Wet back coal fired central heating question

Is it an open fire? In which case, hugely inefficient regardless of the system you install.

 

if you read, malc says the back boilers already there and is just wanting to reinstall the rad option, i'd love a open fire back boiler inefficient or not, i can get free wood all day long but i can't have a fire cos we only got a gas flue and the fire is bust so it's rads or fan heater in our house.

 

Something to think about Malc is can you get spares for this back boiler that's in your house
This was one of the reasons we had our gas back boiler out was the lack of spare parts and the fact you couldn't buy a gas back boiler no more
Wouldn't like to think of you spending good money on rads etc to have to buy
A new boiler afterwards why was it disconnected in the first place by the previous owner

 

I'm not a plumber, but I imagine you would need pump, 3 port valve, thermostat. You could put the rads back in and run the pipes in such a way as a combi or system boiler could be added later if you decide? I think you may even be able to have both the back boiler and combi/system? That way you can still enjoy open fires and utilise the waste heat that would normally escape out the back of the fireplace and still be able to heat the water from the combi/system in warmer months.

 

By back boiler are we talking a little cast iron box with 28mm flow and return to the cylinder which would work on gravity ,and a cytrol valve to control water temp, and a couple of rads to act as a heat escape ie , one in the bathroom and one somewhere else , . a basic system may also have had a a pump working on a time clock but still with a heat escape rad , also a feed / exp tank in the loft . I dont think cytrol valves are still avaliable as manual heat control valves seem to have had there day ,so if you where to have a 240v control for water temp then the heat escape would have to be permanetaly open with a back up temp and pressure relife

 

connection MUST be before the cylinder connection and you must use perm open lockshield valves on at least one rad ( bathroom is best ) you will probaly find the old connections under the floor , im hanging wallpaper ,back in a mo

 

the basic old style system woul have been 28mm gravity f and r ,with 22mm of to 15 mm with a pump for the rads , just make sure all the returns from the rads are commend ( joined together ) before they meet the return from the cylinder , the closer to the back boiler the better ,and have the pump on the return as low in the system as possible , vent and cold feed join at the cylinder tappings for the flow and return

 

We had a coal fired back boiler which did the hot water and heating and also had a immersion heater in the hot water tank but it all got ripped out when the water jacket let go, we now have a gas boiler fitted it is lovely coming home to a nice warm house and hot water straight away! although we now have a big hole where the fire was!