Oil combi or oil system boiler: which suits your home?

When an oil boiler is replaced, one of the first questions is whether to keep the same kind of boiler or change. Oil boilers come in the same broad types as gas: combi boilers, and system or regular boilers that heat a hot water cylinder. Here is how they differ.

Oil combi boilers

A combi heats water as you use it, so there is no cylinder to store hot water. That frees up the airing cupboard and suits smaller homes with one bathroom, where people rarely run two taps at once.

The trade-off is flow. If two people shower at the same time, a combi has to share what it can produce between them.

System and regular oil boilers

These heat a cylinder of stored hot water. Many farmhouses and larger country homes have this set-up already, often with more than one bathroom. Stored hot water means several taps can run at once without the pressure falling away, and the cylinder can sometimes be heated in other ways too.

Changing from one to the other

Moving from a cylinder system to a combi, or the other way round, is a bigger job than a straight swap. Pipework changes, the cylinder comes out or goes in, and the boiler may need to sit somewhere else.

Why we decide on the visit

The right answer depends on the size of the house, how many bathrooms you have, how many people live there, and what is already in place. That is one of the reasons every oil job starts with a site visit. We look at what you have, talk through how you use your hot water, and recommend what fits. Then we price it before we start.

Our team is now registered to work on oil boilers across Bridgend county and the rural Vale. Ring 07712 646488 to book a visit.