I'm led to believe that Vaillant and Worcester Bosch are good, any 1st hand experience?

Also I keep reading frightening articles about poor hot water flow and , terrible unreliability , any comments?

Can't comment on the reliability, but for hot water, combination boilers all have the same basic issue ... they need to be capable of supplying enough heat to provide the amount of hot water (and heating) that you need, when you need it.

Particularly when you're looking at bigger houses with multiple bathrooms, most are dreadfully under-specified compared to the peak demands that can be placed on them, often simply for reasons of cost.

For what its worth, I went with a system boiler and a heatstore, and have been very pleased with the result. Clearly your needs may be different from mine though, so you need to think about it carefully. In short, its worth talking to an expert.

Cheers
Richard

I had a Vailant and it was pretty good, although the hot water didnt compare to the Megaflow system I have had in 2 previous houses...

http://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/Heatrae_Sadia_Megaflow_HE_Cylinders.html

And my current UK home..

I have a 10 year old Worcester combi boiler which Provides plenty of pressure to run a shower and has been generally reliable, needing a new pump a year or two ago but nothing else.

I bought a Potterton from B&Q in 2000. It wasn't a condensing boiler but has had enough problems to put me off Potterton for life

I have a Worcester at the moment, although it is 12yrs+ old so is due getting changed, but no real complaints over reliability.
Going for another worcester or a possibly a vailant (seem to have a good name)

Cheers

Alex

I have a Worcester Bosch - no problems with flow, temperature or reliability... had it for 3-4 years now. No problems whatsoever...

Had a Vokera (Italian - don't ask!!!) which was a absolute sack of SH!T from day 1... yes, I was sold a right Pup!!! We live and learn...

I know which I'd buy again...


Steve

Hellfire : can you tell me the model number of your boiler?

Thanks for the replies so far.

I fitted a Baxi in my old house, not condensing but excellent flow rates. Followed advice of plumber but after 3 years had issues with the water diverter valve (heating OK but water not due to diaphragm split - tricky to trace down). I would be sceptical of getting another.

A mate of mine has just had to replace a boiler. A mate of his in the gas board recommended Vaillant. He apparently had access to manufacturers data on known issues and the Vaillant's came out good. Ive never heard of Worcester's going wrong but of course you pay a bit more for them. Mark got his Vaillant off ebay, brand new and boxed, never used for just under £600. Needed a flue adaptor and filling loop seperately. All in was a lot cheaper than trade price from specialist supplier.

Ive often seen some of the cheaper makes in PTS being sold with incentives like PSP's etc which makes me very wary. My view is that good boilers shouldnt need gimmicks to sell them.

[Edited on 28/3/07 by DarrenW]

Just replacing mine at the mo, friend of a friend came over who's a gas engineer, he thinks most are good these days but worcester and vaillant are probably the most well known. Apparently the most important thing when considering kilowatts is how much hot water it'll give you to shower with, not heat the house. if you have a little crappy one it'll heat your house fine but the shower will dribble on you at best. On the other hand a more powerful boiler will give you a shower that'll take the skin off your back, but may not work as efficiently with central heating because it's working under capacity.
Mine's a 24 kilowatt and that gives a shower better than any electric i've had and seems about the best compromise.
The old one is 60% efficient - the new one is 92% efficient :O

Good links:
http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/efficientproducts/boilers/buy/

Also look on ebay - biasi (not a bad brand) band A boiler 28KW for 500 notes.

quote:

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Originally posted by Surrey Dave
Hellfire : can you tell me the model number of your boiler?

Thanks for the replies so far.

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i had a biasi installed last year, shower temperature is great except on a very cold day, when you need to slow the flow slightly to keep it piping hot Its 28kw and was about 500ish.

However, a year on there are some noises from the pump that worry me occationally, and it could really use an external timer as the internal one is crap - no advance and no week program.

Thanks for the responses , anymore would be welcome..........................

I've got an ancient looking Worcester, it's in it's death throes now but it looks like it's had a long enough life. Apart from it's current dislike of staying on for more than 15 seconds at a time the only trouble i've had with it in the last couple of years was a perished diverter valve diaphragm, easy to fix though.