open flue boiler changeover

[tarheelbaby]

Hello all,
Does anyone have any experience of changing from an open flue gas boiler (radiators + hot water) to a new 'modern' boiler?
My stalwart gas boiler is 25+ years old and will eventually pack up. Open flue boilers are no longer fitted. My kitchen (also 25+ years old) is arranged around it so changing to a different boiler will require a total rearrangement of the kitchen. Has anyone done this? Did you need an architect? Just a 'regular' builder? Did you use a kitchen redesiging service (Ikea/Neptune/Wren or similar)?

I don't know about open flue but I had an older boiler (non condensing) changed to a new one (condensing).

They used an existing hole in the brickwork for the flue. The main issue was figuring out how to get rid of the condensate which has to go into a drain. They wanted to fit a pump but in the end I got it diverted into a drain under gravity. The less moving parts in an install (pumps) the better IMO, as these are the things that normally go wrong. And of course the install was cheaper.

I think the TLDR is if you are fitting on an outside wall with reasonable clearance to the neighbours and have access to a drain and electric/gas/cold water then fitting a condensing is fairly easy.

Have you considered getting in a company like Baxi or BG to have a look at the install and quote ? That way they will list all the requirements/inspect the site and tell you the things you can and can't do. IME they are generally more expensive than independents, but better at identifying all the issues and being compliant.

@GasPanic, thank you for your reply. Was your new boiler a gas powered one? Did you have to rearrange your kitchen layout? Did you need new gas/water pipes? (Did it cost a bomb?)

I think the new boilers have to be fitted to outside walls. I have a (small) existing hole - a grate for ventilation for the current boiler - and it can easily drain into the main drain for my sink - no neighbours involved! Yay! I had BG here last week to service my beloved dinosaur and the engineer was not very encouraging but maybe his job is just to test/vacuum boilers.

New boilers are much smaller and usually hang on the wall. The flue can go straight through that wall, or to the side, or sometimes upwards. There is a slight advantage to having it near a corner of the house, as the airflow will swirl the plume of steam away, which in winter can be quite prominent if it rises up past your windows.

Running the condensate drain to an indoor waste pipe, such as the sink, will remove the risk of it freezing solid in cold weather.

Yes it was new gas powered, changing from non condensing to condensing.

No I didn't have to rearrange the kitchen it was in the garage. Yes I needed extension to the existing pipework, and no it wasn't particularly expensive in my opinion.

The problem is there are so many variables and without surveying your house even a professional installer can't answer non specific questions like "whether it will cost a bomb".

There are also options to change. For example, if you did find out you needed to refit your entire kitchen (hard to believe but I guess it is possible) then maybe you could move the boiler to somewhere else. Utility room, downstairs toilet, hallway, integral garage, loft space are all possibilities.

Extending piping for plumbers is normally a fairly trivial job. What is not always trivial is extending them in a pretty and concealed way. That can get expensive.

As Piglet John points out, new boilers are quite small compact units and easy to hide in cupboards or make room for. If you have access to an outside wall, and can get the services to the mounting point it shouldn't be that hard a job.

Rather than guesswork, just get some people in to quote and see what ideas they come up with. Quotes are generally free. And you will find different installers have different requirements and ideas on how to get the job done.

Thank you very much to all who have replied. I agree that I should let some people quote IRL. Initially, I was trying to work out what kind of trade that should be.
Whom should I call to quote? Kitchen fitters? Boiler specialists? Architects?

Boiler person.