How old is your gas boiler?

Plus you have the issue that nothing is built to last any more and is full of electronics that break.

We replaced our old (still working but internal fittings disintegrating and very inefficient so cost a fortune to run) fridge freezer after 25 years.

The new one has developed a fault after literally 25 months (still works but has something that needs fixing). So far I've had a week arguing with an AI chatbot, two engineers visits to diagnose the issue and to change a part that didn't solve the problem and another engineer booked to visit next week. I've also had to pay nearly £200. I'm waiting until they fix it and I'm going to complain and ask for all the repair money back as the way its been dealt with is shocking and the law says I have a right to a free repair or replacement, but these companies cite their 2 year 'guarantee' so its hard to get them to comply with the law while you have an essential appliance that is faulty.

Had a new condensing boiler (at least 90% efficiency, I think) installed in summer 2023, when the previous non-condensing boiler was roughly 21 years old or the same age as the flat itself. I'd lived here for 7 years before getting the new boiler and the old one had 2 or 3 breakdowns in that time.

Our boiler is early 80s and we've had not a single issue with it since we moved in 3 years ago. Reluctant to change it just for the sake of it as if we do a loft conversion we'll have to completely redo the water and central heating system to move the hot water tank and the cold water tank in the loft.

It may not be the most efficient, but its a proper workhorse and we spend no more on gas than we did with a condensing boiler in our old flat. And we have hotter water and radiators.

A friend was advised to replace an old early 80s boiler, he spent a fortune replacing it, his gas bill and heating is exactly the same.

The industry (any industry) has a vested interest in selling us new stuff.

You see - that's the sort of bracket I fall into and my own real life experience is very different. The only difference we've really noticed is that bedroom 6 on the end of the run does actually get slightly warmer!

Mine’s 40 years old but parts are still available so I have no intention of changing it.

It really depends on the house and gas useage.
A six bedroomed house with 18 rads + 3 bathrooms , needing a 40kw boiler, with a current £2k gas bill is going to see a big reduction in gas use.

DH has quoted up a job in such a house today, costing £4k, it will pay for itself with 5 years, less time if gas prices rise.

It's working fine and installed correctly.

I am by no means convinced that the old boilers are as bad as we are led to think. Certainly the carbon footprint of this new installation was high and the environmental payback may never happen.

My mother is similarly underwhelmed by the "savings" in having her old 1990 Baxi replaced last year. Again there has been very little saving in the gas bill.

Our boiler was out I. When the house was built (glo worm), and once it hit 15 years old it started needing regular repair - had it replaced at 17 years, from boxt (can’t remember the make of it)….but their service was great ordered on the Monday Wednesday they were there removing the old one and installing the new one.

Mine was 12 years old when I replaced it with a new one two months ago. I had it serviced last year and the engineer recommended starting to look for a new one in the summer. It was a Nefit with a very dodgy (read: no) service history.

Right now I have an Intergas, really happy with it!

mine is the same!

im afraid to say “it’s still working fine” in case i jinx it!

it’s now over 25 years old and has had the circuit board replaced (pcb) around 2002 as a batch were faulty, and the water pump replaced in 2008, and diverter three way valve replaced in 2021 along with the fire up bang thing whatever thats called.

last serviced by by trained now independent engineer prior to lockdown. i figure gas is so clean now ‘if it ain’t broke dont touch it’ with regard to servicing!

he advised bg are rip off merchants who want you to get new boilers and there’s no need the old one is fine. he could have offered me one himself and made money from me but chose to give that advice to keep it so i think he is honest.

i have no interest in changing for an environmentally friendly one. i make other sacrifices to reduce my carbon footprint.

i am in a hard water area. Have a Worcester Bosch boiler. 13 years old serviced every year and so far ok. I do have funds saved to replace if necessary

I have a glow worm booker. 10 years old and had 3 repairs so far.

the boiler before had been in since 1982 - replaced 2015. It was off the bottom of any efficiency chart and started to need repairs

It might have been the first repair, but have you had it serviced each year? You don't mention it, but that will obviously have an effect on how long one lasts.

Sales of condensing boilers were made mandatory in the UK in April 2005 so it's highly likely yours is a condensing one anyway, unless you were sold old stock.

And if it isn't, there is a even a significant difference between a 2005 non condensing boiler and a 1970s one in terms of efficiency. And it's a 1970s boiler I was referring to here.

Not necessarily. I did the maths after getting a flyer through the door saying pretty much the same thing.

It said it would take over 40 years for a new boiler to pay for itself as was only minimally more efficient than our old Worcester Bosch, which is now 19 years old but has had a couple of fairly pricy repairs in that time.

Annoyingly there was a plastic part that was known for cracking so a design flaw IMHO so the type of consumer law that should entitle you to a free repair but almost impossible to enforce, especially when you're stuck with no heating in winter.

That sounds like an installation issue, for example the return temperature is not low enough for the boiler to start properly condensing, normally evidenced by large emissions of water vapour coming out of the flue.

Modern condensing boilers should be 20%-30% more efficient than ones from the 70s at the minimum.

We replaced our boiler last year, it was about 28years old, while it was still working we had started having the odd minor problem with it and they couldn't get parts anymore. So we decided to replace it during the summer rather then wait for it to break down. Our last one was a glow-worm and we replaced it with a glow-worm, not sure it last as long but it does have a 10year guarantee on it.

At least ten years. I bought my house four years ago and it was rented out before then. It needed a bit of an overhaul the second year and they said it was at least that old. Still works fine though and an annual service and maintenance contract has worked well.

My old 17yr old glo-worm combi finally started giving up last spring. Expander valve IIRC and the fan was getting noisy. Had a new combi installed in summer.
Always have the boiler serviced at the end of summer.

AFAIK, if you have 15mm pipes going to/from your radiators you’re in a good place when it comes to an air source heat pump.

I saw a comment on a YouTube video saying if you wanted an idea whether your existing CH system is suitable for ASHP, turn the flow rate to 50C and leave the CH on ( up to you whether that’s 24/48/240 hours! ). If the rooms stay warm your CH system ( meaning the rads and the piping ) likely don’t need changing.If overnight when the heating temp is lower ( usually ) you find the rooms cooler than the heating temp, your insulation needs investigating.

This one is 5 years old prior to that it was the original form when the house was built before even my parents where born 😅

I’ve lived in this house for 28 years the boiler was here then. I own BTLs and have replaced boilers several times. They don’t make them like they used to.

Ours is a Potterton Netaheat, and is 44 years old - I thought I was going to win, but I see that cinquanta has one which is even older. I've been told that parts are no longer available, but a plumber who looked at it said they were well built, and surprisingly efficient, so we haven't touched it. It's worked fine for the 14 years we've been here.