Should I change my old Kingfisher Boiler ?

[radiojon73@yaho]

My 3 bed semi uses an acient Potterton Kingfisher which was installed in January 1964 and apart from a new pump, annual services+clean outs and a few PTFE jobs on leaky rad. valves, it's still working faultlessly. And that's after 53 years service ! My question is, should I think about retiring the old girl soon or should I wait till it gives up the ghost ? I have a friend who is on his 3rd new combi since 1999 which doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the new stuff.

Many thanks, Jon.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

This is where it gets tricky

Your boiler could last another 5-10 years but I could go bang sooner

The main thing that lets your boiler down is getting hold of any main spare parts

You would be better off going for a heat only boiler instead of a combi if your happy with the hot water pressure and amount

 

[muggles]

Sounds like your friend needs a different installer, and maybe needs to put their hand a bit deeper into their pocket to buy a better model. 3 boilers in 18 years suggests he's either buying crap or using rubbish installers (or both) - a decent modern boiler installed properly should easily last 20 years

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Sounds like your friend needs a different installer, and maybe needs to put their hand a bit deeper into their pocket to buy a better model. 3 boilers in 18 years suggests he's either buying crap or using rubbish installers (or both) - a decent modern boiler installed properly should easily last 20 years

Nope wrong standard combi isn't lasting more that 15 years on average it's 12 years

 

[muggles]

Nope wrong standard combi isn't lasting more that 15 years on average it's 12 years

Which means his friend has had half the life expectancy you suggest, so I still say his boilers aren't lasting as long as they should, even if we disagree over how long they should actually last. I can think of lots of combis I look after that are more than 15 years old and still going strong though

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Which means his friend has had half the life expectancy you suggest, so I still say his boilers aren't lasting as long as they should, even if we disagree over how long they should actually last. I can think of lots of combis I look after that are more than 15 years old and still going strong though

Yea but the newer ones in the last 10 years don't last that long

The older ones say 15+ will as they were bulletproof

Manufacturers need / make things fail after 10 + years as it's repeate business

 

[king of pipes]

I would plan to replace it in the next year or two rarther than being forced into it and doing half a job when it fails all your radiators will need changing ,cylinder swapped ,contols pump and valves ect when you do upgrade do the lot . cheers kop

 

[SavageW]

Couldn’t agree more,customer gets new boiler with 15-20 year old system/controls left on,boiler breaks down year or two later an instantly the newer boiler gets the blame.

 

[London Gas]

Turbomaxes and suprimas I find are always going strong and need little maintenance.

You need to also consider the efficiency, yours is I think around 65% as opposed to the new condensing boilers being around 91%

 

[radiojon73@yaho]

This is where it gets tricky

Your boiler could last another 5-10 years but I could go bang sooner

The main thing that lets your boiler down is getting hold of any main spare parts

You would be better off going for a heat only boiler instead of a combi if your happy with the hot water pressure and amount

 

[radiojon73@yaho]

Many thanks . I'll start looking around for a replacement heat only boiler and hope the Kingfisher will last me a few more years. You must agree though, that if it ain't broke ...?

 

[firemant]

You DID ask!

 

[Last Plumber]

Good Boiler.
It may last a bit yet but......!

If I were you, I would start looking into the change sooner rather than later. You will most likely find that there is more to it than a Boiler change. A lot more!

Do you know if the heating system is a one or two pipe system?
Are the rads and cylinder the same age as the Boiler?

 

[king of pipes]

Well said Last it will require a full upgrade regards kop.

 

[Last Plumber]

Well said Last it will require a full upgrade regards kop.

I couldn't agree more KOP.
Sometimes it's best to start again, especially with that age of set up.
You can see the problems in your minds eye can't you?