I've had enough of my 9-year-old Baxi combi boiler - it has barely managed to run 3 months at a time without need open-heart surgery, and it
doesn't do a great job when it does work.
In the past people here have recommended either Vaillant or Worcester Bosch - are they still the best? Is either one better than the other? Neither
is cheap, but I reckon you get what you pay for: the Baxi was relatively cheap, but I wish I'd read the bad reviews before I signed up to get it
fitted. 
All advice and tales of experience of either make gratefully received!
9-year-old Baxi combi boiler That was your first mistake worst bucket of tin ever……you are not alone
replaced with an ALPHA and has fancy filters on it great thing
I've got a Valillant, they're a bit fussy if your system isn't thoroughly clean. The installation instructions insist on a power flush. I had a few issues with the exchanger getting blocked, but has now been fine for a couple of years.
Hello DJ.
I would happily recommend a Vaillant boiler. Had one installed May last year, and its been very efficient and reliable.
The installation guys stated that they dealt with only Vaillant or Worcester-Bosch, because none of other makes had proved sufficiently relaible. I
went with their recommendation.
Had both (in different houses), never had any problems with either.
I would avoid Worcester green star boilers. Unless they have changed their layout.
Just had one repaired in a rental property. The prv, a £20 part was leaking. Most boilers a simple job, but on the green stars involves stripping out
a large part of the boiler. It cost £200 in labour, over double most boilers.
Just fitted a vaillant 831 in my own house, fitter commented how well it was laid out internally, stuff easy to get at.
Had a vaillant at my last place, 8 years old and never touched. The Worcester is 4 years old, the prv went because an idiot previous tenant played
about and left the filler loop open, so shouldn't normally be an issue, but poor layout is a well known issue.
As an aside, well with fitting a magnclean or tf1. Well worth the money as help prevent future problems.
I fitted one of these last month, 7 years guarantee
http://www.mrcentralheating.co.uk/potterton-titanium-40he-combi
It can certainly push out lots of heat extremely quickly, turned up in a few days.
I also added the boiler protection pack and wireless thermostat.
Regards Mark
[Edited on 1/1/14 by mark chandler]
quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
9-year-old Baxi combi boiler That was your first mistake worst bucket of tin ever……you are not alone
Vaillant for me every time. Worcester Bosch are good but as said above the internal layout is a nightmare to repair parts. The Vaillant is far
simpler.
Also I'm told both have a stainless heat exchanger outer but the Worcester is Ally inside where the Vaillant is fully stainless.
I have both in rental properties and neither has given me a problem (yet).....
we have a vokera its been very good for the last 5 years and i believe they are a branch of the valliant group.
one thing to watch out for with the energy ratings is typically a b rated boiler is a couple of hundred cheaper than an A rated boiler but don't
be fooled.
forget the letter rating and look at the actual efficiency percentage rating. my b rated boiler was only 1% less efficient than the £400 more
expensive A rated valliant equivalent. in gas usage terms in my house it worked out to about £12 more per year for the extra gas the b rated boiler
would use, to earn the £400 back for being A rated would take 33 years at £12 a year.
oh and btw my bro went for the Worcester Bosch and its been nothing but trouble, it started off badly, they had to come out and replace the flow regulator the first week he had it because his hot water pressure was appalling, then the fan packed up last year, and this year it got a mind of its own and wouldn't shut down even though the controller was telling it to stop.
vaillant ecotec plus 831 here.... Very good no problems except the vaillant wireless controllers over complicated and doesn't have a very strong wireless signal
quote:
Originally posted by ashg
and this year it got a mind of its own and wouldn't shut down even though the controller was telling it to stop.
quote:
Originally posted by ashg
we have a vokera its been very good for the last 5 years and i believe they are a branch of the valliant group.
one thing to watch out for with the energy ratings is typically a b rated boiler is a couple of hundred cheaper than an A rated boiler but don't be fooled.
forget the letter rating and look at the actual efficiency percentage rating. my b rated boiler was only 1% less efficient than the £400 more expensive A rated valliant equivalent. in gas usage terms in my house it worked out to about £12 more per year for the extra gas the b rated boiler would use, to earn the £400 back for being A rated would take 33 years at £12 a year.
Just had my first quote... and they're having a laugh!
Ignoring all the trimmings like power flushing, thermostat (I do need a new one) and so on, he quoted just over £3000 for the whole job, which
included £2400 for the boiler plus fitting. The boiler in question I could buy on-line from reputable suppliers for £950 - £1000 inc. VAT - and they
can buy it at trade prices. Taking 'Joe Public' prices, they are costing the job up at £1400 for 2 men for 1 day. Even allowing for sundry
materials and some faffing about, that's a damn good daily rate! Note that he had listed separately a number of additional costs such as
flushing out the old system and electrical work, so that £1400 is just for tearing out the old boiler, fixing the new and plumbing up to the existing
pipework. In all fairness it will be a pig of a job as the existing boiler is in the upstairs airing cupboard and not very easy to access - but
that's one hell of a mark-up!
I know that most businesses have all sorts of overheads that aren't visible to the customer (I used to be self-employed so I know the score) but
this quote just smacks of male bovine droppings...
Apart from that:
* He quoted for a boiler that Worcester Bosch haven't made for over a year.
* He insisted that his recommended power capability should be the same as the existing Baxi, despite me telling him that it was barely adequate and
that I was happy to go up one level (particularly as we wanted better hot water capability).
I told him at the outset that I'm getting a few quotes - and his parting words were "Let me know if someone else quotes a lower price, and
maybe I can reduce our total". So why didn't he quote a realistic price immediately?
So I'll just carry on looking for quotes, and hopefully find someone who's on the same planet as me...
[Edited on 2/1/14 by David Jenkins]
What about getting one through the green deal, anyone done that, is it worth it?
Have you tried Helplink?
Typically we pay about £2k for a straightforward replacement combi in up here in Yorkshire so shop around.
You should be able to do better than that.
I paid £280 cash to get mine fitted and signed off. New install, there was the gas main and all the tails about a metre from the boiler, he drilled
the flue, fitted it all and signed off, bacon sarnie the lot by 1pm.
Have a look on fleabag, lots of people offer fixed price deals, may be worth a look.
Interesting thread, I'm updating my boiler come spring as I'm fed up with paying £5 a day to heat my house and water
quote:
Originally posted by Dualist
Interesting thread, I'm updating my boiler come spring as I'm fed up with paying £5 a day to heat my house and water
Key thing with any new boiler is having a clean system so if it needs flushing get it done.
With the vaillants if the installers are vaillant approved you will get 7 years warranty on the plus range and 5 years on pro range
Also worth a mention are glowworm ultracom2 with a climapro2 programmer good piece of kit