I'm trying to help my sister in law select and purchase a new central heating system. I have a branch of "Mr Central Heating" nearby, and they seem to offer a wide range of competively priced systems, and surprisingly the prices are even keener in store, compared to online. The chosen installer has been contacted, but he is not offering any real opinion on the matter of which boiler to go for. I spoke to the salesman for his advice, but I'm affraid I got the impression he would have sold me whatever he had the most of or had the biggest margin on. I spoke to a lad in the warehouse, who reconded they shifted as many Vokera boilers, as all the other brands put together. If this is true, then I'm guessing they offer a pretty good compromise between price, performance and reliability. From my research everyone believes Valliant and Bosch to be the best, but i'm affraid she doesn't have the budget, and only plans to stay in the property another 2 to 3 years anyway. If a Vokera is a decent option for her (and I would welcome any other suggestions that you may have), which one of their three products would be the right choice? There is the "Compact", "Unica" and "Linea" ranges to choose from. There is also the size issue to consider. I'm sure most boilers will satisfy her heating requirements (two bed flat), but she has a baby to bath frequently, and was looking for decent hot water performance. Many thanks in advance for constructive responses.
Buy your boilers like cars: German good French dodgy :O Italian iffy British awful :^O Vokera are part of the Italian Riello Group....
Comparing combis is like deciding who's better looking out of Hinge and Bracket. Go for any for which you can obtain long term after sales service & parts.
Should have read all your post mate. The unica is A rated and is their mid range the Linea is their top end job. If it's a baby then not a lot of hot water required so I'd go for the Unica 28kw if it has to be a Vokera. The Vaillant Ecotech pro 28 is what I'd get if the budget can stretch to it.
Firstly, thanks to everyone with their speedy response. If it was my money, then I too would probably buy the Valliant. Not just from this post, but from reading many over a period of time, it's quite clear that Valliant are the prefered choice, closely followed by Worcester Bosch. When I chose my boiler 2 years ago, I too went for a Valliant, but it wasn't trouble free. I had the manufacturers engineers out at least 4 times in the first 6 months or so to my 937 storage combi, before demanding and receiving a new boiler. Not what you would expect from their flagship model, but admittedly they were OK when I requested a new boiler, and are just about to conduct a complementary 1st year service for my troubles. No complaints about customer service. However, back on topic. This boiler is going to be for my sister-in-law, and she will probably only be in the property for 2 or 3 years. Money is also tight. She obviously wants trouble free performance during that time, but would not benefit from the increased long term reliability that a more expensive boiler might offer. It doesn't have to be a Vokera - any suitably priced, mid ranged boiler would be fine. If it were a Vokera, I think I've already discounted the "Compact" B-rated range. The top of the range "Linea" is only moderately more expensive than the mid "Unica", and seems to offer better H.W. output. Incidentaly, in very general terms, how accurate do manufacturers H.W. performance figures tend to be? Thanks again.
ALL combi's are trouble. Some more so than others. I would NEVER install an extremely unreliable Vokera.
a Kerr, Vokera's are a mid range combi, and as such are not to bad we have installed lots of these over the years and havent had to many to callbacks within the warranty period (2 years)parts are usually readily accessible so if thats what you can afford then go fot it. try not to get the compact as its a band B as stated, the unica's are fine and are band A
A kerr, if they are planning to move in 2-3 years time, then they will have a HIPS report which will include thermal efficiency and that kind of stuff. So, I'd recommend an 'A' rated boiler for that simple (and cynical) reason alone. Provided you have decent mains water flow (and the plumber should measure this before even suggesting you have a combi) I would also strongly recommend a decent size of boiler - no less than 30kw. They will 'modulate down' to supply the CH for a 2-bed flat, so don't worry about them being 'too' powerful. But, when you turn your hot tap, you will want that extra power to give a good flow, and I think they'll be happy with 30kw delivery. Beyond that, combis aren't as unreliable as some peeps like to say. Of course they are more unreliable than conventional boilers because they have many more moving parts inside - diverter valves and all that stuff. Regardless of make, it will almost certainly last the time needed by your sis-in-law, so I'd recommend (as a non-plumber...) to go for 'A' rating, 30kw, and the best she can afford - but not worry about it too much. Vokera will be fine.
Vokera a probably one of the worst boilers I've had avoid at all costs, it's overly complicated to work I still can't work the controls, I've had the boiler in 12 months and today I've had to pay £60 for them to come out and fix it again I should of left the glow warm in that was a great boiler
Vokera is the biggest load of cr@@ made, neighbour had one, trouble getting spares for it, friend had one, so many problems with it, both ended up replacing them with a Valliant. I reckon you got a case for a full refund here, as it's unfit for purpose. Got a Valliant here, never been repair in 9 years.
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