14Kw Electric Boiler

[brianmoooore]

Besides, beyond all of that, does away with Mr WetPants Plumber which has to be far more important.

I have the advantage on you there! I kicked Mr Wetpants out of the door 40 years ago or so, and donned his hat, alongside my sparky's one. Never had to put up with one since, (except for one couple month period, that I wrote about on here recently.)
Can't see the point of electric boilers into wet radiator systems, without any kind of thermal store, except, I suppose, if a serviceable
wet system is already present.
Could be an advantage if you have access to significantly cheaper off peak electricity, and can use the boiler to dump heat into a thermal store and/or thick slab wet UFH.

 

[Chrisknowlesuk]

I've just seen some of the posts to the thread.

The 14Kw size came from her relatives who do bathroom fitting (but not boilers). Having looked into it a bit myself, it does seem very over spec'ed for a small flat.

The owner of the flat on the ground floor let me in to look at the meters etc this evening. It is in a cupboard which may have been a communal area once upon a time perhaps which houses a very big grey box where I presume the supply is split then it goes to the meters for all three flats, split in each case to 60Amp isolators for Day and Night tariffs and a fat armoured cable leading up and away to the respective flats.

Fortunately, the tenant seems very accommodating but I would hate to think of the cost implications to get it all moved...

Hopefully, if the supplier can upgrade the meter that would be a start. Then I suppose the armoured cable going up to the flat would need to be changed?

Perhaps, if an EICR had been asked for before buying then this would have all been discovered and choices made before committing to the purchase?

 

[Sharlene]

Where did the 14kw idea come from?

The first thing to do, is to get an accurate assessment of the heat loss of the flat done by a professional and the suitable size of boiler to heat it.
That professional should also be someone who can advise install costs and running costs of suitable heating systems, not just boiler and wet systems so would probably not be a Plumber / Heating engineer.
And would also include any heat saving measures that could be done to reduce the load / running costs.

Sometime / somewhere along the way depending on whether it turns out to be an electric boiler or not and the supply needs upgrading, the meter needs moving to an accessible location.

What kind of professional that do the type of assessment and provide the advice you mentioned here please? We are about to renovate our property and need to choose the right central heating system, so we are really interested to know, thank you.

 

[brianmoooore]

It's not an exact science, whoever does the assessment, but it's not that difficult to work out for yourself, with a little research and use of simple arithmetic.
Look up how to design the requirements for a central heating system. It involves dividing your house into 'elements', working out the heat loss for each, then adding them all together. The 'elements' are each external wall for each room, any openings in that wall, such as doors and windows, the floor of that room, if a ground floor, and the ceiling of a top floor room, then there is an additional allowance for air changes in that room. You need to know the construction of each element, to access its insulation (u) value, and the required temperature difference either side of it.
Once you've worked out and added up all these 'elements', you have the heating requirement for the property, against the outside temperature that you chose (usually -1 degree). The final figure is then that figure, plus at least 10%, but it's generally a good idea to add on around 30% to ensure comfort in the worst weather.
I've always done these calculations as above, but I'm sure there are many online calculators or even apps. available today to do the arithmetic for you.

 

[partplonker]

14kW is pretty much the biggest size that electric boilers come in. There are smaller 6kW or 9kW ones available that might be more suitable for this property.

What Size Electric Boiler do I Need? | Boiler Guide

Electric boiler size is measured in kilowatts & installing one that’s too powerful will increase energy bills. Find the right electric boiler for your home.

www.boilerguide.co.uk

As others said, if there isn't wet central heating in there already (or it needs a lot of work), it might be more cost effective to use storage radiators and/or underfloor with small on demand water heaters for the bathroom and kitchen.

(edit: I just noticed that this thread is a month old but can't delete my comment now ...)