Boiler choice: Ideal or Vaillant

[digger36]

Moved into a 1920 5 bed detached and are replacing the whole plumbing and heating system.

I had decided on a Vaillant Ecotec Plus 837 combi boiler.

Having discussed this morning at a couple of local plumbers merchants they mentioned an Ideal Vogue 40.

The Ideal is about £230 less than the Vaillant, although money isn't the driver, reliability and performance is.

Id a lot of consultancy work for housing associations who previously used Ideal boilers ad ha no end of problems, although I appreciate hosing associations never specified the best of course due to the cost.

So my question is:

Vaillant Ecotec Plus 837 or Ideal Vogue 40

Thank you in advance

 

[Leo21]

Valliant are crap back up and parts are expensive.. Ideal E type, Mexico, classic,logic, vogue..... Valliant turbo 242 then down hill. Early Eco with rubber hoses and cracked cony connections below hex. G10 fiasco...

Non electronic boilers don't really count, name a bad one!. The shear size of ideal Feau par has wiped the brand from my consciuosnes.

 

[LPC]

Valliant are crap back up and parts are expensive.. Ideal E type, Mexico, classic,logic, vogue..... Valliant turbo 242 then down hill. Early Eco with rubber hoses and cracked cony connections below hex. G10 fiasco...

Simply not true. Fitted a Plus that had a dodgy loom, customer rang me 3 days after install, Vaillant came out same day and sorted. Yes rubber hoses were a weak point, but very, very easily sorted.
Vaillant parts are not expensive at all compared to pretty much any other manufacturer. In fact, I find they're on the cheaper end for most things.

Build quality, reliability, backup; second to none, IMO. I try to fit the best for my customers, as they take my advice over any, and in my opinion all things considered, Vaillant are the best boiler you can spend your dollars on. But I have had a drink.

 

[Whyme]

Fitted the Vaillant 831 when it first came out, i was an advocate...After all the slug probs the rubber hose probs the continual diverter probs the dodgy pump probs the fact they now don't have knobs on the front only elderly unfriendly controls, we've ditched them. Ideal were complete sh**e but there vogue is top draw. i dont like the lower end but you'd have to be mad to like a budget from any manufacturer.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

I've fitted both and done the training courses on both, my first choice is still the Vogue.
Reasons i love it:
1. Easy to fit
2. Looks great(some homeowners are that shallow)
3. 10 Year warranty
4. Plenty of space in there, I'd rather a bigger boiler with lots of space than a tiny thing thats a barsteward to work on.
5. 7m head pump, easy control interface(you really need the codes for the vaillant) and light up dials
6. I've got a free ipad to collect from points \o/

 

[Leo21]

Fitted the Vaillant 831 when it first came out, i was an advocate...After all the slug probs the rubber hose probs the continual diverter probs the dodgy pump probs the fact they now don't have knobs on the front only elderly unfriendly controls, we've ditched them. Ideal were complete sh**e but there vogue is top draw. i dont like the lower end but you'd have to be mad to like a budget from any manufacturer.

You say that but the Baxi Duo Tec isn't bad. Probably a complete accident, but quite robust.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

I know Ideal had a disastrophe with the isar/icos/istor and probably wish they never left the test board but they learnt a hard lesson and have come back with IMO one of the finest boilers of this generation in the Vogue.
The Logic is still a solid mid range boiler too with nearly 1.4 million fitted since launch.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I've fitted both and done the training courses on both, my first choice is still the Vogue.
Reasons i love it:
1. Easy to fit
2. Looks great(some homeowners are that shallow)
3. 10 Year warranty
4. Plenty of space in there, I'd rather a bigger boiler with lots of space than a tiny thing thats a barsteward to work on.
5. 7m head pump, easy control interface(you really need the codes for the vaillant) and light up dials
6. I've got a free ipad to collect from points \o/

so your getting bribed to fit them

 

[Ray Stafford]

Vaillants also have faults but a much bigger company to provide back up

I think that globally, this is true. Ideal has been sold to the Groupe Atlantique, whose turnover is just shy of Euro 1 billion, whereas the Vaillant global turnover is about Euro 2.3 billion.

However, in terms of unit sales in the UK, my understanding is that Ideal have now displaced Vaillant as the No 2 boiler, behind Worcester.

 

[Ermintrude]

How much is a pump head for a mark 2 Eco ? What u need housing aswell ? Ans the melting flue or the insulation on the door falling to bits?

 

[LPC]

The only time I see the door insulation fallen apart on Vaillants is when they've still not had the burner gasket changed to the graphite one and the seals been compromised. Usually when that's happened the door insulation is the least of the problems!

I did a pump the other day actually on a 7-year old Ecotec Pro. Had to change the entire hydraulic block and remove/refit diverter because they changed from Wilo to Grundfos. Whole job done in 40 mins start to finish. How many boilers can you say that about? Think I only paid about 150 for pump and block brand new.

 

[Leo21]

Tbh I think boiler spares prices are criminal. I get tired of telling custards how much the repairs are going to cost. When worked out against labour prices, parts are more than labour.Which is never right.

 

[bert large]

All boilers have or have had their weak points.
Vaillant's hoses & gasket problems. Worcester's splitting plastic parts etc. Glow-worms leaking from everywhere. Baxi Duo-Tec GA, Ferroli being Ferroli etc. etc.

Vaillant's current models have been on the market for around ten years now. Their build quality faults were sorted years ago & they continue to be a rock solid reliable boiler.

The litmus test will be if we can say the same about the Ideal Vogue in ten years time. If so then it will have earn't the right to be mentioned as a rival to the Vaillant in terms of reliability as the Baxi Duo-Tec HEA is.
I recall many creaming themselves about how good the Ideal Logic was several years ago but from what I hear those are suffering many breakdowns as they get older.

 

[Leo21]

All boilers have or have had their weak points.
Vaillant's hoses & gasket problems. Worcester's splitting plastic parts etc. Glow-worms leaking from everywhere. Baxi Duo-Tec GA, Ferroli being Ferroli etc. etc.

Vaillant's current models have been on the market for around ten years now. Their build quality faults were sorted years ago & they continue to be a rock solid reliable boiler.

The litmus test will be if we can say the same about the Ideal Vogue in ten years time. If so then it will have earn't the right to be mentioned as a rival to the Vaillant in terms of reliability as the Baxi Duo-Tec HEA is.
I recall many creaming themselves about how good the Ideal Logic was several years ago but from what I hear those are suffering many breakdowns as they get older.

What he said.

 

[drip-dry]

Tbh I think boiler spares prices are criminal. I get tired of telling custards how much the repairs are going to cost. When worked out against labour prices, parts are more than labour.Which is never right.

you should put ya labour price up then !!!

:wink_smile:

sorted

:conehead:

 

[hammers4spanner]

All boilers have or have had their weak points.
Vaillant's hoses & gasket problems. Worcester's splitting plastic parts etc. Glow-worms leaking from everywhere. Baxi Duo-Tec GA, Ferroli being Ferroli etc. etc.

Vaillant's current models have been on the market for around ten years now. Their build quality faults were sorted years ago & they continue to be a rock solid reliable boiler.

The litmus test will be if we can say the same about the Ideal Vogue in ten years time. If so then it will have earn't the right to be mentioned as a rival to the Vaillant in terms of reliability as the Baxi Duo-Tec HEA is.
I recall many creaming themselves about how good the Ideal Logic was several years ago but from what I hear those are suffering many breakdowns as they get older.

bang on the button

Vogue totally untested and as i said earlier i like the logic as good mid range boiler however faults are now showing