British Gas recommend a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 40CDi Classic Regular boiler - any views please?

[yesbutnobut]

We have a 10 year old boiler which serves our probably larger than average house (with 2 bathrooms). We have the British Gas service contract which a lot of people say is a waste of money but we have over the last few years used it quite a lot, not to repair the boiler itself but to replace parts (valves, thermostat etc). At the last service the BG person said we need to get our system flushed out and if we didn't they may not be able to continue servicing us.

Anyway after another call out last week, BG have said they recommend replacing the boiler as it's old and in danger of packing up and also a new boiler would be more economic (our bills are huge it's true). Today they gave me a quote which included replacing our boiler with a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 40CDi Classic Regular boiler and I wonder if anyone has any opinions on this? Reading the threads on here about boilers I haven't seen this make recommended.

TBH we're in 2 minds about replacing the boiler and won't do it before spring in any event, but I thought I'd canvass opinion. Any thoughts gratefully received on this boiler and also the 'flushing out' option. Thanks in advance.

We have the same brand, but the 38CDi and it's fantastic! Worcester Bosch are Which? Recommended and have good reviews. They are high end boilers though- do you have a big house? We bought ours because we live in a big old drafts house.

With regard to actually needing a new boiler, there was a thread on here recently and lots of people have said BG are notorious for writing off perfectly fine boilers. It might be worth getting a local plumber around to advise. Also if you do decide to replace BG are quite expensive so it would be worth shopping around.

*drafty!

We had a proper old antique Ideal boiler, which will be replaced with a 38CDi too - DH did a lot of research and took loads of things into account. We'll be having the system power flushed when it's fitted (recommended with older systems). We have a large 3 bed semi with only one bathroom but we'll be looking to convert the loft and add a bathroom soon, so got that boiler to future-proof the system.

First of all, it sounds like a new boiler might pay for itself in just a few years if your bills are really high! So it might not be a bad plan at all.

Second of all, be very careful with quotes from British Gas - they are renowned for being extremely expensive. Get at least another, if not two more, quotes from elsewhere.

Third, some boiler manufacturers will insist that you have a powerflush on your system when they fit a new boiler. So if you are thinking of replacing your existing one, it might be wiser to do it as part of that process - otherwise you may end up paying for it twice!

A cheap option is to get a boiler online and then pay a qualified fitter to put it in for you. I have seen this site recommended, but I don't know how the types of boiler compare: www.mrcentralheating.co.uk/

There are a few points here

Worcester Bosch is considered a good brand of boiler. Look on their website and see what is the maximum guarantee you can get, and what you have to do to get it.

While you are on the manufacturer's website, see if they have a list of approved local installers. Usually BG are the most expensive.

A "regular" boiler is less complicated so has less to go wrong that a Combi or a System boiler, so IMO is preferable

If you have an old system, especially if it is open vented, then it probably has a load of sediment and corrosion in it. This must be cleaned out before fitting a new boiler; and should preferably be cleaned out anyway, as it will do nothing but good and will reduce the risk of problems. A Powerflush will cost some £hundreds and will take at least half a day to do properly. If you are fond of DIY plumbing or know a competent plumber (it does not need a boiler engineer) a good interim measure is to add a system filter such as the Fernox or Sentinel to the return pipe to catch particles before they can get into the boiler and cause blockages, and to use a simple chemical clean which will loosen quite a lot of sediment so it can be drained out, and anything circulating afterwards can be trapped by the filter. You will probably need a powerflush berfore fitting the new boiler anyway to achieve the guarantee. Blockages caused by dirt are not covered by the boiler guarantee. I strongly recommend a filter for your new boiler, if not before.

Because powerflushes are profitable expensive, maintainers wil often encourage you to have them done.

Installing a new boiler is also more profitable than repairing an old one. Contact the manufacturer of your old one to see if it can be repaired. If it has aluminium internal parts perhaps not. I prefer stainless steel parts.

We are about to install this exact boiler in our house to replace a 20yo glowworm one which is on it's way out.
We are replacing the boiler & cylinder and adding new pipework, controls & TRVs through our local plumber.
It will service a large 5bed house with 2 bathrooms and a currently fantastically complicated heating set up.
The boiler itself is costing us £1160 + fitting. The fitting includes all the other work we are doing so I'm not sure how relevant it is to you.
WB are a good make which you will pay a slight premium for but they are well thought of, efficient and generally reliable.
In a previous house my quote for a WB combi from BG was 4x the price quoted by a local plumber . Guess who I went through.

As it is not a matter of urgency get in a few local gas heating installers to give a quote.
Call them after Christmas, mid Jan might not be such a busy time for them.
Listen to their advice oppinions and get quotes.
It may be that you stick with your current boiler for a few more years but you will be better informed.

Thank you everyone for posting. Really grateful.

We'll get at least one independent plumber/heating engineer in to take a look before deciding whether to replace the boiler, and will wait until spring (hope nothing happens over Christmas) as I'm sure as you say MrsTaraPlumbing plumbers are flat out with repairs at the moment.

olivia and helicopter glad to hear you're happy with this brand. It is a big house on 3 floors with 3 bathrooms hence needing the 40 I guess.

struggling thanks for your tip re power flush as we had been thinking perhaps we should get this done anyway. Would hate to have to repeat the process again when installing a new boiler.

pigletjohn I don't think it's open vented (seem to remember from another thread that if we have a pressure gauge then it's not open vented - or am I imagining things?). Would we still need a filter if it's not open vented?

wonkylegs that seems a good price for the boiler (I think we've seen around £1400). British Gas's quote for installation and a few bits and pieces with the flue brought the total up to - wait for it - £4,500!!!

Thanks again. Will report back.

if you have a pressure gauge it is not open vented.

But if it is old and the BG engineer told you it needed a powerflush, then it presumably has sediment and internal corrosion. Are the radiators perhaps older than the boiler, so it used to be open vented? Or has it leaked and needed to be frequently topped up with fresh water (which contains dissolved air and sets off new corrosion every time)? Or has it needed bleeding more than once a year?

Our Worcester is 20 odd years old, it still works and if it didn't I would get the same again.
They are very good quality.
I would get a second opinion as BG just want to flog you a boiler at massive profit.
Our boiler is slightly bigger than required but the house warms up in 10 mins and plenty of hot water so it was good advice we got all those years ago.

zumo we'll definitely get a second opinion as I know BG are pricey. Good to hear you're happy with your Worcester. I must admit I thought boilers did last 20 years but not according to our (BG) engineer!

PigletJohn the issue we have is that we have to regularly turn up the pressure on the pressure gauge - this doesn't seem right. Normally we bleed the radiators when BG do their annual service but sometimes the rad on the top floor of the house needs doing more. The rads are the same age as the boiler (had it all done at the same time). Should this sound any alarms?

I love WB boilers - they are pretty much problem-free and, on the very rare occasion something does go wrong in the warranty period (2 or 3 years), a lovely engineer comes out and fixes it. Perfect.

if you keep having to squirt water in, there must be a leak.

yesbut that's approx what we are paying in total but ours includes 20 new TRVs, a lot of new pipework (we are getting a new mains connection and moving the positions of everything) new unvented cylinder and new controls in addition to the boiler and fitting.

I would take BG with a huge pinch of salt they told me that they could no longer source parts for my boiler so it would have to be replaced 3 years ago. My next door neighbour is a gas safe engineer so I asked his opinion, he originally installed the boiler for a previous owner really quite a long while ago. He told me BG were talking a pile of bollocks and he absolutely could get parts for the boiler and in the last 3 years it has need £40 in parts.
Thank goodness I didn't take BG's advice as I have sold to a developer who will pull the house down.