What Combi Boiler

[cjs]

My 15 year old Potterton Puma is producing some rusty/scale deposits from the HW, noticed it getting progressively worse over the past few weeks. I reckon the heat exchanger could be on it's way out, so maybe time for a nice new boiler, but, which one to go for?

It's for a Bungalow, 3 beds...... Oh and it's detached.

[JCB123]

Vaillant of some description (get a plumber to size and spec one for you).......they just do a good job well in my experience!

[cjs]

It will be installed by my Plumber friend, just need to decide which make model. I was recommended a Worcester by him.

[garycat]

cjs said:

It will be installed by my Plumber friend, just need to decide which make model. I was recommended a Worcester by him.

+1 Worcester-Bosch seems to be the boiler of choice for reliability.

Sure you want a combi, or a condensor?

[JCB123]

I'm assuming gas?

[fido]

I am about to have a Vaillant Eco Plug installed (30kW) .. 2.5 room detached, soon to be 3 double rooms detached.

Edited by fido on Monday 17th August 13:48

[cjs]

garycat said:

cjs said:

It will be installed by my Plumber friend, just need to decide which make model. I was recommended a Worcester by him.

+1 Worcester-Bosch seems to be the boiler of choice for reliability.

Sure you want a combi, or a condensor?

Actually want a condensing combi.

[cjs]

fido said:

I am about to have a Vaillant Eco Plug installed (30kW) .. 2.5 room detached, soon to be 3 double rooms detached.

Edited by fido on Monday 17th August 13:48

Can I ask how much you are paying? Is it a straight swap for an existing boiler?

[B17NNS]

Worcester-Bosch

Has to be condensing now.

[bebee]

Get a FERROLI Combi

I'm not a heating engineer but I've had Ferroli Combi boilers in two of my last properties and the one I'm in now, also we have one at work, never had a problem with them, in one of the properties I Had the Ferroli installed in the garage, I'd tell my mates I have a Ferroli in the garage!

It comes as a kit with flu and timer, if required.

[cjs]

bebee said:

Get a FERROLI Combi

I'm not a heating engineer but I've had Ferroli Combi boilers in two of my last properties and the one I'm in now, also we have one at work, never had a problem with them, in one of the properties I Had the Ferroli installed in the garage, I'd tell my mates I have a Ferroli in the garage!

It comes as a kit with flu and timer, if required.

Interesting, they are coming in at £300 cheaper than the Valiants and Worcesters, with a 5 year warranty.

[bebee]

cjs said:

bebee said:

Get a FERROLI Combi

I'm not a heating engineer but I've had Ferroli Combi boilers in two of my last properties and the one I'm in now, also we have one at work, never had a problem with them, in one of the properties I Had the Ferroli installed in the garage, I'd tell my mates I have a Ferroli in the garage!

It comes as a kit with flu and timer, if required.

Interesting, they are coming in at £300 cheaper than the Valiants and Worcesters, with a 5 year warranty.

Exactly, less £££, I might just mention that my parents, my brother ( but not my sister) have them installed, the point being that we have first hand experience with them and all good!

[fido]

cjs said:

Can I ask how much you are paying? Is it a straight swap for an existing boiler?

It's a combi-unit to replace an old conventional boiler which hasn't worked for 2 years or so .. boiler is about £900 and the labour (replacing old pipework around the house etc.) is about the same .. i'm sure i could get it done cheaper [say £500] but i'd rather not skimp on the essentials.

Edited by fido on Monday 17th August 22:37

[RDH S2]

I'd avoid a Ferolli like the plague - it may just be our development but in the last 12 months our 3 year old boiler has only worked for 7 of them - lucky we have an electric shower.

We were told by British Gas they won't cover some of the Ferolli boilers on their homecare agreements as they always lose money on them!

All in my experience - may just be a bad batch or install

[FlossyThePig]

garycat said:

cjs said:

It will be installed by my Plumber friend, just need to decide which make model. I was recommended a Worcester by him.

+1 Worcester-Bosch seems to be the boiler of choice for reliability.

Sure you want a combi, or a condensor?

The chap that services our Worcester-Bosch combi (oil fired) said they came second to Boulter Buderus (now part of the Bosch empire) in reliability, in his experience.

[dirkgently]

How much do you value heating and hot water?
Three hundred pounds is a big saving,until you are freezing your nuts off at eight pm on December the twenty fourth.

[cjs]

dirkgently said:

How much do you value heating and hot water?
Three hundred pounds is a big saving,until you are freezing your nuts off at eight pm on December the twenty fourth.

Hmm....so you have had a bad experience with Ferroli as well?

[dirkgently]

cjs said:

dirkgently said:

How much do you value heating and hot water?
Three hundred pounds is a big saving,until you are freezing your nuts off at eight pm on December the twenty fourth.

Hmm....so you have had a bad experience with Ferroli as well?

To be honest the new models seem to be much better than the older ones, and if I recall they come with opentherm temperature compensation built into the printed circuit board.
If you have the money go for a Buderus Keston or Worcester

Plus all the money spent on a boiler will be wasted if it is not fitted correctly.

[andy43]

Whether it's a combi (hot water on demand), conventional (heats cylinder, uses separate pump usually in airing cupboard or loft) or a system boiler (heats water cylinder, has built in pump) all will now be condensing boilers, and 90+% efficient.
Old boilers can be 60% or worse, but very likely simpler, more reliable and easy to fix.
From what I've found, Worcester-Bosch are only rated by plumbers as the freebies they get with them make them worthwhile from their point of view.
From the mainstream brands I'd go Vaillant, and did - stainless steel heat exchangers is one huge plus point.
Our plumber spent time stood with me in front of the Vaillant I'd chosen with the front cover off, explaining the innards of it - they're built well. And he normally fits W-B. Just my opinion - but you really get what you pay for with boilers - there are no 'bargains'.
There are better (Viessman etc) boilers out there, but I think there's a trade-off between quality and service/knowledge availability - some of the more expensive german boilers will almost never break, but when they do, finding someone who's worked on one before and knows how to faultfind may be tricky - only my opinion here though.
I'd certainly be looking at one that is opentherm, or capable of some sort of weather compensation (weather comp uses an external temp sensor as well as a room thermostat/sensor, and blends rad temp up or down depending on outside temp - big big gas savings if it's set up right).
And flush the system first, either powerflush, or running cleanser around it for a week or two. Hardest bit is getting a decent plumber - a poor Vaillant install won't last as long as a budget boiler that's been fitted to a clean system.
Also try Diynot forum

Edited by andy43 on Tuesday 18th August 09:41

Edited by andy43 on Tuesday 18th August 09:44

[cjs]

dirkgently said:

cjs said:

dirkgently said:

How much do you value heating and hot water?
Three hundred pounds is a big saving,until you are freezing your nuts off at eight pm on December the twenty fourth.

Hmm....so you have had a bad experience with Ferroli as well?

To be honest the new models seem to be much better than the older ones, and if I recall they come with opentherm temperature compensation built into the printed circuit board.
If you have the money go for a Buderus Keston or Worcester

Plus all the money spent on a boiler will be wasted if it is not fitted correctly.

Well I'm not a great fan of Italian engineering and would rather go with a boiler that has been made in the UK. I've always had Pottertons and they have worked well although my current Puma Combi has had issues, mainly due to the crap that was not cleaned out of the existing system, so not really the boilers fault. It has lasted for 15 years and may well last many more.