How do you manage to have a decent bath with a modern combi boiler

[theblackradiator]

I have just replaced my 20 odd year old super reliable fantastic back boiler for one of these so called modern wonders (haha) combi boilers. I was advised to due to energy efficiency and running costs and I also struggled to find a gas safe engineer to service old boiler as younger guys now are not trained to service them. so I thought I'd go ahead and modernise and my god how I regret it! so much so I could cry it feels like a total downgrade compared to my old mid 90s backboiler. Running the bath takes a good 20 minutes or more longer, water no where near hot enough for a decent bath as boiler will only heat up to 65 degrees and by the time the bath is filled its going cold. we are a house that absolutely loves and needs baths to help with the aches and pains I suffer from. the central heating seems to work OK but to be honest I think old boiler kept the house consistently warmer and as for running costs I've noticed no difference at all as yet (according to my smart meter readings). no idea of the reason for my long post sorry, I just wanted to vent but if anyone does have any ideas of how to improve my bath water other than boiling the kettle! then any advice welcome. honestly feel I've just totally wasted £3000 to downgrade.

bumping my own thread as wondering if everyone with a modern combi has thus issue with baths??

I don't understand why it takes longer to run a bath. What I have found with a combi is that if I want to top up with hot when I'm in there, it's best to ask someone else to run another hot tap so that the bath water comes out hot straight away instead of having to warm up.

We had this, you can turn the temperature up so the water comes out hotter.

We have no issues. Maybe lag the space around your bath if the water is getting that cold that quick. You cannot stand water much hotter than about 45 degrees anyway.

In winter, we don't turn the hot tap on full, so the reduced flow means the water passes through the boiler slower. Give that a try.

you seem to have shit boiler!!

Mine newly installed last year…. Gives me scorching baths in a very decent about of time!

honestly feel I've just totally wasted £3000 to downgrade.

on the basis of this thread, it would seem you have.

but it certainly isn’t a “modern combi” issue

Must be your boiler, I had a new Worcester combi installed last year, my water is piping hot to the point I’m about to turn it down, bath runs in 10 minutes and mines very deep and always needs topping with cool water to even stand in it and I love a good boil. Your boiler doesn’t sound right

It could be the water pressure - sometimes a regulator is fitted for 'eco-saving' purposes which happened to me once after a boiler change making running a bath impossible - or the water pressure needs resetting.

Either way call the Installer and say there's a problem and they need to come and look at it.

Ours doesn’t have an issue with baths. The water is way too hot for a bath so need to add cold. What temp does the water come out at?

Me too

good aren’t they!

Our combi boiler takes a while to fill our big bath but it's still piping hot when we get in. It's possible that your boiler needs adjusting to increase the temperature. Try reading the manual.

Is your boiler the right power for the house? We were informed that if we ever wanted to have an extension built we’d need a bigger one with bigger pipes. We don’t intend to, and it’s fine, but yours could be a bit on the mean side.

We've had to turn the temp down on ours, it was way too hot. No issues at al.

Check the settings on the boiler are instant hot water. I have a comfort setting on mine, which means it comes through cooler at first in case you have young/old ones in the house who might burn themselves easily. Also turn up the temperature of the water setting.

Def turn up the hot water temp at the boiler

What boiler do you have?

Turned my Worcester down to save energy and still need cold water. Going to try down a few more degrees. Bloody marvellous boilers.

I had this in my old house. The trick is to only run the hop tap first and don’t have the tap on full speed, just let the hot water trickle out the tap and fill up the bath slowly. A plumber told me this stops the water passing through the boiler too quickly to properly heat up. And then once the bath is full check the temperature and add cold water after so the temperature is just right… It’s a bit of a faff but worth it for a hot bath, nothing worse than a luke warm bath …

You can change the temperature on the boiler. Our water is scalding, but can be turned right down.

We need ours seeing to, I timed with a jug and it gives barely-hot water at 3 litres/minute (should be 10+). Also needs fussing and tweaking as if the flow is fractionally higher or lower it goes cold. Running a bath is a 30minute effort. It's a Worcester Bosch and not that old. I'm encouraged it may be fixable.

I've a new boiler, when I did have a bath I had no problem with temperature or flow.

As others have already said; turn the temperature up on the boiler and also I would hope the boiler is the correct size for your home.

We have this - new boiler. I need to examine it properly but the water doesnt get hot enough on our regular ambient temperature so we have to 'boost' the heating for the water to come out hot. I absolutely 100% think its a setting ive not configured properly though so need to check the manual.

Are you using a smart thermostat - it should have a water boost button (separate to the heating button)? And as PP said, you can turn up the temp on the boiler itself (there should be a button with a tap on it which you can adjust up and down)

thank you everyone for all your replies some great info I have already turned my water temperature up to the maximum setting of 65 degrees on the boiler. to be honest I am a beginner with a combi having never had one before so still learning all the controls my old boiler was incredibly simple and totally different. there is a preheat water setting on the boiler which I haven't yet used but I think that is just to set so the water is hotter quicker as it does take a while for the water to run through hot. And yes I just run the hot tap on its own as pressure massively drops if run both taps as its just a mains feed feeding both taps whereas I had separate hot water tank for the back boiler. I will post pic of which boiler new one is.

this one I'm in a small 3 bed semi.