New boiler advice

[didireallysaythat]

Having lurked on here for a while, I've picked up some of the lingo (but alas none of the knowledge) regarding boilers etc. We're in the process of getting gas to our house and quotes for installing a gas boiler with a solar thermal system (I believe this just means we need a LARGE tank). I have to admit all I've picked up from mumsnet is that megaflo is king.

So how do we feel about a range tribune twin coil tank and a vaillant ecotec boiler ? I've had a look at the spec and it all seems reasonable, plus the work will have a 6 year guarantee (on top of manufacturers guarantees). Anything else I should be asking ?

PigletJohn is the wonderful and very helpful advisor here.

PJ is the man. I fear however he may be tending to his loyal fan club (the PJ harem) on another thread....

I think you will need a Megaflo (tm) or similar with two coils, the lower one being for the solar, and it would benefit from being taller than usual. Is the range tribune an unvented cylinder? Solar is quite specialised so be sure you have an experienced expert to design and install it. Check the cost and payback of the extra for the solar several times.

How many bathrooms and showers will you have?

How many litres per minute does the water main supply to the kitchen cold, or the garden, tap?

update

yes, the tribune is about what I expected. On the site I saw, though, it was about twice the price I would have expected. It was a vanity retail bathroom dealer though, perhaps the trade price is better. It might be worth looking at Santon, RM and Megaflo equivalents to reassure yourself you are paying a fair price.

PigletJohn we have one bathroom which we're hoping to shoehorn a shower into. The cold kitchen tap delivers a litre in 4 seconds.

The price for the tribune TT210 unvented twin cylinder on the quotation is £1185 ex VAT, I've found online at £730 ex VAT (BHL) so I may mention the difference but I appreciate that I don't buy cylinders every day of the week so I would be happy to pay some premium for a trusted supplier. I believe the guy said it had scored well with Which? but maybe it was the boiler he was referring to.

As regards the solar installation, it is itemised as a separate job and I'm fairly confident the guy knows what he's talking about . It's always hard to work out payback periods as you need for forecast the rising cost of gas over the same period but I'll do the calculations again. I'm also going to look into whether it's possible to get a AAA+++ washing machine that still takes a hot water feed (and given the noise that the brandless 14 year old machine has just made I fear I may spend the rest of my Sunday doing this - it's just given up during a mid cycle spin or maybe it's just having a rest...). I believe you recommend BOSCH washing machines ?? Ok - it was just having a rest, maybe I can leave this for a while...

And while I'm here, I realise that I forgot to ask the guy for a water softener in the quote. I know you're a fan. We had one in the last place which had very hard water (plus we had a combi) but where we live now is softer I think. Is there a hardness value over which it's a no brainer ? (we were 476 mg/l calcium carbonate, 33 degrees Clark but are now 303 mg/l 21C Clark - both are classed as very hard by Anglian). We had one installed at cost last time (around £400 13 years ago) but I've no idea of costs now. The boiler quote includes a flush and a magnetic filter system by default, along with a wireless, programmable thermostat (again with no prompting from our side) so I think the guy gets where we're coming from...

I am a little worried that you no longer have time to sleep, such is the fan mail you have to answer...

When I asked Santon about stainless cylinders and water softeners, they recommended running on hard water for a while (might have been a couple on months) to build up a protective layer on the inside before turning on the softener. Might be worth asking your chosen supplier.

I like boilers with stainless steel heat exchangers, I expect yours will have, but I'd check that too.

It sounds like you have good water flow, so an unvented cylinder will be able to give of its best. Your hot water will be very much better than a combi.

It is useful to have an immersion heater in the cylinder for use when the boiler is out of action, the cylinder makers may fit one, if not ask what type they recommend with their stainless cylinder and softened water. You have to be careful of incompatible metals.