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Yes it's come to that, asking you lot about boilers.
Ours has just gutted itself and lovely local plumber is doing his best, last thing on a Friday, to get it limping through the weekend.
New one required by all accounts.
Most importantly, which ones are the ones to avoid? Ours is a Potterton and about 8 years old, warranty?
Comes at the end of a shitty week, I'm away from home (3 weeks until I am get off the boat), wife's Mum died two days ago, Son utterly stressed about impending GCSE's... and this.
We have a Vaillant ecoTEC Pro 28, installed by British Gas about two years and three months ago for around £3.5k all together. All the plumbers who have been around recently have said nice things about Vaillant boilers, and how they have them in their own homes, etc.
However, ours recently packed up with a leak from the diverter valve. This is apparently pretty common. British Gas didn't want to know, and Vaillant told me that the Pro boilers are their "budget" line, so have a two-year warranty on parts, unlike most of their other stuff which is five or seven years.
Prior to this I had a Main boiler, installed new, which we lived with for about seven years. It was cheap (including installation I think about £1500). It broke down twice - once with a fan/bearing issue IIRC, and the other time with a leaking diverter valve (see the pattern emerging?).
So based on my experience:
1. Boilers can be expected to break down every 2-3 years, and;
2. Vaillant have a good reputation BUT don't get a Pro line one, pay a bit extra to get a decent warranty.
Worcester Bosch and have their magnetic filter fitted as well as it increases the warranty to 6 years, 10 I think if fitted by one of their approved installers. Ours was recently fixed under warranty by WB without charge.
As an example, a recent installation including a condensate pump which adds another £100 for a 34 Cdi is £2.3k.
I'd say that I'm surprised by Valiant having a good rep if they only have a 2 year warranty.
I got a Ravenheat from B&Q for £500 odd 9 years ago. It's had a couple of problems for £100 each and no servicing otherwise. Engineers seem to hate them and a few issues but lots oof info online.
I have two Worcester boilers in the house.
One was installed in 1998 and the other was installed three years ago to replace the Worcester boiler that had been installed in the mid 80's.
I'll be getting another Worcester when the 19 year old one eventually dies.
Ideal boiler is running brilliantly here, first one was not so good though.
Bloke that services mine recommends Potterton boilers as the ones that offer good value for money, he also says that worcester bosch are good but expensive. Again according to him the boiler should last twenty years, my Potterton is currently around 15 years old, It get's serviced annually and has had a couple of small repairs (<£50 each time) but other than that its been faultless.
I’ve had a Glowworm in one house that breaks down every 18-24 months (average repair £125).
WB in the other house which has been faultless for 6.5 years.
so from my limited experience - WB!
5-year guarantee as standard, with 7 to 10 years available when you book a Vaillant Advance installer
We fitted one 3 yrs ago quiet and no trouble at all. Think I paid £900 for the boiler and had a tame gas fitter install the gas and test it.
Our brilliant plumber has worked some magic, but he reckons that the correct, or no, corrosion inhibitor was added when it was fitted. Everything inside seems to have broken off when he tried to mend it.
Thank goodness for modern communications, Mrs Seadog been able to keep me in the loop with various messages etc all the time.
Has anyone experience of Intergas ?
Which - “This is a brilliant boiler. The build quality is top notch and there is much less to go wrong.”
I'm not sure how they would cope with hard water?
Viesmann.
Stuey, we have an integas. It’s about two years old and our plumber, who is also a friend, thinks they are way ahead of the rest and we live in Kent which has hard water
Thanks Claudie - I'll pursue 🙂
Reading around this, and various reviews, seems that fitting by proper approved fitter, maintaining the service schedule and documentation is key. Some brands very quick to honour repairs quickly and hassle free if you can prove everything has been done right.
Friendly local plumber is Potterton approved, and was a bit shocked at the state of it, pointing to rather poor fitting. Given that this was installed by British Gas, and for all but the last year has been serviced by them, I'm gearing up to try and claim something from them.
I have s ideal boiler, 7 year warranty as standard but must be serviced for the warranty to be valid .only 2 or 3 years old but not had any issues .
Did this exercise a couple of years ago and went with an Ideal Vogue with 10 year warranty. Also now added OpenTherm, but not sure if it'll save me much as boiler was already set in super efficient temp zone