How much more efficient are new boilers? Cost savings?

[Trumporange]

My house has a 20ish year old boiler which I am thinking of replacing as my gas bills are huge compared to averages for a house this size.

I'm assuming the old boiler is innefficient and causing a lot of this.

Has anyone replaced their old boiler and found their bills dropped a fair bit?

[Silkierabbit]

Yes we replaced ours in October, very lucky we did and bills down around £200 a month. Was top of range boiler but will pay for itself in 2 years.

[CosmosQueen]

We replaced ours with a combi boiler a year ago and bills dropped by 30%+
Previous boiler was c20 years old.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

We’re about to. Will take more than 2 years to pay for itself though.
We have far too much boiler capacity because our house is more heat efficient than it was when we moved in and added insulation, secondary glazed some windows etc.

[Hottoffeesauce]

Recently replaced our very old, huge floor standing boiler in the utility room with a little one on the wall. The old one used to give off so much heat, that the utility room would be toasty warm and dry all my wet washing overnight. Now the utility room is cold so the new boiler is much more efficient. And clothes take longer to dry ☹️

[GasPanic]

Yes. But not enough to really justify the cost of a new boiler over any short timescale.

Try to look up your old boiler. If it is a "newish" build and the boiler the house was built with it will probably be bog standard rubbish (mine was) that was about 70% efficient (if it is non condensing).

If you go up to 90% efficient (condensing) then obviously that is quite a bit in saving. But is unlikely to offset the £4k odd cost of boiler replacement in a short timescale.

On an investment basis it probably makes sense to replace it if you have the cash in the bank, and you save more money on bills than the cash is generating. Plus inflation is decimating that cash value at the moment.

I think most people recommend you should run boilers until they are nearly dead before replacing. Often in this state they will require a lot of servicing per year which becomes increasingly difficult over time. Judging the time right is something of an art. Their is also an "annoyance premium" because they always fail in winter, and going 3-4 weeks without one is a right pain in the backside.

[mynewusername2023]

We replaced our very old back boiler and tank with a combi boiler at the end of September. Our bills didn't go down but were no more than last year so the new boiler helped us cope with the massive energy price increase. It is far more efficient and removing the tank meant we could have a huge new shower when we redid the bathroom at the same time. So glad we did it when we did.

[Silkierabbit]

Just to add ours was c 30 years old and boiler and tank and tank taken out and combi boiler put in, was around 4.8k in total but chose more expensive boiler.

[Silkierabbit]

Ours was also at the stage of working OK but if a fault not clear would be able to get parts.

[Trumporange]

Thanks - this is really useful to see.
I definitely don't want to wait until it breaks down fully so there is an element of this that is pre-emptive.

[MaybeSmaller]

Consider other things as well, such as: are the radiators efficient and correctly sized for the rooms they're in? Is the house adequately insulated?

Don't assume you'll get an automatic and massive benefit from changing the boiler alone.

[Sylviag]

Oops.. heat pump again……………

[Trumporange]

A couple of the rooms are badly insulated and the main living room/kitchen does indeed have too few radiators! Not sure what can be done about the latter as not clear how we could add more or bigger ones.

[thebellagio]

When we moved into our house, the boiler was the original boiler, so nearly 45 years old. Although it worked, we knew we wanted to replace it.

We spoke to a heating engineer who told us that for every £1 we spent on gas, we were probably only getting 50p worth of gas out of it, whereas a new one would give us about 98p of gas.

We spent about £5k and removed the boiler, and the water tank and replaced with a combi. Not only did this free up valuable space in the kitchen by moving into a cupboard upstairs but it also saved us having to spend on a utility room extension because we were able to rejig the kitchen.

Our bills say that we are using 40% less gas year on year, so with the rising prices, our bills either slightly declined, or remained static so I have absolutely no regrets.

[thebellagio]

We also replaced the windows (which were stuffed with newspaper dated 1985) and added solar panels to the house. Our EPC when we bought it was an F - I think we should now be about a B based on the EPC recommendations

[RealKhakiHiker]

Upgrading to a new boiler can be a game-changer in terms of efficiency and cost savings. The initial investment might seem steep, but in the long run, you'll likely see a significant reduction in your energy bills. Plus, newer models often come with advanced features that not only save energy but also contribute to a more comfortable home environment. However, it's essential to consider the full cost of the repair, not just the immediate benefits. While the savings over time can outweigh the initial expense, it's crucial to weigh the pros and cons carefully.