Best Condensing boiler
Discussion
Not a fan of Ideals personally. Not dealt with Vaillant a great deal, but have worked on a few and they seem to be built well and easy to work on.
How about a Worcester Bosch 30CDI? Fit lots of these and havn't had any complaints from them.
Every boiler will have its good and bad points though, so hard to say which is best. Although most would argue Worcester and Vaillant are amongst the best.
How about a Worcester Bosch 30CDI? Fit lots of these and havn't had any complaints from them.
Every boiler will have its good and bad points though, so hard to say which is best. Although most would argue Worcester and Vaillant are amongst the best.
Just had my old (10-15 year at least I'd guess) Ideal Classic FF360 Gas Safety Checked for a property I rent out and the gas chappie said it's the most efficient one he's ever seen. Readings were:
02 - 9.8%
CO (ppm) - 0 (he even checked and rechecked his meter)
CO2 - 6.3%
Eff net - 92.3%
Apart from a fan that needed changing last year, it's not given me any issues in the last 7 years or so.
02 - 9.8%
CO (ppm) - 0 (he even checked and rechecked his meter)
CO2 - 6.3%
Eff net - 92.3%
Apart from a fan that needed changing last year, it's not given me any issues in the last 7 years or so.
From an installation and maintenance point of view, go with a Worcester-Bosch.
If it's energy efficiency you're after (yes, i know this is PH!) then go on www.sedbuk.com and it'll give you the efficiency of every boiler you can shake a stick at!
It might also be worth considering that there are plenty of grants around for Solar Panels at the minute, so if you have a hot water cylinder it may be you can save a few £££ in the long run.
Matt
If it's energy efficiency you're after (yes, i know this is PH!) then go on www.sedbuk.com and it'll give you the efficiency of every boiler you can shake a stick at!
It might also be worth considering that there are plenty of grants around for Solar Panels at the minute, so if you have a hot water cylinder it may be you can save a few £££ in the long run.
Matt
porcupineprince said:
From an installation and maintenance point of view, go with a Worcester-Bosch.
If it's energy efficiency you're after (yes, i know this is PH!) then go on www.sedbuk.com and it'll give you the efficiency of every boiler you can shake a stick at!
It might also be worth considering that there are plenty of grants around for Solar Panels at the minute, so if you have a hot water cylinder it may be you can save a few £££ in the long run.
Matt
Thanks Matt, will check out the grant for solar panels.If it's energy efficiency you're after (yes, i know this is PH!) then go on www.sedbuk.com and it'll give you the efficiency of every boiler you can shake a stick at!
It might also be worth considering that there are plenty of grants around for Solar Panels at the minute, so if you have a hot water cylinder it may be you can save a few £££ in the long run.
Matt
I suppose what is most important for me is reliability. For the last few years, I have had 2 Potterton Envoy boilers (15kw each) but they break down frequently. I need one reliable efficient boiler, price is not an issue.
Mermaid said:
porcupineprince said:
From an installation and maintenance point of view, go with a Worcester-Bosch.
If it's energy efficiency you're after (yes, i know this is PH!) then go on www.sedbuk.com and it'll give you the efficiency of every boiler you can shake a stick at!
It might also be worth considering that there are plenty of grants around for Solar Panels at the minute, so if you have a hot water cylinder it may be you can save a few £££ in the long run.
Matt
Thanks Matt, will check out the grant for solar panels.If it's energy efficiency you're after (yes, i know this is PH!) then go on www.sedbuk.com and it'll give you the efficiency of every boiler you can shake a stick at!
It might also be worth considering that there are plenty of grants around for Solar Panels at the minute, so if you have a hot water cylinder it may be you can save a few £££ in the long run.
Matt
I suppose what is most important for me is reliability. For the last few years, I have had 2 Potterton Envoy boilers (15kw each) but they break down frequently. I need one reliable efficient boiler, price is not an issue.
Good luck!
Id say stick to something that meets your requirements, price range and you can get good local install/service on....usually the company/engineer you use will recommend whatever they supply based on their own experiences
as per most people I have a friend in the trade, and the problem with "reliablity" is that its hard to tell until a company has say 100,000 units of a model in the field for 5-10 years ...how a model thats been out 12 months can be "reliable" is tricky to quantify..one would hope that all of them can last a year without issues LOL
..and thats the problem with any appliances really...and statistics...I doubt anyone other than the manufacturers have any scientific statistics on failures, only they know units shipped, and spares supplied to the field
my mate sticks to a couple of brands; WB and Vaillant, as thats what hes trained on, supplies and gets a lot of service/repair business from
yet they are deemed "reliable" and "best on the market"....but he seems to keep busy on "repairs"
if they were so reliable, then you wouldnt need to replace anything in 5 or 10 years surely
so its more about a "what breaks down less than the others " perception that is based on whatever you come across/have personal experience of
Oh...I have an Ideal Mexico HE 36, because thats what was in the house when we bought it, its 4 years old, no issues yet (touch wood)
as per most people I have a friend in the trade, and the problem with "reliablity" is that its hard to tell until a company has say 100,000 units of a model in the field for 5-10 years ...how a model thats been out 12 months can be "reliable" is tricky to quantify..one would hope that all of them can last a year without issues LOL
..and thats the problem with any appliances really...and statistics...I doubt anyone other than the manufacturers have any scientific statistics on failures, only they know units shipped, and spares supplied to the field
my mate sticks to a couple of brands; WB and Vaillant, as thats what hes trained on, supplies and gets a lot of service/repair business from
yet they are deemed "reliable" and "best on the market"....but he seems to keep busy on "repairs"
if they were so reliable, then you wouldnt need to replace anything in 5 or 10 years surely
so its more about a "what breaks down less than the others " perception that is based on whatever you come across/have personal experience of
Oh...I have an Ideal Mexico HE 36, because thats what was in the house when we bought it, its 4 years old, no issues yet (touch wood)
We had a Vaillant 838 Exclusive installed at the last place we were in. The only problem we had with the boiler itself was a design fault. Typically Vaillant tried to blame us because we didn't have a completely clean, new plumbing system installed at the same time.
The pump in the 838 Exclusive used to be supplied 3rd party and was a steel impeller, when costs rose (apparently) Vaillant decided to make them inhouse and started using a nylon impeller. The problems started appearing when the CH water contained particles. This was usually the crud that falls off the inside of 'old' radiators. The debris damaged the blades on the impeller, it went out of balance and knackered the bearings in the pump. This happened to us 3 times in a year. We even had a MagnaTec installed to try and catch the bits but it still happened. Oh yes, and the pump is not servicable, its a £200 replacable item. Our plumber took the last pump apart and we could see 3-4mm play in the shaft due to damage.
I don't think this is a problem on all Vaillant models, but its something to remember.
Out current house has a new Vokera installed by the previous owners just before we moved in. It's not the same quality in my mind (I'm not an installer or expert), but we'll keep it till it keels over and then we'll be replacing it with a Vaillant setup. Probably not a full combi, probably a boiler and cylinder due to the size of the property and number of rads.
Dr Rick
The pump in the 838 Exclusive used to be supplied 3rd party and was a steel impeller, when costs rose (apparently) Vaillant decided to make them inhouse and started using a nylon impeller. The problems started appearing when the CH water contained particles. This was usually the crud that falls off the inside of 'old' radiators. The debris damaged the blades on the impeller, it went out of balance and knackered the bearings in the pump. This happened to us 3 times in a year. We even had a MagnaTec installed to try and catch the bits but it still happened. Oh yes, and the pump is not servicable, its a £200 replacable item. Our plumber took the last pump apart and we could see 3-4mm play in the shaft due to damage.
I don't think this is a problem on all Vaillant models, but its something to remember.
Out current house has a new Vokera installed by the previous owners just before we moved in. It's not the same quality in my mind (I'm not an installer or expert), but we'll keep it till it keels over and then we'll be replacing it with a Vaillant setup. Probably not a full combi, probably a boiler and cylinder due to the size of the property and number of rads.
Dr Rick
Mermaid said:
Kindersley said:
Vaillant AAA types are fantastic . Better internals than a WB
Thanks guys. Anyone had experience with the Icos?Got a new one 18 months ago, went wrong within 3 months of fitting.
Some googling revealed similar problems across the entire range, and a whole heap of dis-satisfied customers, for a variety of reasons.
It's now working again, but I couldn't recommend one.
However, I have Worcester (Bosch) boilers in three of my other houses, which are now pushing 5 years old, and never an issue at all.
Spend the extra, buy a Worcester Bosch.
Or, if you go for the Icos, I've got a stack of spares if you need anything (fan, PCB, sensors), apparently the diagnostics shows up faults that aren't there, and doesn't show faults that are, so engineers replace perfectly good parts with new, which still doesn't solve the problem....
maser_spyder said:
Mermaid said:
Kindersley said:
Vaillant AAA types are fantastic . Better internals than a WB
Thanks guys. Anyone had experience with the Icos?Got a new one 18 months ago, went wrong within 3 months of fitting.
Some googling revealed similar problems across the entire range, and a whole heap of dis-satisfied customers, for a variety of reasons.
It's now working again, but I couldn't recommend one.
However, I have Worcester (Bosch) boilers in three of my other houses, which are now pushing 5 years old, and never an issue at all.
Spend the extra, buy a Worcester Bosch.
Or, if you go for the Icos, I've got a stack of spares if you need anything (fan, PCB, sensors), apparently the diagnostics shows up faults that aren't there, and doesn't show faults that are, so engineers replace perfectly good parts with new, which still doesn't solve the problem....
I think I am steering towards the Worcester Bosch now.
Mermaid said:
Ricky_M said:
Go the Worcester Bosch website and find an Accredited Installer in your area, it will bump the warranty up to five years if you use one.
That's handy, and will save me a few quid. Cheers.dirkgently said:
Mermaid said:
Ricky_M said:
Go the Worcester Bosch website and find an Accredited Installer in your area, it will bump the warranty up to five years if you use one.
That's handy, and will save me a few quid. Cheers.. I had a quick look at the Atag & Remaha - there are not names I am familiar with for boilers. What's the best from these that will meet my requirement? Service network?That's an interesting story about the Vaillant pump. The pump on ours went after about three years which shocked our plumber, he did notice that it was a different manufacturer of pump from one's he'd seen on older Vaillant boilers. He went to buy a replacement and found that the pumps had been reduced in price to £125 and they were now made made by the old manufacturer. Apparently it's a big problem so Vaillant are selling the pumps at a reduced price and have gone back to the old manufacturer...
Beardy10 said:
That's an interesting story about the Vaillant pump. The pump on ours went after about three years which shocked our plumber, he did notice that it was a different manufacturer of pump from one's he'd seen on older Vaillant boilers. He went to buy a replacement and found that the pumps had been reduced in price to £125 and they were now made made by the old manufacturer. Apparently it's a big problem so Vaillant are selling the pumps at a reduced price and have gone back to the old manufacturer...
Wouldn't suprise me. As far as I know, the Vaillant pump was only used on the higher spec boilers (could be wrong though). Either way, Vaillant shelled out £400 on two replacement pumps within the first 6 months of my use of their product. Not good really.Still, if they've gone back to something sensible then great, I'd consider using the boiler in the current house.
Dr Rick
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