Do you use your immersion heater?

[Scuttlebug]

Ours is currently broken...we have a quote to repair, approx £300. But I'm wondering if we can live without one...do you use yours in the summer instead of putting the boiler on for hot water?

Are they becoming a defunct item now boilers are becoming more efficient and can be timed effectively?

[PigletJohn]

I use mine when my boiler is out of action. That was for a couple of months four years ago, between my old boiler breaking down and me getting a new one installed (it was summer, so I could take my time) and for a few days two years ago when my boiler had a fault until it got fixed.

In both cases, I was able to live comfortably despite not having a working boiler. If I had been stuck with a combi, I would have had no source of hot water except my kettle. Combis are much more complicated than conventional boilers, so they have more to go wrong, and break down more often. They have hardly any working parts outside the boiler, so almost any fault needs a boiler engineer and specialist parts.

When you say £300, that seems excessive to replace an immersion heater. Do you mean to replace the hot water cylinder?

[Scuttlebug]

Ooh, thanks for the reply and the links PigletJohn (I feel like I'm writing to property and DIY MN royalty now!) we have a very old fashioned but incredibly reliable conventional boiler but it does live in our cellar so I wonder how much heat would be lost in the transfer from cellar to upstairs tank when all I want is some hot water to shower or bath in...hence the immersion could be worthwhile summertime investment.
However, thanks to your links, its got me calling the company for more details as it is to replace the heater rather than the cylinder so the quote does seem excessive. I wanted a timer switch too so maybe that is where the cost is?
Perhaps I just need to reconcile the fact that we need hot water and its going to cost us...my three water butts get quite warm on a hot sunny day...is that going a step too far?

[MummyNoName]

Piglet-can I ask if you would replace a very old (20 years +) boiler when there's no fault on it? Or wait until you need it?

We have an immersion. And never had a problem with the boiler. Have it services annually. Just aware that its probably quite expensive in comparison to combo boilers to run.

[PigletJohn]

the pipes between the boiler and the cylinder need to be insulated with Climaflex or similar. Measure them, if old, they might be 28mm diameter, which you will have to order.

There is a "BS" or "water regs" grade of pipe insulation that is as thick as your arm, if there is room to fit it and the pipes are not too tight to the wall.

Any plumber can fit a new immersion heater in an hour or less. You do not need a £££heating engineer or a £££gas-safe boiler mender. If it is very old and seized in place, an old plumber will have had more practice in getting it out without damaging the cylinder.

What colour is your cylinder?

Any electrician can fit an immersion heater timer in less than 15 minutes including isolating and tersting. Many plumbers will be able to do it too.

[PigletJohn]

mummynoname

I changed my old iron boiler for a modern condensing one. Mine was a gold-plated installation that cost me about £3k

The new boiler and controls use about 30% less gas than the old one. However the gas saving alone would not have justified the change, if the boiler was still working OK.