Advantages and Disadvantages of combi boilers

Combi (combination boilers) differ in a very significant way to many other boiler systems. Hot water is provided on demand, and not stored. This means that the combi system has a number of advantages and disadvantages to being used in your home.

Firstly, combi boilers are great for saving space. With no need for a cold water cistern in the loft, you get your loft space back to use as a room or just for more storage space. This is a great advantage for smaller homes, or for homes with a large family where every inch of storage space is vital. With no component in the loft, there is also less pipe work that needs to be installed. This not only makes installing them easier, but it means that fewer things can go wrong with the piping if there isn’t so much of it.

Secondly, combination boilers come with thermostatic controls. This prevents your shower from suddenly getting scalding hot or freezing cold, and almost all combination boilers come with these controls as standard.

Thirdly, keeping a combination boiler is arguably cheaper and easier as they are so common. Finding engineers, spare parts and new upgrades or models is easier when everyone knows how to fix a combination boiler, or that there are various places to get spare parts from.

The disadvantages of combi boilers include the need for a cold water supply to ensure that you get hot water on demand. This can mean pressure decreases if lots of taps are being used at once and the demand is high; flow can also be affected if there is high demand and your boiler isn’t very powerful.