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Discuss New to forum - ex plumber (with a question!) in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Hi Chris (and whoever else is reading),

The cylinder was there in 2006. How much older than that, I do not know.

Well, yes, I am surprised there is not a collection of limescale flakes at the base. Not bad for its age. I've taken out cylinders that are perhaps 50 years old, but this was not even a tenth as much limescale.

Thank you. I find it interesting to see how things work in real world situations, and I'm glad you appreciate the sharing. It would be interesting to compare how other systems of this kind are functioning. I do have a couple of friends/family/customers who might let me run the experiment, but I digress.

The primary pipework is around (2 x 7m of 22mm) 4.5l, and heat exchanger water content is another 6l. Round the total to 11l and it shouldn't be far off.

Given that the F&E was not covered and therefore subject to increased evaporation when I bought the place, I would imagine there is very likely to be quite a lot of limescale in the boiler.
 
Well, 500grammes of citric acid powder dissolved in water and then filled to the top of coil and heated through did indeed remove the limescale, so it must have been quite a thin layer. As expected, this made little difference to performance.
 
Hello Ric2013,

I would still be looking at the Boiler being heavily scaled.

I feel that the calculated excessive amount of Gas to heat your Cylinder / Hot Water can only be attributed to it having to heat the water in the Primary loop through a layer of Limescale.

If as I suspect there is a significant layer of Limescale within the Boiler Heat Exchanger that would be absorbing a significant amount of heat from the burners before the heat is actually heating the water that flows through the Cylinder coil.

I cannot see anywhere else that the amount of `Heat loss` that You previously described could be lost - it cannot be being lost from the Primary Flow & Return ?

Chris
 
I've never done a decent heat calc but when the old Mexico finally dies I will do because having a boiler that's oversized is very inefficient due to cycling.

You've probably thought of this, but...

While you're waiting for your boiler to die, make a note of the average external temperature and how much fuel it consumes (daily) during a spell of cold weather. This information will give a reassuring sanity check for your calculations.
 
There is software now that does a certified heat calc for you at £10 or less per pop. No need to do any measurements yourself. I'll look it up and post.

For any heating installers it looks a no brainer cos it makes sure everything is sized perfectly so minimal cycling and maximising reliability...
 
Costing too much for me 10 per report is way too much and the monthly cost is too high for me
 
Costing too much for me 10 per report is way too much and the monthly cost is too high for me

The monthly includes unlimited fully warranted reports... Surely being able warrent a smaller boiler & its consumption savings & more effectiveness is worth £10 to a customer over, at best, a bloomin guess!?
 
The monthly includes unlimited fully warranted reports... Surely being able warrent a smaller boiler & its consumption savings & more effectiveness is worth £10 to a customer over, at best, a bloomin guess!?

If your doing a lot of commercial new build I could see it but domestically mr combi app works or the mears calc for next to no cost
 

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