At last the Ciao e-mail alerts have been sorted !! ... or have they ?
Now if only Ciao could remov...
At last the Ciao e-mail alerts have been sorted !! ... or have they ?
Now if only Ciao could remove its resident hacker :(
My PF Nominations
Member since:28.04.2003
Reviews:27
Members who trust:23
Since moving into our house we have endured an evil, cantankerous and mischievous household item, loosely termed as a central heating boiler. We had other names for it !!
After years of deep seated grief and mal intent, it started to play up even more than usual by losing ignition. A work colleague who formerly worked for British Gas maintenance cleaned every tube on the contraption, but warned us if it went again to dump it. We suffered the indignation for another year until in exasperation we called a plumber for a quote.
The plumber was a family friend, who said the old boiler was "knackered" - we didn't disagree- but told us we needed a "combi-boiler" judging from our 3 bed semi and 6 radiators needs. "How much will it cost" said I. After a few carefully crafted questions the plumber devised our family needs and pointed us towards the Wall mounted Ravenheat RSF 820/20 boiler at £1200 including fitting. For someone who had already forked out one third of that figure on radiators
that seemed a little steep. I told him we would think about it, and suffer the 'evil presence' a little while longer.
Months later the plumber rang back, "ello" he said, "guess what ? Ravenheat have developed a new SUPER combi, and that has resulted in the combi I quoted for you, being halved. I can now do one for you for £625 including fitting. Was I still interested ?"
I took a knife from the drawer and raided the pennies jar, and as I rifled, he explained the Ravenheat combi would not need relighting constantly so I would have instant hot water every time, from a bowlful to a bath. He continued that this boiler didn't use the immersion heater because it boiled water in a coil rather than a tank which was more economical and efficient to run on the basis that you only heated up the amount of water you used. In addition, the cost of heating would halve the plumber boasted. I was sold and the pennies jar was empty.
The installation process was not clean or painless, but to be fair that was more to do with the structure of my property / central heating layout rather than the boiler itself. The plumber removed the old immersion tank from its housing downstairs, leaving me a rather spacious cupboard spare, before knocking a hole in the kitchen wall to install the flue, which would take away all the noxious gases.
The Control Panel is based on the lower area of the front facia. Simple controls are there, from left to right, such as the On-Off switch and whether you want hot water to tap only or hot water to tap and radiators. Next comes the On-Off timing system with push sensors for instant on-off usage.
After that comes the radiator heating temperature gauge, water heating temperature gauge both of which are useful in pre determining a ceiling on either hot water or radiators safety for example with young children or for economical controls. Finally there is a water pressure gauge which informs you if the water level is dropping. The dials are supported with icons and descriptions where necessary making this element much more sensible.
This product was competitively priced against its peers, came from a manufacturer who design their own products (always a positive in my estimation) and on their website at www.ravenheat.co.uk supply an online version of that ever elusive manual.
From the very first day this product did exactly what the plumber said it would, it has indeed halved my heating costs, never needed re-ignition to the pilot light, never required maintenance of any kind, and has provided heating and hot water literally on demand. In the two years since installation, I estimate this product has paid for itself compared to my previous heating costs from my old boiler, based on the fuel savings made.
The simple to use control panel, supported by icons is extremely useful, and the safety features to heating controls means fewer worries on children or pets scalding or burning themselves accidentally.
I would thoroughly recommend it.
UPDATE *******
Consultations with the Department of Trade and Industry, have led to considerations of re-engineering within the heating systems market http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/consumers/fuel_p. This has allowed Ravenheat to boast;
"Ravenheat lead the industry in design and product development. Our latest innovation is a world class first for atmospheric condensing natural gas and LPG boilers.
The CSI range are the WORLDS MOST EFFICIENT ATMOSPHERIC SEDBUK BAND 'A' BOILERS. This is due to Ravenheat's unique patented heat exchanger, which extracts every last drop of energy and converts it to useable heat." http://www.ravenheat.co.uk/breakingnews.htm
By installing a Scalewatcher-Enigma Electronic Scale Control System at installation, this provides a non-intrusive, chemical and maintenance free method of removing limescale from pipes and equipment. It can filter out harmful minerals for you, such as calcium and magnesium deposits, which is particularly useful if you live in a hard water area. Hot water from this boiler may also lengthen the lives of kitchen utilities such as kettles, by reducing limescale, which is healthier for you as well :) http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/enh/enh100.html
For a review of how harmful tap water can be for you see Andycharger's op at; Andycharger http://www.ciao.co.uk/Evian_Mineral_Water__Review_5343411
This update shows Governmental interest in fuel poverty and how it affects boilers. It also should provide an insight into water effects on your system too. As an independent consumer unlinked to the industry I hope it will provide you with some guidance too. If you have found this of use to you please rate accordingly :)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: I have put down as good as you allow them to be Disadvantages: You have to pay for a good installation enginner who would have flushed your system
Advantages: Enables you to appreciate how people lived in the days before boilers and central heating Disadvantages: Unreliable in the true sense of the word
May 22nd, 2003
(Sep 14th, 2003)
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (96%):
helpful by (2%):
