Combi Boiler

[LBerry]

Recently moved into new house, a 4 bed detached. It has a newish-looking Worcester Bosch combi, old rads, all with TRV's. It takes AGES for the hot water to get upstairs. The house is on a water meter and I'm concerned that we are wasting tons of water waiting for it to get hot. Does it sound like something an engineer could rectify, or is it simply down to how the water flows around the house? I'm fed up having cold washes!!Thanks in advance.

[kaztuz]

The hot water will take longer to get warm as it is being heated as it is running, therefore there is little you can do about it. We have the same boiler and downstairs can take over a minute to get hot. Its swings and roundabouts, obviously you are saving money on the gas, as you are not heating water you aren't using, but you are using more water waiting for it to heat up.

[webdude]

Combi boilers work in a similar fashion to instant water heaters in that the hot water tank is close coupled to the boiler hence the name combi.

If your hot water upstairs is not running at normal temperature - usualy 60 dgcC within a few seconds, then you probably have a problem with your boiler.

I suggest you call a registered fitter to come and service the boiler for you ASAP.

[Hymie]

As to whether you have a fault with your boiler depends on what you mean by AGES to get hot.

I have a combi-boiler which is located close to my front door � it takes over 1 minute before the water comes out hot from the bathroom sink. Even with the bath hot tap fully open, it takes well over 30 seconds for the water to come out hot � this is because the hot water has to fill the pipe length from boiler to tap (and I live in a small 3 bedroom terrace house).

Combi-boilers are really only good for long hot baths & central heating systems � if you want instant hot water, the boiler must be located close to the outlet tap.

[gucciman]

the water takes ages to get hot upstairs so 2 questions

1- when the water does get hot is it hot enough for you?
2 - does it get hot at the downstairs tap faster.

you need to see what power output your boiler has i.e. is it 24kw, 28kw etc, should tell you on the boiler somewhere. it could be that your boiler is underpowered for the size of your house.
the faster and hotter the water you want the more powerful boiler that you need.
it could also be that your boiler is not operating at the correct burner pressure either because it hasn't been set up properly, the gas supply pipe is undersized or the regulator at the meter needs adjusting.

[gucciman]

this is a message for gasman as i know he will read and answer this post.

can you send me a quick email to [email protected] and i can then reply to you, i would like to pick your brains if you don't mind

[beatle3]

got same problem irrit8ing wish never got combi

[gucciman]

combis are ok as long as you ralise that they are crap and you need to buy one powerful enough for your requirements in the first place!