot water is on economy 7 electric.
We have the heating on full for 3 hours am and 5 hours pm and background heat during the middle of the day. We are not too frugal with the thermostat settings! Our oil use is usually around 2700 L per year.
I have the boiler serviced annually by a local man OFTEC reg who is very good and reasonable rates. Usually about £80.
I checked the last service report and the efficiency was 92.4% net and 85.7% gross.
Obviously this is not a modern condensing boiler, it is old technology with a cast iron heat exchanger. We have never had a problem with the system and I am very happy with it, particularly when I read about others problems with more modern hi tech boilers.
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Stuart Reply:
November 4th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
We have a Potterton Statesman 50/70 which I purchased some 5 years ago.
I bought a spare burner on E Bay which I cannibalized for spares but so
far have not needed any parts. It just needs a brush out of the
combustion chamber every so often but doesn’t produce much scale at all.
We use 2000 litres of oil a year to heat our 3 bed detached bungalow
with the heating on all day in the winter and hot water in the summer.
The only problem I had with the unit was condensation running down the
chimney liner and flooding into the boiler due to the high efficiency of
the unit and therefore much lower flue gas temperatures than the old
boiler that it replaced. I had to fill the cavity between the flue and
liner with vermiculite and it’s been fine ever since. One thing I did
find was that these modern boilers are far less forgiving than older
models with respect to fuel/air adjustment and you need to make sure
there is no smoke in the flue gas or they can soot up so quickly that
you just wouldn’t believe it. It is also a good idea to adjust the CO2
in the flue gas to ensure the unit operates at maximum efficiency but as
this requires a special test set, in my experience, so long as you make
sure the boiler isn’t producing smoke it works just fine. In all I am
very happy with the unit and would recommend it.
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i am soon moving into a new house which has an oil tank but an open fire which i was thinkin about changing to an oil fire can anyone tell me if this is costly to run??as the fireplace i am gettin is cream with a cream harte and would get ruined with having an open fire..
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sharon October 29th, 2008 5:54 pmThanks your message has very much helped me:)
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Anonymous October 29th, 2008 2:37 pmJust had a HRM 25/19 wallstar serviced – the first in 4 years (only mine for the last 10 months), Engineer was impressed with condition and managed to set it up to factory efficiency, so i couldn’t ask for much more.
PS am i allowed to sing praises of said engineer? Frank Thorpe of Parson Drove Cambs.
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Don Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Likewise we have recently bought a house (9 months ago) with a Wallstar boiler model 20/24. Our problem is our boiler keeps tripping out i.e. not firing. We can manually override it but that is not ideal. Plus we have air getting into our pipes. We have had 3 engineers from different companies look at our boiler and twice had it serviced and yet the problems persist. The latest engineer suggests that the air might be because the heat assembler unit has a hole and needs a new jacket. He is quoting £600 for a new jacket. Does any of this sound normal to anyone else who has experienced a wallstar?
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Hi I have just moved into an old property with oil heating. When we moved in it had 5 on the oil watch and on the 2nd of September it was done to 0 that was from 12th may the heating is on 2 hours in morning and 4 hours at night! We just had 500 litres put in on the 2nd September and already the oil watch is at 3 which I feel is a little quick? When we moved in the lady that had the house previous advised me to keep all radiators at 5 which is Max and put the boiler dial at 1, is this right?
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paul Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am
no idea about the oil consumtion, but the radiator valves should be set at whatever is comfy for that room, they should never need to change as if the room is cold they will open the radiator fully as it warms up they slowly close it off. If they are hot enough and all your water is hot enough your dial setting of 1 might be right- of course turning it up will increase your use!!
You dont say how long youve lived there or how much oil youve used but if it is a very old boiler with a hot water tank you should check if there is a strap on thermostat on the cylinder, if not i bet your hot water get way too hot? so you will be pouring money into the tank by overheating it- you need a valve and thermostat fitted to it.
If there is a seperate thermostat on the cylinder make sure it is on about 55 – deg c. hot enough for most.
If money doesnt stretch to a new system or new add ons make sure you insulate the living daylights out of the water tank and attics
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john Reply:
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
i have just replaced our under-floor heating with rads on the ground floor. in the last few weeks we’ve had the heating on morning and evening and the oil consumption has not dropped as much as i had expected. If the boiler stat is at say 2 (range of 1-5) and we are getting sufficient heat, is that better than having the boiler stat at say 4…ie does the boiler not need to run for longer to produce enough heat than say running at a higher temperature? any help would be much appreciated.
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julian farrall Reply:
October 31st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Experiment with the temperature you use for setting domestic hot water, try reducing the value on a daily basis – say 5 C at a time until you reach the point where you run low on hot water. I have a solar panel which normally produces heat on even a cloudy day in winter but my oil boiler nevertheless is the mainstay for 2 – 3 months of the year. I have set my domestic hot water at 40 C and never yet run out of hot tap water, the effective temperature in the storage tank is generally far higher than the minimum recommended to avoid bacterial contamination, which makes me wonder whether the widely-held opinion on the topic is fully reliable.
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tony Reply:
October 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
as the previous person is somewhat correct but the hot water tank tempreture should be set at 65 degrees to kill any bacteria to prevent legionares disease
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PhilT Reply:
October 8th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
http://www.iphe.org.uk/databyte/legionella.pdf
65 C is dangerously hot, legionella (rarely a problem in enclosed hot water systems) are killed at 55 C with prolonged exposure as happens in a DHW tank.
Hi
Trying to find an oil fired boiler that will heat the underfloor heating and also heat the hot water. My UFH supplier has said that they have previously used Biesmann boilers but they are designed for the German market where they use a different grade of oil, thus when combined with UK oil they tend to clog up. So instead I’ll have to use a blender to reduce the hot water temperature so that it can then be used in the UFH, so reducing the efficiency and wasting heating oil.
Can anybody suggest a boiler that will do the job, ie two temperatures and not clog up. Yes its a water based UFH system.
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paul Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Id go for the Veissmann- but check the oil compatability issue. They are by far the best boilers, made out of stainless steel by far more reliable than the aluminium heat exchangers on Worcester and a lot of other types (the oil fume condensate is more acidic than vinegar and over a few years can damage heat exchangers considerably)
As long as your oil has less than 500 parts per million of sulphur it should be fine. They are more expensive to buy than some but for god sake make sure they have stainless steel heat exchangers- unless you like buying £300 bits every 5 yrs.
Honestly- i dont work for Viessmann (i can barely spell it!) but ive had a LOT of places and their backup if needed is second to none.
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alan Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Andrew
I have a Worcester combi boiler that is connected to the underfloor heating downstairs, radiators upstairs and has a self contained small hot water tank that gives you instant hot water without the usual problems you get with combi boilers.
The underfloor heating system has a mixer valve that automatically reduces the hot water inflow by mixing in small amounts of colder return flow thus taking the temperature down to around 55 degrees. All good UF systems should have this facility so it does not matter what temperature the boiler is operating at.
The upstairs radiators all have thermostatic valves on so I can run UF on its own, upstairs radiators on their own, have hot water on its own or any combination of the three.
Worcester service the boiler once a year and I find it very economical. I would reccomend the Worcester combi boiler to anyone.
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Can anyone recommend a boiler engineer covering Nrth Northumberland? I am new to all this and would like to go word of mouth rather than just taking a risk through a phone book.
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Chris July 13th, 2008 8:59 amI am currently selling my Worcester Bosch Greenstar HE 12 / 22 condensing boiler (only 2 Years old) (97% efficient) also the 1225 L oil tank, tiger loop,and watchman.
Alan in Norton
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Andy Reply:
February 5th, 2009 at 9:29 am
You could easily have a buyer in the south yorkshire area provided it’s on a balanced flue and fires on kerosene,
Regards,
Andy
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we moved in here in dec 2001 oil was 28p litre, it is now 62p litre !!!
We have a detached bungalow, very long, almost 90 feet.
the boiler is at one end and the tank etc is at the other,quite a large property 4 beds 4 bathrooms, 3 reception . in winter months it is costing us almost £500 a month, did ask plumber to put in combi boiler, but said it couldnt be done, so he ‘upgraded’ existing boiler, despite promises, we have not found any savings, grateful if anyone can advise, plumber or consumer.
really cant carry on like this, the oil bill is more than my wages !
grateful for ant help
Sue
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PhilT Reply:
October 8th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Bungalows have an excessive roof/floor area ratio so pay attention to loft insulation as you don’t have cooler upstairs bedrooms insulating ground floor living space.
£500 a month is fairly loony, you shoud get an insulation assessment of the property. The walls and windows may also merit attention, Keep the living space at 20 C and unoccupied rooms at 16 C. Have the boiler checked for %CO2 or %O2 as well as flue gas temperature if you skin mels on the flue pipe then the efficiency is poor.
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How do you find out about running costs of domestic boilers
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PhilT Reply:
October 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
the running cost of a boiler is driven by its thermal efficiency, which should be quoted in literature from suppliers. Compare either gross or net efficiency but don’t mix the two !
A 75% efficient boiler costing £900/yr to run could be replaced by a 90% efficient unit costing £750/yr.
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I am in need of a new repacement oil fired boiler. I am looking at three different makes. Which one do you recommend.?
#1 Peerless 3 Pass wet base.
#2 Utica 3 pass wet b ase.
#3 Biasi 4 Pass wet base .
Please help. This is a tough decision.
Thanks, Bob
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Bob C. June 5th, 2008 11:07 pmI have a Grant oil fired boiler. I have run out of fuel so had the tank topped up. Do I need to bleed the pump bfore starting if so how?
Graham
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Melanie Powell Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
hello graham,
If you have any questions about your Grant boiler you can call there technical line, number is on there web site, they are really helpful. fantastic customer service team.
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we live in a 4 bed potton style home and have a combi boiler supplying underfloor heating and hot water, house temp is quite a steady 18o, this is our first winter in the house and complared to our previous home we seem to use quite a lot of oil, approx 13litres per day over the past winter months – is this average – look forward to your comments!
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Stephen April 6th, 2008 8:43 pmIts time to change the boiler, 12 years old and it is on its last legs. Can anyone recommend a condensing boiler which is lean for these oil price challenging times. And what is a reasonable price to pay
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Roy March 21st, 2008 9:30 amBrian, we propbably have the same boiler.
How high have you set the thermostat on your hot water tank ?
How high have you set the thermostat on inside the boiler ?
Did the plumber tell you the boiler efficiency ?
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Jon March 19th, 2008 12:10 pmHi all…can anybody help with advice.. we moved into our bungalow in oct 07 we had at least 1000 lts in the tank well I then put in 1000 more at the end of Nov so it was almost full.. I have just this week put in 1000 more so I know there is something not right…..as we dont leave it on all the time, 3 hrs in morn 4 hrs at night we had a plumber come and clean the boiler and hoover it out and he said ‘ my thats old ‘ and it probably is the original Thorn boiler fitted in 1971 so ??? who can advise me on which boiler I need for a two bed bungalow one bath and two sinks….. also we cant control the heating seperate from the water so its either water and heating or water no heating …. so we need new system !!! all help gratefully accepted…. Brian
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Brian March 17th, 2008 6:41 pmI have a turco 90/115 combi approx 4 years.
The welded boiler seams leaked upon installation I had to get a welder to repair it. 2 new expansion vessels, diverter valve, diaphragm, mixer valve, temp sender. It has two subsequent welding repairs in other places including the boiler floor which involved a total disconection and inversion to weld, and has just sprung another leak which has finally prompted this posting It is a nightmare YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
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Nigel Kenneth March 9th, 2008 10:10 pmAngie,
Your boiler requires servicing. It is burning incorrectly damaging your boiler and reducing efficiency just a small carbon or sulphur coating in the heat exchanger reduces your boilers efficiency by 10%. From your description the boiler is considerably sooted up and if it hasn’t been serviced for as long as you state it is unlikely to be producing a correct spray pattern in the combustion area and the pressure may have drifted also, you may also have distorted baffles. The boiler will likely have to be de coked. You don’t need a plumber you need an OFTEC engineer like my self with the correct tools and analysis equipment to repair it.
An Oil boiler should be serviced a minimum annually and sooner if it displays any signs of distress, smoke, staining etc. IT IS A FALSE ECONOMY NOT TO SERVICE YOUR OIL BOILER REGULARLY I service gas boilers and they too should be serviced annually but it is generally less critical to do so due to the nature of combustion. Think of your oil boiler as your car engine it needs regular servicing so too does your oil boiler.
I am too far away to help you in person (unless you want to pay the air fare
)but try the OFTEC website a link is available on my site if you can’t find it http://www.flamefix.co.uk and they can give you a list of the nearest engineers to you.
Pretty much all the boilers are similar efficiencies now. Build quality varies some as does easy of installation. Personally if you can wait I would look to the new Viessmann range to launch in Autumn as I fit their gas products and solar products and I like them a lot. Typically I fit Grant and Worcester oil boilers at the moment and both have their pluses and minuses.
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jules February 29th, 2008 7:45 pmI am looking for some advice pls. We moved into our house on the 6th of Dec 2007, we got our oil tank filled at a cost of 47p a litre and our watchman is telling us that our tank is now down at 4 again! We have a star flow floor mounted boiler which was put into the house by the previous owners approx 6 years ago and I don’t think it has been serviced since then. We live on an island and fuel is very expensive anyway but getting a plumber to come and service the boiler is proving very difficult too! The boiler doesn’t smell very good and around the pipe from outside there is a black / brownish stain on the wall from the fuel. Im thinking these aren’t good signs…anyone else agree?! It seems to me that the boiler is using far too much oil, especially as my husband and I are out at work all day and the heating is only on for a total of 3 and a half hours a day during the week, more at weekends. I have a feeling we may need to replace our boiler…if and when the blooming plumber turns up! Can anyone recommend a good oil fired boiler pls, that won’t cost a fortune to run, even on a scottish island where fuel cost are much higher than the mainland? Many thanks.
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Angie February 22nd, 2008 11:12 amBoulter Camray Model CAM 5 WH 50/70. I am pleased with this wall hung condensation boiler. No so pleased with the Watchman, the battery went after 12 months and we ran out of oil after using a piece of wood as a dipstick and the charge to get the air out of the pipelines. We had a decent man come to get the heating going again and he showed how to get the air out. The advice was needed a few times as the air block travelled.
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John Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Hi,
A watchman is only a guide usually erring on the side of caution.Best keep an eye on the level yourself. A sight guage is the best as long as it is secure.
Fit a Tiger Loop which will eliminate the air problem if you are silly enough to run out.
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Hi,
My fiancee’s house has an oil fired Rhino boiler.
Does anyone know if they are any good?
Would a specific model number be any help?
Thanks
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Daz January 31st, 2008 2:00 pmI have a HRM Starflow boiler that came with the house which was built seven years ago. It has developed a pretty serious leak and I am advised it needs replacing!
I am looking at a Grant Vortex 26/36 utility system boiler – anyone got any views or advice?
Thanks
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dave Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Second person I’ve heard of this year with a fairly new HRM which leaked, a new heat exchanger was recommended, however it worked out cheaper to buy a new one.
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Grant Victim Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:12 am
Watch out for oil pump failures, Got a Vortex last year now on my 3rd reillo oil pump alledgely due to sulphur reduction in the fuel. Wasted so much time messing about with the thing and it cost a fortune.
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Brian Giles Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I have a grant vortex and yes when it’s working it’s fine, but the pumps are u/s. I even had the rielo engineer call but alas after fitting six pumps which they refused to pay for I have just had my seventh go and of course this is also blamed on the sulphur levels in fuel. The problem seems to lye in the fact that the bearings are not sealed in lubrication and require the oil feed to lubricate them and if the level of sulphur in the oil, apparently the problems are scattered across the country.
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martin longmore Reply:
November 27th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I have a Camray 5 external it is three years old and has run four pumps in that time. The Worcester-Bosch engineer fitted a new one two days ago, and guess what? It has failed again and we now have another weekend without heating.
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Jon Reply:
September 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
We had a grant vortex 26 (external) installed last month. It’s big, but very quiet and efficient. Too early to say much about reliability, but so far very happy. With the current cost of oil it seemed to make sense to go for the most efficient available.
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anthony Reply:
October 24th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
hi iam oftec engineer in shropshire area i have just serviced a grant vortex and i was very surprised at the efficiency rating it was 98.3% very good
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anthony Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
mistral is a good boiler and made locally not 100% about your boiler it would have to be serviced to find out
Geraint Reply:
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Very interested in the vortex efficiency, Do you know how this compares to my existing Mistral RS boiler? Would I be wise to change ?
I was in your position in 2002. Our 30-yr-old boiler still worked fine though it needed a new burner unit at 23 yrs (fair enough!) We built an extension and I wanted a bigger condensing boiler. Gary our plumber said he had considerable trouble with them and difficulty getting spares (we live in N Ireland). So we bought a Furnray Firefly made in Lisburn N Ireland with the idea that the factory was only 14 miles away if the worst happened. It has proved first-class in every way, being quiet (in utility room next door to bedroom) and economical. Our heating/water heating in summer kerosene bill over past couple of years has been about £700 pa. (before the latest horrendous increases). Hope this helps, good luck!
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Carol Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
hi.. I’m from Lisburn and need a new boiler..can you let me know who suppiled and fitted yours? many thanks
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Interesting comments; take a look on the OFTEC web site; [www.oftec.org] you should be able to find an engineer there that can or would be willing to help you; although if you have an old-ish boiler you should consider replacing it for a more efficient model…you could be wasting a lot of fuel with the one you have!!
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M Oliver December 23rd, 2007 12:55 pmRe Post by: Eddy McConnell on 6 Dec 2007 at 2:15pm
I’d change your boiler guy, not the boiler!!
He clearly doesn;t like the system, and probably won’t do as good a job looking after it, as the old guy. Find another guy who ‘likes’ the system and will look after it! Good luck
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Chris S December 21st, 2007 10:24 amI have had a Worcester Bosch ‘Heatslave 20/25′ Combi boiler for the last 5 years.
Works well but beware of the horrendous cost of spare parts.
I have been stocking up with spares from eBay at a fraction of the cost.
Also, shop around for spares if needed – costs can vary by as much as 300 percent.
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Graham Reply:
February 4th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Have you seen the Worcester Bosch (WB) maintenance plan? We pay £12.78 (I think from memory) per month. This covers us for the annual service plus call outs and all labour and part costs. Our boiler – a Heatslave 20/25 too – was about 5 years old when we found out about the plan. We had to have a ‘inspection service’ to get the boiler up to WB spec – the pressure vessel was changed – which cost us £125. Since then all we’ve paid is the monthly plan charge.
The most expensive repair was a new electric motor and fan unit because of a seal failure and oil got into the motor. This would have cost us about £300. We were previously paying about £120 just for the annual service.
Service is excellent and so we will probably replace this boiler with another WB one when necessary.
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keith Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Some people get a good reliable boiler from the start and some get a ‘pig’ that always seems to go wrong. If you are lucky you will waste your money paying for a service plan. Get lucky!
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Mark Oliver Reply:
February 25th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Yes; but does the engineer change the oil filter on the tank or the one on the oil pipe ?
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ted Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 8:41 am
WB dont check oil lines past the valve on he burner
water chech in tank//fuel filters/and fuel line condition were visable
this came from a wb chappy would not call him an engineer , i have seen proof of this
I have a ‘Centiheat’ drip feed oil fired boiler. It was installed when the house was built thirty years ago and is still going strong. Until the last two years we always had it serviced annually by the same engineer who always said that it was a good system and if looked after would last for ever.
The engineer has since died and we now have a young chap who does not like ‘this type of boiler’ and is dropping hints that it is ‘on it’s way out’ but can not offer any advice as to a similar replacement.
The present system has no need for radiators as it heats the core of the house.
The only replacement system we can see is gas which will mean radiators throughout the house.
Has anybody got any other suggestions or am I worrying purely because the young guy is not keen on my system.
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steve Reply:
November 29th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I would look for another engineer. there is not much to go wrong with oil fired boilers that cannot be fixed easily with replacement parts or alternative parts.
your engineer is maybe looking for a nice job of charging you 2000 for installing a new boiler. if its not breaking down all the time why replace it
regards steve
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My recommendation, whilst not a boiler is, if you can, install a Sandyford cooker/boiler. I have had one for 3 years now and the boiler runs at 87% with the cooker running at 83% efficiency. My requirement is for my central heating to run 365 days, so I have a Honeywell CM Zone radiator control system. Using the two together means my annual oil usage is just under 2500 Litres. I only have the tank filled once a year. This usage includes all cooking and hot water as well.
I know that the boiler is not condensing, but the manufacturers of the Sandyford are primarily boiler makers so the design is as efficient as they can make it.
Hope this helps, Philip.
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Peter Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
How is the Sandyford working now? what have the yearly servicing costs been like?. We have a 16 year old Rayburn Nouvelle oil burner which has given up the ghost at last . We are looking at the Sandyford but they seem a very small outfit and am nervous about their after sales back up capacity. how many radiators do you heat ? what BTU rating is your machine?
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