Advice please, intergas or vaillant.... Which one

[Ezki1]

Hi everybody,
Hoping you guys can offer me some of your expert advice.
ive got a old baxi back boiler which is probably from the 70s, working fine, costs a bomb to run but the misses wants a new electric fire and surround. She's been nagging for years and I have decided to make the change.
were going to have a new combi fitted upstairs in the airing cupboard.
my ( and family's regular plumber/ heating engineer ) is vaillant trained, so gets the extended warranty, which I believe is 5 years now since the new year, he wants me to have a ecotec 28kw.
problem is when I do my research on vaillant combis, it's very mixed views from what I can see and doesn't fill me with confidence with so many negative reviews, ( with the research I have seen).

ive been locking at intergas combi 28/24, the research I can see is mainly positive, although not much reviews out there,
i spoke to intergas today who confirmed I would only get 3 years warranty as my plumber is not one of there platinum installers,

what would you go for in my situation.
thanks.

 

[Masood]

Find an Intergas Platinum installer and you'll get 5 year warranty.

Find an installer - Intergas

 

[PhoenixServices]

Or get your installer to become a platinum installer

 

[Silent Dancer]

Vaillant hands down. The Intergas is uses an old fashioned heat exchanger design that everyone else has moved away from. It also uses cheap components that Vaillant would not touch.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Its an interesting question.

Firstly, you are not comparing like with like. Sure, they are both combi boilers, but thats like saying that a BMW 520 and a Landrover Discovery are both cars. Whilst true, its hard to compare them as they follow very different design trends to satisfy different types of driver.

Vaillant are a very large company in the UK, and have sold hundreds of thousands of boilers per year for many years. There are many million Vaillant appliances currently in use. Since people are far more likely to go online to complain about something than to highlight quiet, trouble-free operation, I am not surprised that you have found more negative reviews of Vaillant than of Intergas. The latter probably sell 1/20th of the number of appliances in the UK, and have only been active in the UK for a few years, so the installed base will only be a few tens of thousands.

Both organisations are just the UK offshoot of large parent companies in Germany (Vaillant) and Holland (Intergas).

Vaillant make well engineered boilers, but no-one would call them simple. Their R&D is amonst the best in the industry, and their designs and component choices are frequently copied by other manufacturers. I presume from your post that your engineer is recommending an Ecotec Pro 28. This is a sound model, from the lower tier Vaillant range. (There is also a higher tier called "Ecotec Plus")

Intergas set out to make a very robust and simple boiler - hence their boast about only 4 moving parts. Whilst I can see why SilentDancer called their heat-exchanger "old fashioned", this is not quite the case. There was a design trend to using similar heat-exchangers some years ago. No other manufacturer could make it work, and they all abandoned their attempts - some of which were absolute dogs. Intergas persisted and made it work. It has the supreme virtue of being very forgiving of system debris, whereas "modern" heat exchangers are more prone to blockage. If the system is perfectly clean, this is an irrelevance, but many systems are not perfectly clean.

The model to which you refer is the middle of three Intergas ranges (Rapid = entry level, HRE = middle, Eco RF = top)

In terms of future maintenance, you will always be able to get spares and knowledgeable engineers to work on the Vaillant. On the downside, Vaillant can come over as a very arrogant business, and don't always give the impression that they like their customers.

Intergas will not have so many skilled engineers, and spares will not be available from every spares stockist. In these days of internet ordering, the latter may not matter so much, and you are more likely to get a personal service from the smaller company.

Both boilers would make it onto my shortlist of 5 or 6 recommends at their price-point. You are not making a crazy mistake whichever way you decide. (Although you might be tempted to look at the Vaillant Ecotec Plus range or the Intergas EcoRF range for longer warranties)

There is one factor which would make my mind up, if I were you.

It sounds like you and your family have a good relationship with your installer. Good installation is probably more important than the minor technical details. If your man is experienced with Vaillant and has recommended it, then he is likely to give you a better job if he can use that experience. In the unlikely event of a problem with the appliance, he is more likely to be able to diagnose it quickly, and may have contacts with his local rep to get a quick solution.

If you go against his recommendation, then his learning curve will be on your time. Unless he says "I have been meaning to try one of those Intergas boilers..." in which case he can get on an Intergas course and you can explore them together!

A good, mutually trusting relationship with your installer is priceless. Don't spoil it.

 

[lame plumber]

Vaillant hands down. The Intergas is uses an old fashioned heat exchanger design that everyone else has moved away from. It also uses cheap components that Vaillant would not touch.

be nice if you got a gsr tag so we could know if you speak from a technical background or diy knowledge

Ray comments make good sense, personally I would install an intergas over a vaillant any day, purely for their ease of operation, less risk of breakdown and the fact my merchant holds the spares and they are easily repairable

 

[Ezki1]

thanks everybody, especially ray, very informative.
Think i will speak to my engineer and see if he is willing to fit intergas for me.

 

[ben5192]

think if you look in to it platenum installers are now on 7 yr warranty in intergas
great boilers in my opinion

 

[Ray Stafford]

think if you look in to it platenum installers are now on 7 yr warranty in intergas
great boilers in my opinion

7 years on HRE Ben. 10 years on Eco RF, and 3 years on Rapid.

 

[stevetheplumber]

i think you can pay for extra cover on the rapide

 

[stevetheplumber]

tell your installer its a morning to be come approved

 

[lame plumber]

i think you can pay for extra cover on the rapide

you can pay for hre upgrade if you want

 

[zzzjim]

.... I would install an intergas ..... my merchant holds the spares and they are easily repairable

Do factor in local support / Knowledge / availability

check out local installers !

 

[ursole]

intergas all the time