Combi or system boiler for your Birmingham home? How they differ, which suits a terrace, a 1930s semi or a large Victorian house, and what changing from one to the other involves.
Heats water on demand from the mains. No tank or cylinder.
Heats water into a cylinder, ready for several outlets at once.
A combi is usually the right choice.
A system boiler with an unvented cylinder copes better.
A combi's flow depends on it, so it is checked first.
Cylinder to combi is usually a two to three day job.
A combi for one bathroom and modest use. A system boiler for several bathrooms used at once.
It can struggle. Larger houses with several bathrooms often do better with a system boiler.
Usually, yes. The cylinder and loft tanks come out and the pipework is re-routed.
Yes, no cylinder or loft tanks, so the airing cupboard is freed up.
It depends on the house and the number of outlets. We size it at the survey.
Yes, combi and system boilers in homes right across the city.
A combi boiler heats water on demand straight from the mains, with no tank or cylinder. A system boiler heats water into a hot water cylinder, usually in an airing cupboard, so it is stored ready to use. Combis suit homes with one bathroom and modest hot water use. System boilers suit homes with two or more bathrooms in use at the same time.
Most Birmingham terraces and 1930s semis, in Kings Heath, Stirchley, Kingstanding and Northfield, have one bathroom, and a combi is usually the right answer: hot water whenever you turn on the tap, no cylinder taking up space, and the airing cupboard freed for storage. The flow rate of a combi depends on the incoming mains pressure, so that is worth checking first.
The larger Victorian and Edwardian houses of Edgbaston, Harborne and Moseley, with several bathrooms and showers used at once, often do better with a system boiler and an unvented cylinder. A combi can only heat so much water at a time, so two showers together is where it struggles.
Changing from a cylinder system to a combi means removing the cylinder and any loft tanks and re-routing pipework, usually a two or three day job. Going the other way needs space for a cylinder. We look at the house, the bathrooms and the water pressure and recommend what suits it.
If you smell gas, leave the house, do not touch switches and ring the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 from outside.
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