Worcester or Vaillant Boiler?
Discussion
Had a Vailliant between 2002-2012 and a Worcester in our current place since then. Both same age combi boilers (previous owner had this Worcester fitted in '02 and our previous was a new build in'02).
Worcester all the way. The Vaillant was an unreliable pile of turd, and their van was a very regular site on our estate. When we left the next door neighbour's one was utterly goosed.
The most common problem seemed to stem from a safety valve that was designed to melt and cut off flow in the event of a problem. Only, as it was made of plastic, it deformed over time from the general heat of the boiler anyway and cut the flow off. We had the same part replaced 3 times in, mainly the last five years we were there. All 3 times it was mid-winter as I took a feckn shower as well!
Just had this same age Worcester serviced and no issues, despite the previous owners having never had it serviced in 10years.
Worcester all the way. The Vaillant was an unreliable pile of turd, and their van was a very regular site on our estate. When we left the next door neighbour's one was utterly goosed.
The most common problem seemed to stem from a safety valve that was designed to melt and cut off flow in the event of a problem. Only, as it was made of plastic, it deformed over time from the general heat of the boiler anyway and cut the flow off. We had the same part replaced 3 times in, mainly the last five years we were there. All 3 times it was mid-winter as I took a feckn shower as well!
Just had this same age Worcester serviced and no issues, despite the previous owners having never had it serviced in 10years.
Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Saturday 18th October 00:12
Swervin_Mervin said:
Had a Vailliant between 2002-2012 and a Worcester in our current place since then. Both same age combi boilers (previous owner had this Worcester fitted in '02 and our previous was a new build in'02).
Worcester all the way. The Vaillant was an unreliable pile of turd, and their van was a very regular site on our estate. When we left the next door neighbour's one was utterly goosed.
The most common problem seemed to stem from a safety valve that was designed to melt and cut off flow in the event of a problem. Only, as it was made of plastic, it deformed over time from the general heat of the boiler anyway and cut the flow off. We had the same part replaced 3 times in, mainly the last five years we were there. All 3 times it was mid-winter as I took a feckn shower as well!
Just had this same age Worcester serviced and no issues, despite the previous owners having never had it serviced in 10years.
I'm with you on Vaillant. We had one a few years ago; it was unreliable, inefficient, the spares were horrendously expensive and the customer 'service' was appalling. I'd never buy another. Replaced it with a Baxi which has been excellent so far, despite some of the negatives I've read on forums like this. Worcester all the way. The Vaillant was an unreliable pile of turd, and their van was a very regular site on our estate. When we left the next door neighbour's one was utterly goosed.
The most common problem seemed to stem from a safety valve that was designed to melt and cut off flow in the event of a problem. Only, as it was made of plastic, it deformed over time from the general heat of the boiler anyway and cut the flow off. We had the same part replaced 3 times in, mainly the last five years we were there. All 3 times it was mid-winter as I took a feckn shower as well!
Just had this same age Worcester serviced and no issues, despite the previous owners having never had it serviced in 10years.
Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Saturday 18th October 00:12
dirkgently said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
GTRmad said:
Neither, Baxi with a 10 year warranty!!
Should I buy a BMW or a Merc?
Neither, buy a Dacia.
Baxi...ffs
Baxis aren't terrible, but their customer service is. 4 days to respond to a warranty call is not acceptable IMO, but they don't tell you that when they advertise their 10 year warranty.
Some do some don't Baxi have certain models with stainless and some with a cast alloy same with worcester. Most heat exchangers are based on the giannoni stainless http://www.quicklion.eu/en/19-main-condensation-he... one which is pretty reliable compared to some of Worcester and Baxi's own designed ones.
My parents had a Valliant fitted about a year ago, and seem happy with it.
We had a new combi installed about three years ago. I was going to go for the brand (I think a Dutch brand who usually made commercial/ industiral products) which everyone was raving about on PH and also a friend who's dad was a builder recommended them. Then I found out they'd been bought by/ merged with a UK boilder manufactuer with poor reputation (maybe Baxi?). My plumber's words were "You might as well hold a séance to get in touch with their customer services than use there phone line". So I somewhat reluctantly went for a Worcester.
Roll on 2 years 9 months and we have water flooding out the boiler, turn everything off contact Worcester. Bloke comes out the day after next, says that the outflow had been incorrectly installed into the drainpipe (the boiler should have had it's own pipe all the way to the drain).
What had happened was, we had the roof, er, re-roofed, and loads of crap must have gone down the drain pipe, blocking it. Then it backup up with water when it rained heavily, right up to, and past the bioler outlet, que water spurting out of the boiler and all over the kitchen when we ran the bath.
Anyway the nice Worcester man fixed it FOC and told us not to let it happen again as it wouldn't be covered, then cut the end of the outlet pipe off anyway and I went to Wickes to buy some pipe.
So I can definately see my next boiler being a Worcester.
We had a new combi installed about three years ago. I was going to go for the brand (I think a Dutch brand who usually made commercial/ industiral products) which everyone was raving about on PH and also a friend who's dad was a builder recommended them. Then I found out they'd been bought by/ merged with a UK boilder manufactuer with poor reputation (maybe Baxi?). My plumber's words were "You might as well hold a séance to get in touch with their customer services than use there phone line". So I somewhat reluctantly went for a Worcester.
Roll on 2 years 9 months and we have water flooding out the boiler, turn everything off contact Worcester. Bloke comes out the day after next, says that the outflow had been incorrectly installed into the drainpipe (the boiler should have had it's own pipe all the way to the drain).
What had happened was, we had the roof, er, re-roofed, and loads of crap must have gone down the drain pipe, blocking it. Then it backup up with water when it rained heavily, right up to, and past the bioler outlet, que water spurting out of the boiler and all over the kitchen when we ran the bath.
Anyway the nice Worcester man fixed it FOC and told us not to let it happen again as it wouldn't be covered, then cut the end of the outlet pipe off anyway and I went to Wickes to buy some pipe.
So I can definately see my next boiler being a Worcester.
911Ads said:
Currently have the same choice between a WB Greenstar 40CDI (40KW) or a Valiant EcoTec Plus 438(38KW). I decided this morning and informed the plumber that I wanted the Valiant..7 years warranty compared to WB 5 years and the Valiant body is smaller so it can fir within a cupboard.
good choice...we have that same Vaillant Ecotec, it's coming up to 4 years old now, and really have noting to report, it just works.
I do keep an eye on the state of the water in it, but so far, it's remained very clear/clean (we also have a Magnaclean), along with it's being used with a Vaillant unistor, the indirect cct has never needed to be topped up either.
I did look at Worcester's but they all seem to have ali heat exchangers.
226bhp said:
MonkeyBusiness said:
I had a Vaillant fitted last week and I am very pleased with it.
Extensive and lengthy testing then. Poster was just adding his opinion, no need to get bloody snarky about it.
Ferg always used to recommend a brand which wasnt mainstream, but I forget the name.
Turn7 said:
dirkgently said:
Turn7 said:
Ferg always used to recommend a brand which wasnt mainstream, but I forget the name.
Remeha, now Baxi.I miss Ferg, very knowledgeable and very eloquent.
Marty Funkhouser said:
On a slight tangent - would a 28kw combo (namely the Valiant Ecotec) be sufficient for a 3 bed terraced house with one bathroom on the first floor and a shower room on the 2nd? Obviously rads in all rooms.
TIA
The heating side of it is pretty irrelevant as any boiler will blitz that.TIA
Is there a shower in the main bathroom and would you hope to run that at the same time as the shower room? If there's just one shower it'll be fine, if you hope to run two you'll need a chunkier boiler (and a good water supply).
We had a guy quote at our daughter's house recently and he dismissed WB as 'troublesome' and said he strongly recommends Glow-Worm. I can't recall hearing Glow-Worm mentioned as one of the usual suspects for years.
We've gone for WB with someone else. I do get the impression that a lot of heating fitters go for WB as it's a "safe" option for them as the back-up is very good. Also WB's recommendation scheme gives the fitters a bit of credibility.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff