Is my Boiler Suitable-Baxi Solo3 pal 30/80

[jakko]

Hi. Ive posted this to call on the forums experience for a some advice.
I am currently living in a three bedroom bungalow, its not a small bungalow,all bedrooms are double and the lounge is 24x15 Ft but has higher than average gas bills in the winter and also needs the thermostat above 25' all day to keep any heat in the house.
The boiler installed in the house is a baxi solo 3 pfl 30/80, it doesn't look like the meatiest of boilers but thats coming from someone with no knowledge whosoever. The boiler feeds 6 double radiators and a heated towel rail.
Is this boiler suitable for heating the property. If it helps i have added some further information, any advice would be appreciated.

- Loft Insulation- None
-Double glazing- Yes but would appear to be at least 10-15 years old
-Underfloor Insulation-None, the bungalow is raised, if the makes sense, with an air gap underneath with vents all round the outside of the house. The carpet down is merely functional and doesn't appear to have a decent underlay. In fact you can feel the draught around your feet in the winter.

Again any help would be appreciated, this is a rented house,which i am shortly departing and in the winer the gas / electric bill has been at least circa £280 per month and there is also damp and mould on the walls despite the air vents being open on the windows and the heating being on.

Cheers

 

[Ray Stafford]

Hi Jakko

Have you taken the 30/80 from the boilers manual? IIRC, the Solo was made in all sizes BETWEEN 30,000 btus and 80,000 btus - although one manual would have covered the lot, since it was essentially the same boiler, just bigger outputs. So there was a Solo 30, a Solo 40, Solo 50 and so on up to 80.

Without knowing which model yours is, and without knowing quite a lot more about the property, its impossible to say whether the boiler is correctly sized.

From what you say, it sounds like the main problem may be with the rest of the building, not necessarily the boiler size. Having no loft insulation in this day and age is just daft.

 

[Kev the gas]

Jakko,
In all repect this forum isnt here to give you ammo to help claim your deposit back from your landlord/letting agent.

If these problems were so bad how come you havent mentioned these to your agent before asking here?

 

[jakko]

Kev.

Apologies if I've given the wrong end of the stick. My deposit is safe as i have indeed contacted the landlord 6 months ago with no action taken, I've even had to go as far as environmental health hence the fact I'm leaving.

I suppose I'm looking for a bit more of knowledgable answers so i don't make the same mistake with a property again especially as I'm looking at various properties this weekend. I know that loft insulation should really be a given, and its something i all certainly check on the next property. What makes it even more farcical is that the energy "people" have been around offering free insulation which we passed on to the landlord.

What I'm looking for from this forum is what to look for in a boiler when looking at a property so i dotn make the same mistake again. I should have phrased my question better, apologies.

 

[jakko]

Ray- I have taken this from one sticker from the boiler, after a better look the boiler model is a Solo PFL 50. I know the rest of the building is complexity out of date with regards to insulation and thats something i will certainly check in more detail in the next property. Thanks for your reply

 

[jakko]

And i apologise for my spelling. lol

 

[Simon F]

Hi Jacko,
sorry to hear you had a rough time, but the property was as it is before you agreed to rent so I think that is just one to chalk down to an experience learned.
As to another place being more efficient then look for the obvious.
The biggest losses/gains in efficiency/insulation are the simple ones.
if the boiler looks ancient, it will be inefficient, look for a condensing boiler, this will have a plastic waste pipe running from it, condensing boilers are typically about 90 percent efficient.
loft insulation should be 270mm (11", or has that gone up again?)
solid walls (like mine) on a victorian house can lose up to 50 percent of the heat from the house.
so a newer place with an insulated cavity wall will make a massive cut in heating costs.
double glazing, the wider the gap between glass panes the better.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Thought that when renting now or buying you can see the rating scale, 'A' being the most efficient ! a lot of the estate agents now show this chart with information on the property.

 

[jakko]

Thanks for your replies guys. I've now found a property and it does indeed have loft insulation and an EPC rating of C. In response to previous posts the house didn't have an epc cert when we took it ,one I will have to chalk up to experice as said in one of your responses . Funnily enough the place I'm moving out of hasn't had one displayed on the website. Thanks again for your help.

 

[doitmyself]

Thanks for your replies guys. I've now found a property and it does indeed have loft insulation and an EPC rating of C. In response to previous posts the house didn't have an epc cert when we took it ,one I will have to chalk up to experience as said in one of your responses . Funnily enough the place I'm moving out of hasn't had one displayed on the website. Thanks again for your help.

By law, all rental properties have to have an EPC before they can be placed on the rental market.

 

[jakko]

There wasn't one on right move and it was let over the weekend. Think they are moving In a couple of days after we move out , did raise it with the agent that was doing the Viewing that they would probably need longer than that to sort the mould issues out but fell on deaf ears. Don't know whether they provided the guys with an epc cert as they must know if its legal or not.

 

[doitmyself]

There wasn't one on rightmove and it was let over the weekend.

I suppose Rightmove will say it's not their responsibility to ensure their customers comply with the law!!

Don't know whether they provided the guys with an epc cert as they must know if its legal or not.

They should know that it's not legal, but whether they take any notice of the law is another matter.

The relevant legislation is: The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/3118; para 6 and 7.