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Ideal vogue maxc32 efficiency level

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D robinson

Had a new ideal vogue max c32 boiler fitted. The programmer has an “efficiency level” button that says it’s around 9-14%. That seems low.”, worried it’s installed incorrectly

Anyone have same issue?
 
Temperature the heating is set to 70?
 
ShaunCorbs said:
Temperature the heating is set to 70?
Click to expand...
I know where you’re heading with this mate but 9-14% seems an unrealistic figure. Even non condensing boilers had efficiencies of over 80%.
I’d say either the programmer is wrong or somehow virtually all the heat is lost up the flue?
I’ve seen similar on oil boilers with missing baffles but not around 9-14%.
 
Your values are the ones displayed by the boiler on its LCD screen? If so, values in the range 9-14% are well below spec and indicate a problem with the boiler or its installation. Contact your installer so they can check their work and/or get Ideal to come and sort out the boiler under warranty.
 
Someone should ring Ideal and ask them what is this efficiency based on, even their boilers that appear to be running "normally" only seen to give 60/70% so clearly not efficiency as we understand it?.
 
I've just checked my Vogue Max System Boiler 26, been in for 2 years, has efficiency reading at 18%... I've always wondered why my gas use was high and now wondering if its something to do with the boiler. (temp set to 70c, have HW tank and CH).

Has anyone else checked their efficiency level on an Ideal Vogue?
 
I too have the same issue and just had a ridiculous explanation from the customer support number. He tried to tell me it's lower as it's summer. Im concerned this is a real issue and Ideal are trying to fob people off. Clearly a new boiler is supposed to be more than 13% efficient. Did anyone get a real answer from Ideal?
 
I agree with the consensus, that the number being displayed is not the 'efficiency' as usually defined, e.g. post #10.

I suspect that the number may represent something like the power output as a fraction of maximum. Either that or it's just a bug in the software that the mfr can't be bothered to fix.

If you're really keen to get to the bottom of this sort of issue, you can get a good estimates of the power and efficiency of a boiler by measuring the temperature of the POC a few inches (inside) the flue exit and the gas rate. You can independently check the output delivered to the water from the volumetric circulation rate and the difference betwee the flow and return temperatures. Another possibility is to see how long it takes to heat a cold tank of hot water.
 
Hello.

Saw this thread and it seems a good place to post my issue.

Have Vogue Max Combi 40. Efficiency level shows as 22% and has for months. Just called support. They told me this was not the efficiency level my boiler is run at - that is something called super efficiency mode that runs in the background and I can’t see. In that case what is the efficiency level I see? Basically told there is no problem and that my level in background is 78%. Feels like total BS - said to get my engineer to call them to discuss further if I wanted to. Errr this was installed 18 months ago and my engineer isn’t on tap for me to image calls on my behalf.

Any ideas or pointers?
 
Shooter said:
Any ideas or pointers?
Click to expand...
As you can see from the answers in this thread, we never got to the bottom of what that number meant, if anything. I'd ignore it if I were you. If you're worried about the 'efficiency' of your boil attach a thermometer to the return pipe and check it's below, about 50°C. If so, all is well.
 
Chuck said:
As you can see from the answers in this thread, we never got to the bottom of what that number meant, if anything. I'd ignore it if I were you. If you're worried about the 'efficiency' of your boil attach a thermometer to the return pipe and check it's below, about 50°C. If so, all is well.
Click to expand...
Thanks , will do

Also support told me that as my central heating has not been on since May that my efficiency level would show as low anyway. Total BS as this was showing same in March and before.

When it was fist installed 18 months ago I recall it was 60%+ showing so something is clearly awry but Ideal are not interested.
 
"Super efficiency" is marketing jargon. Ideal seem to have adopted it some years ago. They had an "SE" range of boilers for example. Recent Ideal boilers seem to operate in two modes "High efficiency" and "Super efficiency" and some models display the current mode on the display.

My best current guess is that your 22% is the fraction of time the boiler has spent in SE mode. It seems to be averaged over a fairly long time, possibly since manufacture or the last reset.

Exactly what Ideal mean by 'super efficiency' mode is not clear to me. There are a couple of plausible possibilities but I'm currently leaning towards "condensing", i.e. the return temperature is below some threshold such as 40°C and the system is working at optimimum efficiency.

Anyway, as I wrote above, if you want to know the efficiency of your boiler you need to monitor the return temperature and it can be calculated from that. Even if your return temperature is always above 55°C and your boiler never gets into condensing mode its actual efficiency will still be around 80% or more.
 
Chuck said:
"Super efficiency" is marketing jargon. Ideal seem to have adopted it some years ago. They had an "SE" range of boilers for example. Recent Ideal boilers seem to operate in two modes "High efficiency" and "Super efficiency" and some models display the current mode on the display.

My best current guess is that your 22% is the fraction of time the boiler has spent in SE mode. It seems to be averaged over a fairly long time, possibly since manufacture or the last reset.

Exactly what Ideal mean by 'super efficiency' mode is not clear to me. There are a couple of plausible possibilities but I'm currently leaning towards "condensing", i.e. the return temperature is below some threshold such as 40°C and the system is working at optimimum efficiency.

Anyway, as I wrote above, if you want to know the efficiency of your boiler you need to monitor the return temperature and it can be calculated from that. Even if your return temperature is always above 55°C and your boiler never gets into condensing mode its actual efficiency will still be around 80% or more.
Click to expand...
I think as you suggest this is a function related to time. I had a Logic Plus installed in September 2022. Scrolling through the menu the efficiency figure was ridiculously low. When installed the flow temp was set at 70 deg C and has been since Sept. Three days ago I started to experiment with a lower flow temperature. First 65 then 60 deg C. The house, a three bed Edwardian mid terrace, came up to temp in much the same time as previously.
My background is not plumbing but 40 years marine engineer at sea where you cover most subjects. Turning the temp up to max and down to min had no effect on the efficiency level. Temperatures changed as did the pump and fan speeds. Having been used to operating and checking records of plants I started logging, recording, my boiler, environment and house temperatures. The Super Efficiency figure appears to be increasing and in just over a three day period it started at 28 then 28/29, 29 regularly, and is now at 30%. Plan to keep monitoring and recording whilst keeping the same flow temp of 60 deg C. My return varies depending on how long the boiler has been running but evens out at 50 deg C. Having worked one time with pipeline designers I'm familiar with balancing very large cooling circuits. My house is far simpler and has been balanced so as all rads rise in temperature at much the same rate using the lock shield valves. I can feel a temperature change at the rads. 60 deg you cannot hold on to however 50 deg you can hold onto and count to about 5. Again years of machinery watch keeping experience.
 
ShaunCorbs said:
Temperature the heating is set to 70?
Click to expand...
I had an Ideal Logic + fitted in early September and the flow temperature was set at 70*C. After Christmas I experimented with the temperature and set it at 60*C that gives me a return of 50*C. I’ve been recording the Super Efficiency figure for a week and it’s increasing almost daily from 28% and is now 35%. It now looks like percentage figure is a ratio of time the boiler is operating in Super Efficiency and total time. I’m guessing the 28% I started with was the best efficiency at start up and dropped off as the circulating water return reached a point when it stopped condensing.
 
I asked Ideal Tech` this question a couple of years ago

Hi

I have an Ideal Vogue Gen 2 C40 combi, installed around a year ago.

In the beginning, the efficiency level was more or less at 100%, it`s now 50%. The pressure is at 1.2 bar. Heating at 55c and water at 54c. I`ve dropped the heating temp since it`s summer. But overall, nothing has changed from installation time.



And got this reply

Good afternoon

Thank you for your enquiry. The efficiency level shown is not the overall efficiency of the boiler, it is the amount of time the boiler has run from new (as a percentage) in it’s super efficiency level. The figure will rise or fall. We recommend the heating temperature to be set around 70 degrees C on the boiler for increased efficiency.

Now sitting on 37%
 
Last edited:
TheFifeFlyer said:
Thank you for your enquiry. The efficiency level shown is not the overall efficiency of the boiler, it is the amount of time the boiler has run from new (as a percentage) in it’s super efficiency level. The figure will rise or fall. We recommend the heating temperature to be set around 70 degrees C on the boiler for increased efficiency.

Now sitting on 37%
Click to expand...
As a percentage of what I wonder, if its the percentage firing time then 37% would seem that this boiler is cycling on/off quite a lot? but might be the % modulation?.
 
John.g said:
As a percentage of what I wonder, if its the percentage firing time then 37% would seem that this boiler is cycling on/off quite a lot? but might be the % modulation?.
Click to expand...
It's the fraction of 'firing time' that the boiler has spent operating in condensing ('super efficiency') mode, i.e. with the return temperature below some unspecified threshold that is presumably around 50°C. It doesn't tell you anything about 'cycling on/off' or '% modulation'.
 
Mines will cycle more than 'normal' I guess since it`s only used on manual, via Hive thermostat. We switch it on at normally 18-19c depending on the house/outside temps. We don`t have zones or timed settings. It`s left on 24/7 and the Hive is dropped to 12c instead of switching off at night.
I have the boiler heating set to 70c and drop it to 55-60c come Spring/Summer. I`m not sure if that`s the most efficient way for us to use the heating tho`.
 
It would be nice if they quantified or explained this better because the condensing effect only just kicks in at ~ 55C return temp, you would need to get the boiler return temperature down down to 45C get a reasonable condensing effect of say ~ 8% to give a boiler efficiency of 95% from ~ 87% at 55C.
 

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