Reno the right choice for listed Devon cottage

When Mark and Claire Pickford moved into their listed three bedroom cottage in the centre of a Devonshire town, updating the central heating system was high on their list of priorities. The couple wanted to turn the dilapidated cob-built house into a safe, warm and comfortable family home. Despite the property's Grade II listing presenting a number of problems in installing a condensing boiler, one of Johnson and Starley's recently launched Reno high efficiency models has met all the challenges.

Mark Pickford, a computer consultant, comments: 'When we moved into the house in Bovey Tracey's Town Hall Place conservation area there was an old cast iron boiler providing hot water and running a couple of radiators.

We soon realised, however, that it was not only 'past its sell by date', but also incapable of providing heating for the extra radiators we wanted to put in.

Mark undertook a research project on the Internet and found that not only does the Reno offer high efficiency, but Johnson and Starley provides very good technical support both for clients and installers.

'Fitting the new Reno has been one of the most important changes to the cottage,' he says.

Crucial to the outcome was the number of flueing options available with the Reno as the old boiler - mounted on the back wall of the bathroom - featured a balanced flue venting straight out into the courtyard of a neighbouring property.

The Pickfords and their heating contractor opted to move the boiler location to a purpose built cabinet beside the bath and to run the flue horizontally to the right to exit through a different wall.

The engineer who carried out the installation commented: 'Although it is the first time I have installed a Reno it has been relatively straightforward: it is really just like a standard combi boiler with a bigger heat exchanger and a condensate trap.' He particularly liked the mounting jig because the connectors come straight down making it very accessible.

The boiler itself is very light and easy to lift into position while the flue presented no problems either.

'This is a large house with a complicated layout and the HE 30 is well within capacity running the seven radiators the client now has,' he said.

The Reno offers customers the benefits of full modulation, monitored by Honeywell controls.