This case study will hopefully help those who are considering a Boilermate replacement. We aim to explain the issues surrounding the old appliance and the customer’s decision to upgrade the gas boiler as well.
First, what is a Boilermate? Well, it is a hot water cylinder thermal store cylinder. Thermal store cylinders boast excellent heating and hot water delivery. With higher flow rates than most combination boilers and almost instant heat to radiators, these are two good reasons to install a Boilermate. Second, it can be tank-fed and work well with low-pressure systems. Third, it only requires a standard-sized gas boiler to supply the heat. Plus, it fits well in an airing cupboard. Asks the question: why have a boilermate replacement?
Reliability Issues
In a ideal world the Boilermate is a heating and hot water solution for the home. Unfortunately, reliability issues have disrupted this supply for some customers. This customer also had issues, and the appliance age concerned them. We suggested a swap to a 250 litre unvented hot water cylinder and a new gas boiler sited in the loft. We needed to upgrade the gas boiler to compensate for the extra heat input needed to heat the unvented cylinder and the radiators. Also, we recommended a powerflush for the system and lagging all pipework for building regs. All of the above is agreed by the customer. This project ran as smoothly as we could hope for, which left a thrilled home owner!
This installation is now a sealed system, meaning there are no tanks in the loft. Mains water supplies the cylinder and the heating directly. Occasionally, we need to top-up sealed systems with water. We usually do this via a filling loop, located either in or close to the boiler. But this would mean a trip into the loft for the customer every time the pressure went low. So, to make life easier for the customer, we installed the filling loop in the airing cupboard with a pressure gauge, at a height that makes this job easy.
If you live in the Leeds area and would like any information on this type of work, then please get in touch.
Quick explanation – BoilerMate
The BoilerMate cylinder is a thermal store cylinder. It works the other way to a conventional cylinder; the stored water inside is system water which circulates from a standard-sized system boiler (heat input) to the cylinder. It works best when switched on permanently because a thermostat controls the temperature inside the cylinder. When the property needs heating (via a timer and room thermostat), a port out of the cylinder diverts the stored water to the radiators. When the property is drawing hot water, the cylinder diverts system water through a large secondary heat exchanger to transfer heat to the running mains water.