Combi or system boiler for a Tyneside flat or Victorian terrace?

A combi heats water straight from the mains when you turn on a tap. There's no cylinder and no loft tank, so it frees up space. A system boiler heats a store of hot water in a cylinder, which can then supply several taps and showers at once. A regular (heat only) boiler is the older set-up with a cylinder and a cold water tank in the loft, still common in Newcastle's period terraces.

Tyneside flats, the upper and lower flats that run through Heaton, Wallsend, North Shields and the West End, are specific to this part of the world. Each flat is a separate home with its own boiler, usually one bathroom, and not much room for a cylinder.

That makes a combi the natural fit. The questions at survey are about position: where the boiler goes, and where the flue leaves the building without blowing towards the other flat. Upper flats sometimes have the boiler in a loft room or kitchen cupboard, and lower flats often have it in the back kitchen. For most, a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 1000 or 4000 combi is enough, and the 1000 starts from £1,995 fitted.

Newcastle's period terraces, from Jesmond and Heaton to the seafront streets of Whitley Bay and the townhouses of Tynemouth, often still have a regular boiler with a loft tank. Swapping to a combi frees the airing cupboard and the loft, and a lot of our terrace customers want exactly that.

The deciding question is how much hot water you use at once. One bathroom and a family that showers one at a time: a combi, usually a Greenstar 4000, or an 8000 for a larger home. Two bathrooms, an en suite, or teenagers who all shower at 7.30am: a system boiler with an unvented cylinder keeps up where a combi would struggle. Three-storey houses with a lot of pipework, like those in Tynemouth and parts of Jesmond, usually land in the system boiler camp.

A combi can only deliver hot water as fast as the mains can supply cold water. So can an unvented cylinder. In older streets the incoming water main can be narrow or shared, and the flow rate at the kitchen tap decides whether a combi will give you a decent shower. We measure it at the survey, because that measurement, more than the house type, can settle the decision.

Our entry combi, the Worcester Bosch Greenstar 1000 24kW, is from £1,995 fitted with a power flush included. Bigger combis and system boilers with cylinders are priced at survey, because the cylinder, pipework changes and loft tank removal vary by house. See how much a new boiler costs in Newcastle for a fuller breakdown, and how long a boiler installation takes.

The survey for a new boiler installation in Newcastle is free. We'll measure the water flow, look at where the boiler and flue can go, and recommend one option with a fixed price.