Advice
on Choosing Your Central Heating System |
Where do you start when deciding you need
a central heating system or new boiler?Do you opt for gas, or
electric fired equipment? Electric storage heaters? Underfloor
heating? Warm air systems? Wet systems (ones with radiators)It
is not such a minefield as you may think! Gas fired boilers
with radiators is still the
cheapest way of giving you heating and hot water.
The types of boilers available can be found on our boiler
types section, but the
radiators are many and various – the less expensive being
the standard pressed steel
type that you see in most homes today.
Choosing a new boiler that’s right for you is easier than
you may think. You just need
to ask yourself a few basic questions and, armed with a little
not-too-technical
information, you can quickly and easily narrow down the options.
This guide is intended to help you by
prompting the questions and providing those
helpful hints.
If you have an old boiler that’s
no longer up to the job
Perhaps your existing boiler breaks down too often, and usually
just when you need it
most ! Perhaps it’s becoming difficult or uneconomic
to repair, or perhaps you suspect
that your old boiler costs more to run than a modern one.
The first question is “Should
I replace it with a similar type of boiler, or with
something completely different?”
Why replace
“like for like?”
There are good reasons to replace your existing boiler with
it’s modern equivalent.
Its likely to be the least expensive option, because it involves
minimal alterations to
existing pipework. This means savings on materials and time
and, because time is
money, savings on labour costs. It also means less mess, disruption
and redecorating
expense.
Why choose
something different?
There are many reasons why you might want to replace your
boiler with a different
type. If you’ve grown from a couple to a family with
children to bathe every night, if
Granny’s joined you in a new extension with en-suite
facilities, or if your children
have grown and left home, your hot water needs will have changed,
and maybe your
space heating too.
In cases such as these, a “like for like” replacement
may be inappropriate. If that’s the
case, you are in the same position as someone choosing a boiler
for the very first time, so please continue to boiler
types
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