combi boiler-yes or no?

[character]

we live in a 3 bed det house 4 adults all love showers the gas central heating runs 8 radiators but the boiler was in the house when we moved in 1988 thus thinking of replacing,will a combi boiler give us a good flow/pressure for 4 adults who seem to be constantly in the shower have read that the hot tap flows slowly why is this

[raysparx1]

I would put in electric showers, if running from a Combi, the longer the pipe the slower it gets on the Combi,

[sense4all]

I am not a plumber but a homeowner who changed from combi boiler to system boiler and mega flow for that very reason. Well worth the money, short recharge time on the water tank too.

[buildersmate]

A Combi boiler combines a CH system with the function akin to the older-style Ascot water heater - you remember the device that used to sit over a sink and it heats the water instantaneously when you turn it on? If you try and drive too much hot water out of a Combi boiler, it just slows the flow rate right down to a trickle because it physically can't pump out enough heat. This is worst in the winter when the CH is on at the same time - which is also when occupants want lots of nice warm showers - because the CH is competing for the available heat from the thing. Best advice is as per RayS.

[cascarelli]

We've got a combi boiler that supplies central heating and shower in a 3 bed house and its excellent. Constant hot water whenever you want. The shower is an all singing and dancing affair with overhead soaker, body jets etc etc and is the best shower we've ever had.

It seems to be a theory of people who dont have them that combi boilers cant service a shower and heating together, but in practice weve found thats not true. Lashings of hot water and no waiting for the tank to refill !!

[raysparx1]

Hi, nobody is saying it can't do both efficiently,in some properties it will, it is not theory it is fact,we have a combi system in our house,but the shower is electric, I did this given the fact I have been in the building trade over 40 years, if it is a long pipe run combis often struggle to cope,

[monkeylovin]

Probably would not recommend one if there are four adults. There great if you only call for hot water out of one outlet. i.e. One shower at a time. but if you turn a hot tap on when the shower is running it reduces the flow. I would replace it with a regular boiler and keep your hot water tank. that should be more efficient that way aswell.