Hi Chaps Just had a quote to replace my old Baxi system boiler with a Worcester greenstar 30si erp compact condensing combi. The new boiler will need to be re located in the loft approx 12 feet from the old one. I've had the Baxi now for 19 years and overall it has been quite reliable, however it is not very efficient and costs an extra £60 a month during winter months when the heating is on.... ( approx £360 pa ) Question is should i stick with the devil i know, or fork out £3200 plus vat for the supply/fitting of the combi, including all the other required bits and pieces that go with it. This price also includes the fitting ( not supply ) of a new aqualisa shower, as the old one is not compatible with a combi. I've also heard that combi's are prone to breakdown, and don't last as long as system boilers..... Any comments/solutions greatly appreciated.... Regards
We went from a Potterton boiler to a Worscester Bosch 42CDi combi about 10 years ago, and I have no qualms about recommending to anybody else. The boiler has been serviced every year and hasn't missed a beat (touch wood that it carry's on like that). We have powerful showers and never run out of hot water - this was a major problem before with a house full of teenage kids who have no concept of a short shower. We had to have the mains water pipe into our property replaced to provide enough flow and water pressure (the old pipe was 15mm copper, the new pipe is the 25mm MDPE blue plastic pipe. HTH, Don
Rubbish, I've had Valliant combi for last 20 plus years, never had one break down yet, & easier to work on than Worscester Bosch. Present shack has a Valliant 824 for the last 8 years, been superb, serviced every year, never failed.
Go valiant, when the thing does break down your looking at much lower labour costs than trying to fix a Worcester Bosch. For example replace expansion vessel or prv on valiant is thirty minutes labour, on w.b. It's two hours plus.
Plus Worcesters are a pig to fit. Never understood why I would have to connect my own expansion vessel up. Never understood why you have to shift the prv to get the thing to sit on a cradle. I guess I just don't like them. They are good for the end user. But poo for the engineer trying to install / repair.
Is W-B the make that's had a few exchangers going recently? (Although hopefully covered under their long guarantee...) Anyways, Snafinch, to try and answer your original question... I think the general consensus is that peeps should keep their old boiler as long as it's still working ok. You won't recoup for a loooong time the large outlay for the new boiler by the small annual savings to be made in efficiency. So, from a simple 'savings' issue, the answer will be 'non'. But... Things are always a tad more complex than this. For example, what are the chances of your old boiler breaking down expensively in the next few years anyways? In which case, perhaps worth biting the bullet now and starting to enjoy the benefits of an efficient combi (great showers, endless hot water...) And, could there be other issues involved too? Such as the desire for a better shower? Or gaining more cupboard space where the old hot tank is? Or not having to 'time' your hot water supply? Etc. And, yes, condensing combis will almost certainly be less reliable that a simple system boiler. It's a balancing act - and it's your call
Worcester Bosch have remodeled the 24i and 28i junior boilers, The newer models are 25 and 30KW, I understand that the expansion vessel position was changed in these models so it could be easily replaced. On a hinge system (like the Vailiant) The junior i's had the expansion vessel located behind the boiler frames, so to replace this meant that the boiler has to be dehung. There are some good features on both the WB and Vailaint boilers. The newest catalouge from electrifix makes selecting a boiler more difficult. There used to be a two sided page showing all the specifications of all the boilers, so it could be quite easy to compare the different models.
A mere exception. (And in any case that was a non-condensing baby). Almost certainly modern condensing boilers will be less reliable than simple conventional/system boilers. There is simply far more complex stuff in there to go wrong. And smaller water channels - titchy tiny things.
The simplest combi boilers, with less moving parts, are the Intergas Rapid and Ferroli Modena. I prefer the Intergas.
Ferrolli and good boiler do not even look right in the same sentence. Cheap boiler with expensive replacement parts that are hard to get, Steer well clear. As for intergas, its a Dutch firm but as I have never come across one yet really cant comment, but if the were the bee's knees then I sure that there would be installers queing to install them. Both Vaillant and Worcester are the market leaders with the better boilers on offer although I would personally recommend the Vaillant over the Worcester purley for the service and repair side and the quality in the finish. If you want a mid price range then have a look at either Baxi or Ideal both do decent models.
Intergas have a duplex exchanger and before anyone starts waffling on about using blending valves why would you want to go down this route. There ten year guarantee DOES not cover the heat exchanger. I would not touch these boilers with a sh1tty stick. As for feroli any boiler which you can buy off the shelf from the local hardware store, which also has no dedicated support team (they farm it out to the lowest / highest bidder) I also wouldn't touch. High end you can't beat valiant (for the installer) and maybe W.B for the consumer. Baxi (for me) run in third they are cheap with a decent guarantee and very decent customer support.
I do believe not one Intergas heat exchanger has ever failed. The Heat X is supposed to have a 10 year guarantee.
That's like saying alpha make the most energy efficient boilers in the world. In addition to this how would you know if any Intergas heat exchangers have failed? I'm sure the original poster can make his mind up, on one hand you have two or three engineers who recommend valiant, w.b. Etc who have decades of combined experience, or we have you with most likely a knowledge gained from a couple of out of date CORGI publications and some U-tube videos.
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