We had our old combi replaced after 23 years wonderful service with a new Worcester Bosch Combi.

This new one is very quiet and so far has given 20 months of effortless heating and hot water. You can get different sizes to meet different sized houses but we have 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and this keeps them all nice and warm. Also seems a bit cheaper to run than the old one although price comparisons are very difficult to work out in the current climate.

We did have one big problem but it was not down to the boiler per se. The new boiler required a newer type of flue and the installers broke a roof tile which we were not aware of until many months later when a damp patch appeared in an internal wall. Proving it was the installers fault was nigh impossible by then but the house insurance thankfully covered it and the subsequent damage. Combi are great but if you need a newer flue do check the roof afterwards if you can.

"If you can't run it to a drain pipe internally fit a thermostatically controlled trace heater to the drain pipe. These draw a small current and only run when the temperature drops to freezing point."

Good advice, but a point worth mentioning concerns connecting condense drains to internal drainage runs. Some building inspectors - at least in London - now expect to see such pipes fitted with a small trap when they leave the boiler, even though most condensing boilers already have an internal condensate trapping device.

17 years old...........it's barely out of nappies!

Having to run the taps slower to get hot water is probably due to the secondary heat exchanger scaling up.

I prefer a system boiler with hot water tank and back up immersion heater rather than a combi.

Do not forget that with a Comby boiler you do need good water pressure, as its only as good as that. its no good if its low pressure or a big house like mine. not forgetting that if your electric goes off you only have cold water. with a cylinder you at least have that full of hot water. low pressure like no hot water at the sink or bath if you have more than one tap running