Which boiler

[Marijn]

From personal experience which combi bolier would you recommend,
taking into consideration
Reliability,
Value for money
Safety
Economical to run.
My boiler is broken and I've had two plumbers round and one of them has recommended that I get a new Inter Gas boiler, and doesn't like Worcester-Bosch boilers. The other plumber said get a Worcester-Bosch boiler because they're really good and Inter Gas aren't any good. They both said Glow worm are no good. Please can I have your opinions, I'm so confused, and so cold.

[Marijn]

oh, it was a spelling mistake. Thanks Gingejbee.
I live in South East Essex. Is your dad's heating engineer any where near me, GrantA?

[Marijn]

Some of our posts have crossed. Thank you all for your answers. It's really helping me. I've been so worried, and have had so much conflictinfg advice from three different plumbers. In fact the first plumber broke my boiler. It was only leaking when he came to fix it, but now the bolier is dead and I'm freezing. If anyone can help with any other suggestion they would be most welcome. I'm going out now, to keep warm.

[Marijn]

Pilot light, which ones are the best two? Worcester-Bosch and Inter-Gas, do you mean? I'm so cold I can't think straight, or read straight? Thanks

[sherrardk]

One of the other engineers said it would take a week to do and we would have to pay for scaffolding so he could get on the roof. Even my husband would go up on this roof (and he doesn't like heights).

[The Builder]

Notters, I can't add to any of the good advice already given. I just wanted to pick up on something Al mentioned. They are a whole load better these days. Some of the "opinion" going around from experienced plumbers is often out of date. They probably experienced troublesome boilers over the years. These things tend to stick. It's difficult to get them to change their minds. They tend to be very conservative.
Most combis are much more reliable now.

[mk1975]

i would choose vokera. they are reliable in my opinion. never get ferroli.we had a brand new ferroli boiler, in 6 months it broke down and it was money money all the time.never worked properly.

[AlBags]

Your answer is in the first few posts.

1. Your boiler MUST be sized to the overall heat-LOSS of the property, taking into account the structure of the building .. eg floor type, wall type, window area and type, ceiling heights, size of rooms. There is software to do this .. which I use.
2. You stated you have at present 12 radiators in 3 rooms!

Many plumbers don't move forward with the times very quickly .. almost 'stuck in their ways' Many will never recommend a Combi, for instance. They love traditional systems.

Scaffolding is ruddy nonsense, just to stick a flue through. Anyone says that .. and it's no higher than 1st storey roof, and it's near edge of roof .. get rid of them!

[Marijn]

Hi Albags, I meant to say I have a kitchen, bathroom and cloakroom (the plumber asked me this, as I assume he wanted to know how much hot water I would need. I have 12 radiators in the whole house (not just in those three rooms). Thank you for all your answers.

[pilotlight]

notafish, Sorry for the delay i answering.
If I were in your position, knowing what I know from your posts., I would probably ask the heating engineer to provide a written estimate for installing a Wocester Bosch Greenstar 30 CDi , along with any remedial work that may be required to bring the system up to current standards.
Hope this helps ( if not too late ).

[Marijn]

Thank you Pilot light. I think one of the heating engineers is going to give me a quote for an Inter-Gas boiler, and the other one is going to give me a quote for a Worcester Bosch but I don't know what model number. Can I tell you which one it is when he quotes me, and could you tell me if you think it will be ok for what I need.

[Marijn]

Hi Pilotlight, Albags and all. I have a quote from one of the heating engineers for a 30 KW Intergas bolier inc installation which is £2,016 in total. He wrote at the end of the quote "to upgrade to a Worcester Bosch boiler with 7 year parts & labour warranty - additional 195.00 Plus Vat."
I texted him to ask him if that would be a WB Greenstar 30CDi. He texted back "No, a 30 si. A 30 cdi is physical too big/ needs a lot of space 4 ventilation. 30 si would suit u better.
Please tell me if he is right/wrong. Thank you

[pilotlight]

notafish, Your engineer is correct, the casing of the 30CDi is larger than the 30si, it is also larger output for the heating, and slightly better hot water flow rate.
But if your engineer reckons that the 30si is most suitable for your needs, then it is pointless paying extra.
Hope this helps.

[Marijn]

Hi Pilotlight, thanks very much for answering. He didn't look around to see the size of the house, and my house looks smaller, at a glance, than it really is. I have four bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom, all with a radiator each. but no upstairs hall radiator. Downstairs I have two spare rooms, a downstairs hall,a cloakroom and a dining room all with one radiator, a kitchen with no radiator and a lounge with two radiators. Could you please confirm that the boiler he has quoted for is adequate for my house. I think I will go for him as the other plumber hasn't given me a quote yet. Your advice is really helping, thanks

[pilotlight]

notafish, Your engineer will have taken note of the size ( output ) of your old boiler, and selected a boiler with equivelant output or slightly above.
Any heating engineer worth his salt would not specify a boiler that would not meet the heating requirements.
I hope that the advice you have received from myself and others has helped.
Best Regards.

[AlBags]

Heatloss calculations are an important part of sizing a boiler requirement.
An amount is added to allow the requirement for hot water production .. However, it is important to take into account the construction of the property. This varies the heat-LOSS and therefore the heat REQUIREMENT significantly.
To do proper heatloss calculations means doing as I stated before.

The CDi is larger in heat output and slightly better efficiency, as it condenses in Hot Water mode too .. I have taken a look at both manuals ..
and the brochure .. http://www.worcester-...s-boiler-brochure.pdf
The Si is 24Kw, the CDi 30 or 40.

We can't help much more without doing calculations with you providing every room measurement and the house construction details.
You could ask 'them' if they are doing heat-loss calculations .. or just guessing (which they must be) and ask another company to quote on a Heatloss calculated system.

[Marijn]

Thank you very much for your help. It was really kind of everyone to take the trouble to answer, especially Pilotlight and Albags. :-)