Choosing a combi boiler - customer service & boiler quality

[Chuck]

Thanks for all of the above. So is it a fair assumption that all of the combi boilers have much the much same components and therefore quality of components?

I wouldn't go much further than assuming that they will be of satisfactory quality and fit for their intended purpose. As a consumer, your best guide is probably the warranty.

If you want a figure of merit to inform your the decision, use the annual cost of ownership. Take the total cost (boiler+installation cost for boiler+extended warranty) add the servicing costs for the warranty period then divide by the number of years of warranty cover.

I think it's a good idea to have the same boiler that the installer (who I also use to service it) recommends and has in their own home. This means that they will be intimately familiar with its quirks.

 

[king of pipes]

You must remember combis which ever brand are mechanical and electrical devices sometime in its life it will fail , just make sure the warranty and after care is in place get it serviced each year hopefully by your installer and you will have piece of mind best of luck with your choice .

 

[Stanios]

All brands mentioned here make great boilers you can't go wrong with any of them.

What matters most by far is installation. I've seen many £1200 + boilers installed with no central heating filters the secondary heat exchanger then packs up after few years. Your first guy to come out might say you need a new boiler and many people do just that, replace their boiler because it was installed on a dirty system.

I've serviced over 100 boilers last year and only a few had completed benchmark certificate which is a sure sign that it was not flushed and just thrown right on the old system. So the question then is would you rather put in a £1200 boiler that lasts 5 years or a £500 one that will last the same under those conditions?

"What is the best boiler brand?" is the wrong question, the right question is "will you spend more than 5 hours installing my boiler?"

 

[muggles]

Hi Muggles

How do you deal with the condense hose to condense pipe on them? They need a rubber coupling on the end really - bit of an oversight and should be addressed by Gash

It just pushes onto the end of an overflow pipe. Bit of silicone to lubricate and seal it and you're away

 

[muggles]

Intergas great product, excellent design but customer service support is very poor,and quite awkward to deal with if a problem arises, had 4 call outs over a period of time and it was a making constant calls and chasing up appointments that made me second think in the future,where others may have mid performance product but Back up 2nd to none.glad I don't have to worry about all that now
Good luck

I called them out a couple of weeks ago and they turned up the same day - sent a chap all the way from Wales to Oxford for me

 

[Jay Jay]

Brilliant

 

[Dilalio]

It just pushes onto the end of an overflow pipe. Bit of silicone to lubricate and seal it and you're away

Yep, that's what I did... just think it could do with a better ready-made socket on the end - like the one that came off the betacom that I took out

 

[king of pipes]

You fit a compression couplin change the black rubber cone for a white one mc alpine sell them then connect to 19mm overflow

 

[Harvest Fields]

I'm a Vaillant man all day long. Never had an issue with them and I do not know anyone that has ever had an issue with customer service either. However I'm sure someone will shoot me down now.

 

[Dilalio]

You should always have more than 1 string to your bow