# Electricity generating boiler



## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Hi guys,
Does any one has any experience with the electricity generating boilers? Basically what I have seen on the net, it's just to good to be true. Few places I saw was you pay monthly £75 for the boiler and they give you back £80 a month for 5 years for your energy bills. 
You get new boiler, which is..... well.... new, will be more economical, you will save money on your bills and they give you money on top of that. 
Whats the catch? Any one has them?


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

If a deal seems too good to be true then it usually is!


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

But it's not on one website, its on a couple of them. I can't / didn't try hard enough, find that kind boilers on their own.


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

Do you mean something like this ?

http://www.flowenergy.uk.com/meet-flow/


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

"From £2880". Hmmm that sounds awfully expensive when you can get a very high end Valiant or WB for £1500. 

Claims it will save you up to £200 per year. So if you consider £2800 is likely to be the lowest cost, and £200 is likely to be the highest you can save, I think it will be a fair amount of time before you see the benefit?

I'm in the market for a new boiler so someone please correct me if I am wrong!


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

dholdi said:


> Do you mean something like this ?
> 
> http://www.flowenergy.uk.com/meet-flow/


Yes, one like this.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

DrEskimo said:


> "From £2880". Hmmm that sounds awfully expensive when you can get a very high end Valiant or WB for £1500.
> 
> Claims it will save you up to £200 per year. So if you consider £2800 is likely to be the lowest cost, and £200 is likely to be the highest you can save, I think it will be a fair amount of time before you see the benefit?
> 
> I'm in the market for a new boiler so someone please correct me if I am wrong!


You will save up to £200 per year + you will get electricity that it creates, and after 5 years you will be paid for the electricity for what you don't use.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

http://www.thegreenage.co.uk/flow-boiler-worth/


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Mindis said:


> You will save up to £200 per year + you will get electricity that it creates, and after 5 years you will be paid for the electricity for what you don't use.


But if it only generates electricity while it is heating your water, it's not likely you can use a lot of the electricity it actually generates?

When I used to have a tank system I use to heat the water in the morning for an hour or so before I got up, so unless you had a storage device that wouldn't be any use really.

I like the idea and will certainly keep my eye on it. I have a combi boiler in my current house so wouldn't be able to take advantage of it now.

Guess the biggest flaw is as the article points out, it's new! Don't fancy being a beta tester for something I rely on so heavily that costs upwards of £4K...!


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

DrEskimo said:


> But if it only generates electricity while it is heating your water, it's not likely you can use a lot of the electricity it actually generates?
> 
> When I used to have a tank system I use to heat the water in the morning for an hour or so before I got up, so unless you had a storage device that wouldn't be any use really.
> 
> ...


It will generate electricity while it's running, heating house or water. Let it be in the summer it will run only when heating water but winter time, more or less all the time.
It is new technology, but you get 10 years boiler warranty if you stay with that company.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Plus you don't need to pay for the boiler, only for the installation.


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

Mindis said:


> Plus you don't need to pay for the boiler, only for the installation.


I read it as you pay for the boiler and installation, however the monthly repayments over the 5 years recoup your initial outlay.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

dholdi said:


> I read it as you pay for the boiler and installation, however the monthly repayments over the 5 years recoup your initial outlay.


From what I have understood, you pay monthly £75 for the boiler, but you get back £80 a month from them towards your bills.



> Your loan for the boiler can be taken out over 2-5 years. As an example, a loan of £3,675 over 5 years will cost you £75.50 per month at a representative 8.9% APR (this is a headline rate and your rate may vary depending on personal circumstances).
> But here's the clever bit. Flow will then provide a FIXED reduction in your home energy bill of £80 a month (this is on top of any savings you've already made by switching your home energy to Flow).
> 
> Cost
> ...


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Yea I think the finance payment is a more sensible one, as I imagine the second biggest hurdle (after the unknown brand and possible reliability issues) is the significantly higher initial outlay.

Even though this would be recovered in around 5yrs, people don't play the long game...!

I would share a similar view to many other green technologies. I am a big fan of having my own sustainable energy solution, pairing something like Tesla's solar panel tiles with a Powerwall, and eventually a Model 3, but the high initial outlay relies on me staying in that property for a number of years. I guess until I am settled into my 'forever home' it doesn't make much sense. Could argue that it would add value when selling, but doubt that it would add much.

With a flow system, I imagine it might make some buyers wary....whether this is unfounded or not is a different matter!

Very interesting concept though. Let me know if you decide to go for it


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

If you do go for finance there are much cheaper options as long as you have a good credit rating, that way you could probably finance the installation as well for similar costs.
Do they provide FIT metering as part of the package ?


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