# Condensing oil boiler  - which make?



## eire1977 (28 Apr 2009)

Need to get a condensing oil burner for a new build but I'm not too sure which brand to go for.
Plumber is pushing the Firebird but my engineer is pushing the Grant
Any advice?

Also, I'm going to put the boiler in the garage - should I go for the boiler house version of the indoor version.

Thanks for your help in advance


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## stevo (29 Apr 2009)

The Grant Boiler is slightly more efficent ref the UK Seebuk Boiler rating. Firebird are more popular. Both are good boilers


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## DGOBS (29 Apr 2009)

Stevo is bang on

As for which type. The boilerhouse model tends to be a bit cheaper as it's not white paneled.


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## DavyJones (29 Apr 2009)

Grant do a 98% HE model, which is damn impressive.


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## gooner (29 Apr 2009)

Was looking for an extra efficient oil boiler and came accross viessmann.But I can't seem to find much info on Irish or UK websites,although I did read that some were installed in the UK.Not sure if this is because they are probably way more expensive than the grant/firebird condensing oil boilers or maybe because they are probably much more complicated animals.They certainly sound the part and I have even seen claims of 100%+ efficiency (how ever that is possible) on their triple pass oil boilers.I know they are well regarded by many for their gas boilers,so would have thought that their oil fired boilers would have made some inroads here too.

Does anyone know anything about their oil boilers?

http://www.viessmann.com/com/en/products/Oil-fired_boilers_.html


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## RiverKing (29 Apr 2009)

Hi all, couple of questions;

Putting in a condensing oil boiler in detached garage. There will be in the region of 17-18m of pipework between boiler and house.

Plumber suggests puting pipework in 6" ducting buried underground with 1" armoflex lagging around pipes themselves.

Architect reckons a highly efficient pre-insulated underground pipe is the way to go but at €40-50 per metre it will be fairly costly.

Any suggestions?

Also if its done by method 1, would filling the remainder of the duct with other insulation like rockwool be any addition?


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## Jolly Man (29 Apr 2009)

I was going to do the same with mine, but it was too costly to do it right or loose too much heat to do it wrongly! Ended up puttin the boiler outside the back door!


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## gary71 (29 Apr 2009)

gooner said:


> Was looking for an extra efficient oil boiler and came accross viessmann.But I can't seem to find much info on Irish or UK websites,although I did read that some were installed in the UK.Not sure if this is because they are probably way more expensive than the grant/firebird condensing oil boilers or maybe because they are probably much more complicated animals.They certainly sound the part and I have even seen claims of 100%+ efficiency (how ever that is possible) on their triple pass oil boilers.I know they are well regarded by many for their gas boilers,so would have thought that their oil fired boilers would have made some inroads here too.
> 
> Does anyone know anything about their oil boilers?
> 
> http://www.viessmann.com/com/en/products/Oil-fired_boilers_.html


Talk to Precision heating, they are the Irish suppliers of everything Viessmann http://www.precisionheating.ie/ , I have worked a lot on Viessmann gas boilers and find them very well put together and reliable as you have heard but anything from them does tend to be expensive, so the funky oil boiler wouldn't be cheap money i would bet, Gary.( no connection with Viessman or Precision)


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## eire1977 (30 Apr 2009)

RiverKing said:


> Hi all, couple of questions;
> 
> Putting in a condensing oil boiler in detached garage. There will be in the region of 17-18m of pipework between boiler and house.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the replys folks - think I'm going to go with the Grant.

Riverking - I'm thinking of doing something similar - run lagged water pipes through a sewer pipe, drill some holes and fill with expanable foam.  Going to try and have it a deep as possible also.  That 'should' keep the temperature loss to a minimum on a budget.

Anyone else out there have any thoughts on this method?


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## gooner (30 Apr 2009)

DavyJones said:


> Grant do a 98% HE model, which is damn impressive.




Hi DavyJones.Is this HE model brand new or is it on their website already?


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## seantheman (30 Apr 2009)

i think davy may be referring to the grant vortex range which claims 98%
efficiency as opposed to the grant euroflame range which claims 95%. there's a few hundred in the difference price wise


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## DavyJones (30 Apr 2009)

eire1977 said:


> Thanks for the replys folks - think I'm going to go with the Grant.
> 
> Riverking - I'm thinking of doing something similar - run lagged water pipes through a sewer pipe, drill some holes and fill with expanable foam.  Going to try and have it a deep as possible also.  That 'should' keep the temperature loss to a minimum on a budget.
> 
> Anyone else out there have any thoughts on this method?



  spend money on the preinsulated pipe now, it will save you money in the future. The problem with your method is that water will enter insulation sleeve because of our wet seasons and you will waste energy heating this water.




seantheman said:


> i think davy may be referring to the grant vortex range which claims 98%
> efficiency as opposed to the grant euroflame range which claims 95%. there's a few hundred in the difference price wise



€75 differance from my supplier.


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## gooner (30 Apr 2009)

DavyJones said:


> spend money on the preinsulated pipe now, it will save you money in the future. The problem with your method is that water will enter insulation sleeve because of our wet seasons and you will waste energy heating this water.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So the HE model you spoke off,is the vortex one?


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## DavyJones (30 Apr 2009)

gooner said:


> So the HE model you spoke off,is the vortex one?




some interesting reading here: [broken link removed]


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## hopalong (1 May 2009)

i have an old firebird oil boiler(30years old),and am thinking of getting something more effecient ,and the grant 98% one sounds good.any idea how much the cost would be to take out the old one and install the new one.


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## kjhoskin (2 May 2009)

I've just inherited my mum’s house, she died a few weeks back.  Now the house is reasonably large, 4 bed, about 200 years old, so is made of stone, and bleddy freezing!  Before she died she was looking at having oil CH put in and the plumber was going to install a Grant external combi running around 10 rads. Now I know nothing about Grant boilers as we have a *Worcester Bosch* and so does everyone else I know with Oil CH  My current house is a lot smaller and we have a *Worcester Bosch* heatslave combi running around 5 rads, and found it to be pretty good.  Now does the Grant have a thermal store like the Worcester?  The heatslave has a 65 litre capacity thermal store tank which proves to be very handy for immediate hot water.  The external heatslave condensing isn’t as efficient as the Grant, so I don’t know what to go for both ranges seem to be similar in price.


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## stevo (4 May 2009)

Davy Jones, 
What in your opinion is the best method to run pipework between the house
and the garage where the boiler is located ?
My Plumber is also suggesting to put 1" armoflex lagging around pipework in 4" ducting buried underground. What is the best method to prevent water entering the pipework ?

Stevo


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## Oracle24 (5 May 2009)

Interesting discussion. I have just bought a house with an ACV Combi boiler in the garage (about 20 feet from house). House and boiler are only about 4 years old but I have been told that underground pipes from garage to house (UFH) were not insulated properly and that heating is very expensive as a result. Any suggestions on what the best way for fix the problem might be? Would it be maybe possible to spray expanding insulation foam down into the underground pipe somehow?

All advice appreciated!

Thanks


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## DavyJones (5 May 2009)

stevo said:


> Davy Jones,
> What in your opinion is the best method to run pipework between the house
> and the garage where the boiler is located ?
> My Plumber is also suggesting to put 1" armoflex lagging around pipework in 4" ducting buried underground. What is the best method to prevent water entering the pipework ?
> ...



[broken link removed]

This is the best way. I have just picked one maker at random, there will be others. Price is expensive, but worth it.


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## DavyJones (5 May 2009)

Baz2005 said:


> Interesting discussion. I have just bought a house with an ACV Combi boiler in the garage (about 20 feet from house). House and boiler are only about 4 years old but I have been told that underground pipes from garage to house (UFH) were not insulated properly and that heating is very expensive as a result. Any suggestions on what the best way for fix the problem might be? Would it be maybe possible to spray expanding insulation foam down into the underground pipe somehow?
> 
> All advice appreciated!
> 
> Thanks




Depends on how it is done. it may have to be replaced.

 Did a little search and found out we have bought Microflex pipe (32mm duo) at about €31 p/m plus VAT. the fittings to connect them to normal 1" pipe are priced at about €25 plus vat. Very expensive considering you will have to pay upmark and labour to fit.

[broken link removed]


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## Oracle24 (5 May 2009)

DavyJones said:


> Depends on how it is done. it may have to be replaced.
> 
> Did a little search and found out we have bought Microflex pipe (32mm duo) at about €31 p/m plus VAT. the fittings to connect them to normal 1" pipe are priced at about €25 plus vat. Very expensive considering you will have to pay upmark and labour to fit.
> 
> [broken link removed]



Thanks for your reply. Might have to look into it because heating costs were apparantly running at €900 per month which is unreal for a 2000 sq ft timber frame house! I know underfloor heating is expensive but thats ridiculous. Getting the pipes redone might be cheaper in the long run?


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