A question about : Choosing an Installer for Oil Central Heating
We are completely re-plumbing our very rural bungalow, including central heating by oil boiler. We've had 3 quotes for the heating, ranging from well over Ј10k to under Ј7k for this part of the work.
The expensive guy, who specialises in Worcester Bosch, probably doesn't want or need the job, leaving two others who have both specified a pressurised system using Grant boilers with 250-300l unvented cylinders. One said Gledhill.
One installer has promised a 5 year parts & labour warranty and he proposes to put the cylinder next to the boiler at one end of the property.
The other installer has not mentioned a warranty, but he's the cheaper option. He's rather old school and proposes using the existing airing cupboard in the centre of the property for the tank. This would be OK, but the other one suggested a small radiator in there to gain lots of linen space
Both guys have a good history of work in the area and are keen to please, so a couple of questions might help me to choose.
Firstly, where's the best place for the h/w tank with a pressurised system, a bungalow 17m long, with a boiler room at one end and a utility sink at the other? Will it make a significant difference? Showers/bath/kitchen will be closer.
Secondly, is a particular kind of tank required to feed solar PV to an immersion heater at a later date? What about thermal panels? The Worcester Bosch guy was keen on those.
What did someone mean when they said, Tell him its two, two port valves, not one three port! This meant nothing to me, but it related to one of the installers; the implication being he'd got something wrong.
Anything else I'm missing? Thermostatic valves were mentioned by one, for example. We will still be running a dry wood-burning stove in our living room during the main winter months.
Sorry for the long, slightly vague post. 
Any pointers gratefully received.
Best answers:
- Have you considered having the boiler out side.
Grant has 5 year warranty which can be free if the installer is on grants list.
Make sure it has .fire valve and oil filter in to oil line
Auto air vents will stop air locks if you pipes are in the roof.
Check the radiators are the correct BTUs.
I had an full install by a certified oftec installer and got the relevant certificates from the installer & oftec saying it complied with current standards.
.When I found I was getting problems I had another fitting come round & he pointed out the faults the main one being…. NO fire valve and oil filter in oil line as these where not fitted in the original installation which does not comply with building regs
On the day he can to correct the faults I got the building reg certificate saying all was ok. - The closer the tank is to the boiler the less heat loss there will be in the pipework so if you locate the tank a long way from the boiler it's worth getting the pipework properly insulated.
The alternative of long runs between the tank & the taps, bath, shower etc means long draw offs before the water gets hot at the taps which not only wastes water but all that hot water sits in the pipes cooling down until the next time you turn on a hot tap.
Personally I'd favour putting the tank as close to the taps as possible and making sure the boiler/tank pipework is properly insulated to minimise heat loss.
If you are contemplating solar thermal then work out the costs. I reckon my hot water costs about Ј100-Ј150 a year - how long would it take to recover the cost of a solar set up.
You might be better with solar PV and something like an Immersun to utilise any electricity you are actually using yourself.
Regarding two two-port valves or one three port valve I'm not sure it makes all that much difference. They will both do the same job of controlling the water flow between the heating and hot water tank although you can have both heating and hot water at the same time with two two-port valves whereas you need a mid-position three port to do the same - Thanks both.
I'll run through the points in order. - Boiler is OK indoors as tank has to be at that end and we've plenty room for it.
- The fire valve & filter are specced by all, so I didn't mention it
- I want that 5 year guarantee!
- Have an auto air vent now, so that's understood
- I will check rads when we get to detail. The installers have a current EPC and room volumes to work from, so no excuse if they under-specify!
- Certs will be required for building control, who are involved with our refurb
- Pipework will be very well insulated in loft. I have gone overboard with insulation instead of going biomass.
- I was told long runs are not a problem with pressurised system, but I was sceptical. So that's useful to know they probably will be.
- I'm more interested in PV than thermal and I know of the Immersun, though no detail. Does that need its own dedicated immersion heater, or can it work with one already installed?
- Whats the water like in your area?
I had scale master added to domestic cold water supply as in a hard water area. - Dave, my heating engineer recommended two two port valves when he converted our system to fully pumped earlier this week.
He said that the three port valves were less reliable, and I have a feeling I read something similar when I was researching the best way to upgrade our system. Plus our HW and CH are on separate loops so if one valve goes it shouldn't mess up the other element of the system, but with yours it will depend on the design.
Are you going to zone? Well worth considering at this stage in the proceedings. Programmable TRV's are a cost effective way to do it if you don't want to mess around with some of the more expensive heating control systems available. Any thoughts on what programmer/thermostatic controls you are going to use? I found the reviews on Amazon of the various options very useful and as I mentioned on the Daydream thread I have been very impressed by the Salus iT500.
What do you use your HW for? We have electric showers so we don't use much HW at all. Something to bear in mind when thinking of where you site the tank and the issue of hot water cooling in pipes if the tank is a long way from the taps.
That 5 year guarantee sounds good, but would be worth checking what it actually covers.
Anything been said by the installers about the pump that they plan to use? Only ask as we had to have ours replaced as it was underpowered and you mentioned long runs in your system. - Better Days, I had the feeling someone would give me more questions than answers!
There's lots to get me Googling though, which is good. I'm all Panto'd-out tonight, but I'll look into some things you mentioned tomorrow.
Thanks. - Regarding price Ј10k is steep but the Worcester is the better boiler. Try another Worcester installer I think you can get a 10 year guarantee on the boiler if it si fitted with a Worcester cylinder.
The hot water tank is best nearest the outlets as it will give the best response to the tap but I would not worry too much where you put it.
Any cylinder can be connected up to a Pv immersion.
Don't worry about the values leave it to the installer.
I'd advise getting a twin coil tank as you can convert to solar thermal latter on. - amazed anyone is still even considering putting in a oil boiler, you need to explore heat pumps and biomass boilers before you go ahead with this instalation. You can end up not only saving thousands in fuel savings but earning thousands in rhi payments.you need to go to the mcs participants list, choose a company that does biomass and Heat pumps and they will be able to give you some predicted savings, rhi income and capital costs.
If you still go ahead with an oil boiler after you have that information, at least you are making an informed decision with all the facts
It could end up being a very expensive mistake going with oil - That doesn't work all year. It used to be said that 2G on S facing windows, 3G elsewhere was best. But it's far from conclusive and many people argue against that because the losses during winter are much greater.
You'll have a hard job justifying a conservatory on environmental grounds (I hope it's timber built at least ).
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