Hi all
We're looking at buying a house with an ancient oil boiler (Firebird), mounted outside. Our survey recommends replacing said boiler, though it does seem to still work.
I was just wondering, what sort of boiler would people recommend? Combi? Condensing? Both? Other? And what brand? I know Worcester Bosch are good for gas, but don't know much about oil boilers - never had one before... I also know that Firebird boilers don't have a great reputation, so probably wouldn't get another one.
The current boiler fills a hot water tank (I'd slightly prefer a combi boiler over condensing for hot water on demand - unless there's a reason this isn't recommended for oil boilers? ), runs a number of radiators (fairly big, old, stone, 5 bedroom house) and also feeds underfloor heating in a fairly big kitchen.
Any thoughts on the best way forward? And a likely price to install a new boiler? £3 - 5,000? Might need a few new radiator valves too, but generally I think the heating is in good order. The only thing I noticed that seemed a bit strange is that both the radiators and the underfloor heating share a single thermostat. Surely it would be better to have a separate stat for the UFH, so it can be left running at a lower level constantly? (Radiators and UFH do have separate controls, but they're fairly basic - on / off).
Finally, if anyone can recommend a good boiler installer in the Bristol / Chepstow area, that could also be useful!
Many thanks.
SS
Oh, and I don't care about the brand name of the boiler, as long as the boiler itself is good and reliable. I don't mind paying for a boiler that will last, but I'd rather not pay just for a name...