Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/other?

[jameswilson]

Hi,

My old combi boiler needs replacing as it has totally broken down and beyond economical repair.

My options are at the budget range and include:

Potterton Gold 24 HE £650 (2yr gurantee)
Biasi Activa 24c £650 (5 yr guarantee)
Ideal Logic + plus 25 £750 (5 yr guarantee)
vaillant ecotec pro 24 £830 (1yr guarantee)
rehema avanta 24 £830 (2yrs unless rehama installer in which case 5 yrs)

Which should I go for. The most important factors are:

reliability
cheap readily available parts/servicing/repair
good support from manufacturer for repairs/have own trained technicians etc

Thanks

 

[Puddle]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

poll attached
I am going for the Advanta
and wonder why a worcester was not included ?

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

potterton gold is a baxi duotec best choice imho

 

[CES]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Potterton for me too.

 

[furniss567]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

i would go for a worcester cdi combi, suprised this wasnt on your list, valliant are excellent as well, only probs is if system is not flushed thoroughly its flow sensor blocks very easily

 

[jameswilson]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

i would go for a worcester cdi combi, suprised this wasnt on your list, valliant are excellent as well, only probs is if system is not flushed thoroughly its flow sensor blocks very easily

The 27CDi Worcester is around £1000 for boiler, flue and clock. I really don't want to spend this amount on the boiler, otherwise, I'd get a Viessmann or Intergas. I am looking at the lower end of the budget, spending a max of around £800

 

[Blackcatgas]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

The 27CDi Worcester is around £1000 for boiler, flue and clock. I really don't want to spend this amount on the boiler, otherwise, I'd get a Viessmann or Intergas. I am looking at the lower end of the budget, spending a max of around £800

Remeha, then my second choice would be the Remeha.

 

[Rodreguez]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

has it gotta be 24kw???

potterton gold is a good boiler fitted loads. for the 33kw its £788 inc vat. that includes standard flue and clock

 

[jameswilson]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

I've got 8 600x1200 rads and 2 small rads, but the max we have on is 7 big rads (probably about 7500 BTU each) and the 2 small rads, so should be powerful enough. Usually only around 5-6 rads are on. Hence 24kW should be enough for my needs

The Pootterton 24kW is £662 delivered off the internet. I wonder if I could buy it cheaper off PTS, plumbase etc etc, but not had a looks as of yet. If anyone knows, let me know

The Potterton has been around for a while so I have read the good and bad about it, seems like fan goes, but since parts are readily availabe and lots of people know how to fix/service them that is OK.

The Biasi is a bit of a mystery - anyone got one. Been out for over a year, but no much about it on the forums, even though it is a very good deal with the 5yr guarantee. Seems like a total gamble, could pay off or could be a wipe out.

Ideal seems to have a bad rep, but maybe they have changed their ways? The logic looks good on paper, british made, lots of installs so lots of people know how to fix it, and parts should be more readily available and cheap as it gets installed a bit more. Again it is pretty new so some good reviews and others not so good. What do you guys think. Could work out a good bet if I don't go for the Potterton

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

avoid biasi run away from ideal yes the fan was a issue on early potterton golds/heatmax rare to have a faulty one now as its modified if it was my house there would be no question in the field imho potterton much more durable than most a good boiler

 

[jameswilson]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Gas Man, I appreciate your replies, but all you seem to recommend as the Baxi group and their boilers in all your posts. You don't seem to have one good work to say about any of the other manufacturers at all.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

no your right,i dont work on valiants,but they were melting so enough to put me off,i hate worcesters with a vengeance,plastic does not work imho,ideal are tat end of i have never fitted a remaha but they are now part of baxi anyway,intergas look good but never fitted any you have come on here and asked for a honest opinion i fit/maintain and give service contracts on baxi/potterton products when money and customer satisfaction is concerned i would not take a risk on a bad boiler yes i may be all for baxi/potterton but they are good boilers and if you look closely i will also warn that the main /baxi solo is a heap,i give a honest review on what i think works and since i have been fitting duotecs/golds/and 105,s and performas for the last 10 years i know i have made the right choice,but i am not asking the question you are

 

[furniss567]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

The 27CDi Worcester is around £1000 for boiler, flue and clock. I really don't want to spend this amount on the boiler, otherwise, I'd get a Viessmann or Intergas. I am looking at the lower end of the budget, spending a max of around £800

id go for valliant then, always get great aftersales service

 

[Rodreguez]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Gas Man, I appreciate your replies, but all you seem to recommend as the Baxi group and their boilers in all your posts. You don't seem to have one good work to say about any of the other manufacturers at all.

i fit vaillants WB and potterton. and the gold is a good boiler at good price. i agree with gas man done a couple of plate heat exchanger on greenstar juniors and they are all plastic. i like vaillants alot tho.

Going back to why you want a 24kw, you size a combi on DHW demand not CH as they are modulating for CH mode! i personally try to fit the 33kw everywhere to give the better flow rates!

 

[CES]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

You were wondering about Biasi Activa's? I've fitted about 4 of them, 3 on a sealed system which have (fingers crossed) never had anything go wrong with them (apart from 1 with a frozen condensate during the winter). The other was a total nightmare. It was open vented and I had nothing but bother with the boiler, the service dept were non existent and when I eventually got a service guy to come and have a look under the 5 year warranty (bearing in mind I'm the installer!), he was a local contractor who had been instructed to change the flow sensors and nothing else. I ended up ripping it out and putting an Optia HE for the customer (at my expense). So in conclusion, they are ok if on a clean sealed system,as long as you don't need to claim on the warranty, but avoid the open vented version. Needless to say I don't fit Biasi anymore.. jumped over to Baxi, Vaillant and Worcester now. You get what you pay for (mostly).

 

[washer]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Ideal logic from that list, pretty good value with a 5 year guarantee, customer service isnt the best in my experience though.

Although valliant are good in most cases, the extra money and only a 1 year guarantee certainly isnt worth it for the Ecotec, which imo may just make it over a year before it breaks down.

Wouldnt touch a Biasi with a barge pole.

Dont fit baxi's/potterton, but my mates solo he broke down yesterday, it was within the 2 year guarantee, and a baxi engineer was there this morning, and got it up and running before 10am, now thats pretty good service.

 

[jameswilson]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

I've bought a Ideal Logic + 24kW, but I'm having second thoughts. I think I may have been a bit hasty and should get a Potterton Gold 24 although the design is ancient and does not give fault/diagnostic codes.....

 

[damdesign]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

@ gas man - you seem to be a fan of the potterton boilers so i wanted to ask a quck question about them.
we are looking at the vailalnt 837i, the bosch 37cdi and now the potterton gold he 33kw
there's a big price difference from the potterton and the others.
the efficiency and general specs (to me the novice) are also comparable.

would the potterton be a good enough boiler for a 3 bed midterrace victorian?
i went onto the Replacement Boiler Size Calculator and got:

The WHOLE HOUSE BOILER SIZING METHOD on-line
calculator has used the following parameters:-
The dwelling type is terraced with single glazed windows with wood/plastic frames.
The external walls are solid wall, 220mm thick.
The roof is pitched with less than 50mm of insulation.
The Dwelling is in the south east or Wales.
The following three major contributors to the heat requirement
are all affected by the levels of insulation.
The WINDOW heat loss is 2.64 kW
The WALL heat loss is 3.54 kW
The ROOF heat loss is 7.30 kW
Note down the kW readings (or print this page) then press your
browser's Back button.

If better insulation is possible, make selections with higher levels of insulation,
then calculate again to see the effect on the boiler size required.

By spending money on, say, more loft insulation you may save money on the
price of the boiler, and you will definitely save money FOREVER on your heating bills.
The required boiler output is 21.09 kW

I understand from another thread I am supposed to take 2kw off this figure and use the lower of the two figures presented for each boiler and choose that?

WB 37CDi = 9.4 to 30kW
Vaillant 837 = 12 to 28kW
Potterton Gold HE 33kW = 9.4kW to 33kW

Is the potterton still looking like the best option pound for pound?

thanks in advance

 

[Puddle]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

@ gas man - you seem to be a fan of the potterton boilers so i wanted to ask a quck question about them.
we are looking at the vailalnt 837i, the bosch 37cdi and now the potterton gold he 33kw
there's a big price difference from the potterton and the others.
the efficiency and general specs (to me the novice) are also comparable.

would the potterton be a good enough boiler for a 3 bed midterrace victorian?
i went onto the Replacement Boiler Size Calculator and got:

The WHOLE HOUSE BOILER SIZING METHOD on-line
calculator has used the following parameters:-
The dwelling type is terraced with single glazed windows with wood/plastic frames.
The external walls are solid wall, 220mm thick.
The roof is pitched with less than 50mm of insulation.
The Dwelling is in the south east or Wales.
The following three major contributors to the heat requirement
are all affected by the levels of insulation.
The WINDOW heat loss is 2.64 kW
The WALL heat loss is 3.54 kW
The ROOF heat loss is 7.30 kW
Note down the kW readings (or print this page) then press your
browser's Back button.

If better insulation is possible, make selections with higher levels of insulation,
then calculate again to see the effect on the boiler size required.

By spending money on, say, more loft insulation you may save money on the
price of the boiler, and you will definitely save money FOREVER on your heating bills.
The required boiler output is 21.09 kW

I understand from another thread I am supposed to take 2kw off this figure and use the lower of the two figures presented for each boiler and choose that?

WB 37CDi = 9.4 to 30kW
Vaillant 837 = 12 to 28kW
Potterton Gold HE 33kW = 9.4kW to 33kW

Is the potterton still looking like the best option pound for pound?

thanks in advance

They will all do the heating side no problem,the large output is required to achieve the hot water flow rate ,this will only be met if you have the right infrastructure
I would choose the Potterton gold over the ones mentioned,also maybe take a look at the advanta range
Get a professional in to go through your requirements and suggest further energy saving ideas

imho

 

[Mrs Tara Plumbi]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

The only new thing I can add to the info provided is that Rehema is 5 year parts warranty and 2 (or 1?) labour.
Rehema is Part of the Baxi, Main, Potterton Group and this group has great back up from Heateam if it breaksdown in or out of warrantee so i would look to them.

 

[Leadbetter]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Bet you would be a nightmare customer haha, has any one installed a main 25 Eco if so any opinions ?

 

[briandudhill]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Probably a bit late to advise now but my advice would be stay as far away from Biasi as possible. What seems to be a good price with a great 5 year warranty can turn out to be bait on the Biasi hook. I got caught out and after only a few weeks began a long battle with Bias because my Advance plus 35c boiler developed problems almost immediately after commissioning. Biasi blame the installation but it was carried out to their spec. They're billing me for call outs and have suspended my 5 year warranty after only 12 months. Biasi leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Go for a quality boiler instead.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Probably a bit late to advise now but my advice would be stay as far away from Biasi as possible. What seems to be a good price with a great 5 year warranty can turn out to be bait on the Biasi hook. I got caught out and after only a few weeks began a long battle with Bias because my Advance plus 35c boiler developed problems almost immediately after commissioning. Biasi blame the installation but it was carried out to their spec. They're billing me for call outs and have suspended my 5 year warranty after only 12 months. Biasi leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Go for a quality boiler instead.

tbh thats common knowledge

 

[Captain.rick]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

I have an ideal logic plus 30 and its ok, does the job. Bit noisy its in the loft and i can still hear it in lounge! It hasn't skipped a beat in 4 years though
I like the viessmanns, well built and good prices, ill fit the viessman 111 when i need to replace mine

 

[dave1]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

I have an ideal logic plus 30 and its ok, does the job. Bit noisy its in the loft and i can still hear it in lounge! It hasn't skipped a beat in 4 years though
I like the viessmanns, well built and good prices, ill fit the viessman 111 when i need to replace mine

I think they are a bit noisy too.

 

[stevetheplumber]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Looking at this resurected thread brings home how warranties have changed

 

[newcastle phill]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Im with steve

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

they arnt worth the paper there written on

 

[newcastle phill]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Well shaun if I could get half a dozen for 199 each id take em lol

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Well shaun if I could get half a dozen for 199 each id take em lol

.

 

[briandudhill]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Anything but Biasi. I've had nothing but problem after problem with Biasi Riva Advance +35c combi. All Biasi do is blame problems on bad installation and sludge and suspend their 5 year warranty until you pay £95 and another £250 to repair a 12 months old boiler. Stay away from Biasi. I was surprised to see it as an option on here. Not much beats a Ideal.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Re: Help with replacement boiler choice: Potterton Gold/Biasi ActivA/Ideal Logic+/oth

Anything but Biasi. I've had nothing but problem after problem with Biasi Riva Advance +35c combi. All Biasi do is blame problems on bad installation and sludge and suspend their 5 year warranty until you pay £95 and another £250 to repair a 12 months old boiler. Stay away from Biasi. I was surprised to see it as an option on here. Not much beats a Ideal.

the op prob have had 3 new boilers since this thread was made