Doing my bit for the UK trade deficit

[the gardener 6,817]

Bought an electric radiator yesterday. Researching the options and all the marketing pushes you towards German-made ones, bigging up their engineering quality etc. We'll, I made the effort to do a bit of digging and found a UK manufacturer, Electrorad. I've bought one of their Digi-Line rads. 

That's one in Merkel's eye. They don't like it up 'em. 

[dgul 21,034]

My understanding is that for the last few months the UK has been running a trade surplus.

[onlyme 12,048]

I'm making for of an effort to do the same.  Recently an Ideal boiler, actually pretty impressed, according to plumber very easy to work on and reliable too, though they all pretty much have limited work life thanks to condensing design.

Worcester Bosch have the name but they also have an increasingly bad reputation.

 

[the gardener 6,817]

6 minutes ago, onlyme said:

I'm making for of an effort to do the same.  Recently an Ideal boiler, actually pretty impressed, according to plumber very easy to work on and reliable too, though they all pretty much have limited work life thanks to condensing design.

Worcester Bosch have the name but they also have an increasingly bad reputation.

 

If you want a reliable old boiler (no wife jokes please) then get hold of a Glow-worm. I had one in my last house, at least 30 years old (my model was last manufactured in 1991) and extremely reliable. Only needed a new thermocouple every few years (about £10 a pop) - and that was just preventative maintenance, could probably have let it go longer. 

[onlyme 12,048]

31 minutes ago, the gardener said:

If you want a reliable old boiler (no wife jokes please) then get hold of a Glow-worm. I had one in my last house, at least 30 years old (my model was last manufactured in 1991) and extremely reliable. Only needed a new thermocouple every few years (about £10 a pop) - and that was just preventative maintenance, could probably have let it go longer. 

Had an old Baxi, pretty much the same, heavy, cast iron, built to last and be serviced. New boilers are a different breed, lightweight, thermally very efficient but paper thin internals as a result partly of their efficiency. Best you can hope for is you don't suffer any expensive electronic / sensor (often repeat) repairs during its short life.

[longtomsilver 3,058]

I'm doing my bit too; needed a new pair of work shoes and they arrived this morning. Solovair Gibson and they are very comfortable already. Their boots are well made too and the prices are reasonable for UK made footwear. 25 years ago I used to wear Church's shoes and they cost £200 then but are £500 now so makes my £155 spend a comparative bargain. 

[stokiescum 12,923]

51 minutes ago, the gardener said:

If you want a reliable old boiler (no wife jokes please) then get hold of a Glow-worm. I had one in my last house, at least 30 years old (my model was last manufactured in 1991) and extremely reliable. Only needed a new thermocouple every few years (about £10 a pop) - and that was just preventative maintenance, could probably have let it go longer. 

Had mine serviced once in 7 years think my new one is ideal

[Democorruptcy 10,708]

27 minutes ago, longtomsilver said:

I'm doing my bit too; needed a new pair of work shoes and they arrived this morning. Solovair Gibson and they are very comfortable already. Their boots are well made too and the prices are reasonable for UK made footwear. 25 years ago I used to wear Church's shoes and they cost £200 then but are £500 now so makes my £155 spend a comparative bargain. 

£200 for a pair of shoes was a lot 25 years ago. If you could have got some Solovair Gibson's or equivalent, the £138 saved could have gone into divi shares!

[spunko 26,847]

I bought Acova ones from Screwfix, didn't know they were made in Germany, just assumed Chy-na.

Radfan are UK made and quite good too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Radfan-Classic-Small-Power-Radiator/dp/B00GR0STTG/ref=pd_lpo_60_t_0/260-8863996-0293620?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00GR0STTG&pd_rd_r=a1debceb-4929-4f1d-abd0-bd77aa9c9a17&pd_rd_w=8aDCk&pd_rd_wg=RwuGb&pf_rd_p=7b8e3b03-1439-4489-abd4-4a138cf4eca6&pf_rd_r=9FFHDA4C166G4JVCQN9N&psc=1&refRID=9FFHDA4C166G4JVCQN9N

[Boglet 3,059]

1 hour ago, onlyme said:

Had an old Baxi, pretty much the same, heavy, cast iron, built to last and be serviced. New boilers are a different breed, lightweight, thermally very efficient but paper thin internals as a result partly of their efficiency. Best you can hope for is you don't suffer any expensive electronic / sensor (often repeat) repairs during its short life.

The house my parents lived in until a few years ago had an Ideal Mexico boiler - I remember them having it installed when I was a kid sometime in the mid/late 80s! Still going strong when they moved out.

[MrPin 20,568]

1 hour ago, Democorruptcy said:

£200 for a pair of shoes was a lot 25 years ago. If you could have got some Solovair Gibson's or equivalent, the £138 saved could have gone into divi shares!

They are probably size 24 in yellow.

[Rare Bear 2,464]

6 hours ago, the gardener said:

If you want a reliable old boiler (no wife jokes please) then get hold of a Glow-worm. I had one in my last house, at least 30 years old (my model was last manufactured in 1991) and extremely reliable. Only needed a new thermocouple every few years (about £10 a pop) - and that was just preventative maintenance, could probably have let it go longer. 

Yes, I've got a Glow-worm. It was in the place when I bought it in 1989 so it must have been there since the place was built about 10 years before. It just works.

[crashmonitor 3,976]

On 29/10/2020 at 09:14, onlyme said:

I'm making for of an effort to do the same.  Recently an Ideal boiler, actually pretty impressed, according to plumber very easy to work on and reliable too, though they all pretty much have limited work life thanks to condensing design.

Worcester Bosch have the name but they also have an increasingly bad reputation.

 

Yep I've got a Worcester boiler and we are awaiting a replacement heat exchanger...probably 600 quid were it not for a contract ( so perhaps 60 quid excess). The irony is the servicer 3 months ago was eulogising about the thing...the creme de le creme, the ferrari of boilers. Even the chap who came today and ordered the part for tomorrow said that's the boiler he wanted and the breakdown was a "coincidence". Not a great start with the " inherited" Worcester ( 7 years old), but heating engineers seem to like them.  Had an Ideal Boiler in the past and they are reliable.

 

 

[eight 19,665]

Mrs. E's one woman Etsy shop exports quite a bit to the Americas. Alas raw materials (printed fabrics) are increasingly from China due to ridiculous price differentials and, increasingly, choice/availability.

 

[onlyme 12,048]

27 minutes ago, crashmonitor said:

Yep I've got a Worcester boiler and we are awaiting a replacement heat exchanger...probably 600 quid were it not for a contract ( so perhaps 60 quid excess). The irony is the servicer 3 months ago was eulogising about the thing...the creme de le creme, the ferrari of boilers. Even the chap who came today and ordered the part for tomorrow said that's the boiler he wanted and the breakdown was a "coincidence". Not a great start with the " inherited" Worcester ( 7 years old), but heating engineers seem to like them.  Had an Ideal Boiler in the past and they are reliable.

 

 

Apparently they are not that easy to work on either - so maybe their popularity is basically down to familiarity with installers when installing and servicing - which to be fair does count for a lot. My plumber said go for what you like, I supplied it and was more than fine with an Ideal that I managed to get a good deal on Ebay.

I think a condensing boiler you are probably looking at a 10 year service life nowadays, the Ideal came with an extended 10 year guarantee and plumber was talking about Worcester Bosch extending theirs - maybe they have been suffering a bit.

[Chewing Grass 23,328]

1 minute ago, onlyme said:

Apparently they are not that easy to work on either - so maybe their popularity is basically down to familiarity with installers when installing and servicing - which to be fair does count for a lot. My plumber said go for what you like, I supplied it and was more than fine with an Ideal that I managed to get a good deal on Ebay.

I think a condensing boiler you are probably looking at a 10 year service life nowadays, the Ideal came with an extended 10 year guarantee and plumber was talking about Worcester Bosch extending theirs - maybe they have been suffering a bit.

I have still got my 1988 Glow-worm, had a new burner, gas control valve and igniter in 32 years.

Don't give a fuck that it has a pilot light because the damn thing is great.

[Panther 6,417]

17 year old Ferroli. I service the bastard myself so have got to know its temperament and will run it into the ground.

[Caravan Monster 5,010]

Just ordered some socks made in Hinckley, fuck you Chyna 

https://www.hj.co.uk/

 

[dgul 21,034]

30 minutes ago, onlyme said:

 

I think a condensing boiler you are probably looking at a 10 year service life nowadays, the Ideal came with an extended 10 year guarantee and plumber was talking about Worcester Bosch extending theirs - maybe they have been suffering a bit.

To be fair to the modern boilers, the old ones had both cast iron heat exchangers (which last forever but take a long time to heat up and thus are no-good for on-demand) and shoved all the corrosive nasties out of the flue (which condense in a condenser boiler and cause problems with the now-more-delicate heat exchanger).

Even so, you'd have thought that the industry would be more honest about what you get these days (longevity), and would be more cost-efficient in replacing what are effectively service parts.

Edited December 10, 2020 by dgul

[Stuey 3,643]

Just ordered 1kg Argentine peanut butter. Sorry, wrong thread..

[eight 19,665]

4 minutes ago, Stuey said:

Just ordered 1kg Argentine peanut butter. Sorry, wrong thread..

My yomp from Goose Green to Stroud Hill was clearly wasted on the likes of you.

[stokiescum 12,923]

Just had a fantastic very large home made meat a potatoe pie and a crunchy chocolate bar cheese cake delivered from the other end of Stoke.I noticed the regular pack of wankers on a Facebook selling site demanding to see her food hygiene rateing and other shit.so I ordered just to piss them off

[Rare Bear 2,464]

42 minutes ago, Chewing Grass said:

I have still got my 1988 Glow-worm, had a new burner, gas control valve and igniter in 32 years.

Don't give a fuck that it has a pilot light because the damn thing is great.

I've got one of those too, even older, about 1980 I think. Bloody brilliant. I wonder are there any still left in the back of a warehouse somewhere or have they all been grabbed by plumbers for their own use.

[goldbug9999 4,575]

I'll be sure to get my knee tremblers from British born skanks from now on. Everyone's to do their bit right.

[Kurt Barlow 6,879]

On 29/10/2020 at 09:14, onlyme said:

I'm making for of an effort to do the same.  Recently an Ideal boiler, actually pretty impressed, according to plumber very easy to work on and reliable too, though they all pretty much have limited work life thanks to condensing design.

Worcester Bosch have the name but they also have an increasingly bad reputation.

 

I installed a Glowworm (made in Derby) this summer. 4th one I have fitted in 24 years. Always straight fwd to install and never had any issues. 

RE Condensing design issues an engineer told me the main reason for the failure is stop start nature of them and contract and expansion process . Better to run the boiler  at low speed for whole heating period each day. 

Also in my case I turn the boiler off from may to September as the solar does all the work. 

Hoping to extend its life and defer the £15K investment in a GSHP