advise on best boiler pls

[artie guber]

following a visit a few weeks ago from a plumber on a heating matter it was recommended that at some point in the near future i should get my baxi bermuda back boiler replaced with a modern combi boiler

because i believe in being 'in the know' on such matters, before i proceed to get a plumber in (in due course) i would like to know what boiler type to go for and what to avoid. I am in a bungalow, with just me the occupant, with 7 radiators scattered around.

Lets assume i am not on a budget - nor am i a great believer of saving the planet. I want a really good quality boiler with well made parts that are not likely to fail one day after the year's guarantee. I am not looking for cheap and cheerful. I would rather have reliability over efficiency any day. I really do not mind spending more money so long as it is quality. I hear condensing boilers are more trouble than they are worth. I am also aware that Baxi have a combi model that replaces their own old back boiler (but are not popular with plaumbers due to the awkwardness of installation)

So what do you guys recommend (what would you install in your own house if fitting a boiler from scratch, or replacing one in a close relative's house). What are the good brands to buy, and what are the ones to avoid like the plague. I see alot of new build wimpey/bovis etc homes in my work and many of the people living there have mentioned boilers going wrong within a couple of years or so of buying the place (i am a locksmith by trade).

hope you can take a few moments to advise and then when i call local guy at least i can pretty much say what i want (or more importantly dont). There are probably a load of questions you need to ask me before advising, as i guess it probably isnt as simple as just saying buy brand X and not brand Y. Fingers crossed though

 

[Whyme]

Tbh vaillant have ironed out all the probs and the new ones are very very reliable (controls are crap though) and mostly brass components as opposed to worcester, will agree with tb on the hard sell they are becoming infamouse for..

 

[Killy Bing]

I had pressure problems with a vaillant. Just as i was losing the will to live they suddenly produced a conversion kit that moved the pressure sensor from the flow to the return.

Useless hateful wallhung whitegoods metrosexual crap!

Give me a cast iron sectional 450kw boiler any day of the week!

The f75 kits.

we've bullied our pts to keep them in stock now.....

 

[lame plumber]

intergas for the last 2 years is all ive used, binned remeha avantas after they leaked a few times, wb binned when one failed after a day in use due to plastic pressre gauge pipe leaking everywhere, used to be copper!. ferrollis cheap end, baxis pottertons and mains still got diverter valves and phex to block and fail and vailants used to explode the car hosepipes to often changednow but too much hassle in the past. re guarentees, doesnt matter on length of guarentee but whether the manufacturers will cover it in the long term, small print always gives a way out.

 

[leethegasman]

Thought I was the only one.........might as well come out too !

Me to there I've said it

 

[Rickster123]

I'd fit a logic + lovely boilers in my opinion. I would avoid remeha and glowworm but that's just me.

 

[artie guber]

so many opinions

cheers all

so prob looking at worcester/valliant/intergas when it comes to it - plus a good look at installer's terms/conditions/warranties etc

at least i also have an idea of the cheap crappy end of the range.

 

[Trev]

so many opinions

cheers all

so prob looking at worcester/valliant/intergas when it comes to it - plus a good look at installer's terms/conditions/warranties etc

at least i also have an idea of the cheap crappy end of the range.

I would also say Viessmann are up there but can be expensive to buy. How big a system are you looking at installing? Are you after just a sealed combi system or do you want to have a cylinder? How many radiators?

 

[mfgs]

I would go for Worcester, good boiler and the best back up service of any manufacturer.

 

[Mrs Tara Plumbi]

so there we are, a whole bunch of us are likely to be getting Worcester next time.

 

[Killy Bing]

I would also say Viessmann are up there but can be expensive to buy. How big a system are you looking at installing? Are you after just a sealed combi system or do you want to have a cylinder? How many radiators?

The 100's have serious issues with the heat exchanger diesgn now. The 200's and 300's are class bits of kit.

 

[dancinplumba]

Intergas all the way, far, far superior to all the other tat, ie, wb vaillant viessmann baxi et cetera

 

[Howsie]

You will not go wrong with:

Vailiant
Intergas
ATAG
Viessmann

But like has been said, the install is everything.

 

[lame plumber]

so there we are, a whole bunch of us are likely to be getting Worcester next time.

I wont ever touch them again, to complicated and unreliable, give one to a pensioner and you for ever getting call backs

 

[Roger Welton]

Unless worcester buck their idea up regarding material selection and boiler layout I won't be fitting one again either.

 

[leethegasman]

Unless worcester buck their idea up regarding material selection and boiler layout I won't be fitting one again either.

Hi roger I install Worcester and am happy with them as a company I assume your quote regarding material selection is the use of plastic .i am interested in what you mean regarding boiler lay out cheers Lee

 

[Killy Bing]

Hi roger I install Worcester and am happy with them as a company I assume your quote regarding material selection is the use of plastic .i am interested in what you mean regarding boiler lay out cheers Lee

eeeee install a couple of intergas and then go back to w.b

its like having that nice chilled out girlfriend whos happy with whatever

and then going back to that needy neurotic ex that screams for attention and doesn't want you to do anything easily!

 

[Roger Welton]

Hi roger I install Worcester and am happy with them as a company I assume your quote regarding material selection is the use of plastic .i am interested in what you mean regarding boiler lay out cheers Lee

Yo're right about the plastic, never happy with it long term, I know it is cheaper to make, and moulding into complex shapes is easier. But give me brass any day for a boiler, doesn't go brittle over time, and more intrinsic strength.

Regarding the layout, have you tried servicing the worcesters, or replacing any parts, right pain, and unnecessarily so.

 

[Scott_D]

Is the CDI better/worse than the SI range?

 

[Derek Hardman]

Im WB accredited, and as far as Im concerned they are fine, providing the installation is correct, since the condensing boilers were more commonly used since 2005 our fist breakdown was a non ,amufacture fault and it was 6 years old, there was a glitch for a short while with the plastic manifolds, that was cured, other than that one, breakdowns for us are exceeding 6 years, and I dont think that is bad at all, and if it does break down, ring early and WB will be out same day, if not next day, same with parts... WB boilers are like having an old transit with a perkins engine.... you cant beat it for reliability and availability.

 

[Roger Welton]

Is the CDI better/worse than the SI range?

CDi's are better in that you can get to clean the main HEX and electrodes more easily (or at all if RH flueing is used!) not seen a cdi compact so can't comment on them yet.

 

[Roger Welton]

Im WB accredited, and as far as Im concerned they are fine, providing the installation is correct, since the condensing boilers were more commonly used since 2005 our fist breakdown was a non ,amufacture fault and it was 6 years old, there was a glitch for a short while with the plastic manifolds, that was cured, other than that one, breakdowns for us are exceeding 6 years, and I dont think that is bad at all, and if it does break down, ring early and WB will be out same day, if not next day, same with parts... WB boilers are like having an old transit with a perkins engine.... you cant beat it for reliability and availability.

Yet I have changed several PCB's on the original Greenstar HE's, Jnr's and CDi, loads of gas valves on the Si and Jnr's quite a few diverter valves.

 

[Derek Hardman]

Yet I have changed several PCB's on the original Greenstar HE's, Jnr's and CDi, loads of gas valves on the Si and Jnr's quite a few diverter valves.

I have changed many parts for installations that were not mine, but my installs have been awesome in terms of longevity, maybe Im lucky, but then, I dont fit the i or juniors, i dont rate them except for their intended use...as an economy boiler., the original Greenstar HE plus was exceptional, with exception to the first flues (2003), the main problem with those was engineers not reading/understanding the control panel, the call backs due to engineer mistakes was the main reason for pulling the production on the HE plus.

 

[Derek Hardman]

And I will concede the Prettl gas valve on the early si boiler were an issue, but again, I didnt replace one of mine in less than 6 years.

 

[vern]

WORCESTER BOSCH any day.......fitted hundreds very few problems too! Like Derek

 

[TBServices]

All this talk of Worcester's is making me want to give them another chance lol.

Although there are so any accredited installers, I'd never get the job as I couldn't offer the longer warranty.

 

[Derek Hardman]

All this talk of Worcester's is making me want to give them another chance lol.

Although there are so any accredited installers, I'd never get the job as I couldn't offer the longer warranty.

You can if you get a WB installer to register for the guarantee, and then WB wont write to your customer either, and if you fit the WB filter, you get 8 years warranty on boiler, flue, controls AND filter, its pretty good!

 

[Howsie]

The only reason WB isn't on my list is because we don't fit them.

 

[vern]

All this talk of Worcester's is making me want to give them another chance lol.

Although there are so any accredited installers, I'd never get the job as I couldn't offer the longer warranty.

Lol if your serious leave with me.....

in 5 years all I have offered is WB.....been asked for Vaillant only twice in this time, they both have CDi's lol, if they are on a budget they get a junior or someone else lol, because I ain't knocking my bits out for nothing or no one!

 

[TBServices]

Lol, we'll see. Would have to be CDi though, juniors are horrible. What's the deal with that filter anyway? Looks like a UFO.

 

[AWheating]

worcester cdi classic with extended warranty.

want to fit an intergas, somebody ask me to!!