Boiler brands

[Callmecordelia]

Our boiler has finally gone. We've been expecting it for a while, and have saved up some money to cover it - it's a lot of money for us, about £2.5k.

I'd like to make a good choice of boiler. We have an unvented system with a megaflo. One engineer has quoted for a Vaillant boiler, another has said a glow worm Energy System boiler would be just as good, and be a bit cheaper. We can then afford to get a couple of other bits done round the house, and use the money for a new baby arriving in March.

I've got another engineer coming in an hour, and I'd like to make a decision today, as although we can manage on heaters and the immersion heater, it's not comfortable.

Any advice? Are glow worm good? There are some dodgy reviews online, but they seem to be from a few years ago.

Never had a glow worm boiler, but my current boiler is a Vaillant and is absolutely brilliant. It seems very efficient, this year since installation I have used about 1/3 of my previous gas usage! So it has almost paid for itself already. It also warms everywhere up very quickly, and hot water is as close to instant as you could get (not like before when I had to run taps for about 3 minutes before it was hot enough).

The previous one was also a Vaillant and had been in for approx 20 years before we replaced it. It still worked fine but it used a lot of gas in comparison to the new type boilers.

Current which report puts Worcester Bosch at top of the list, Vaillant second aND vIESSMAN 3RD

depends on whether you want a combi (W and vaillant) or a hot water cylinder (viessman)

the list took into account ongoing repairs and upkeep as well as cost.

sorry about caps...baby "helping"

We are keeping the Megaflo, and aren't going to go for a combi.

Apparently Glow Worm are part of Vaillant now, which was why the second guy recommended it.

Ongoing costs are a concern, particularly after the badly installed Ferroli disaster that's in there now. (Thanks developer and previous owner. Thanks a lot....)

Well, the one today said Worcester. His ball park price was about the same as the glow worm, so it's probably the one I'd go for.

I'm slightly concerned about reliability from him - he's very busy - but on the other hand I'd hardly like him to be sitting around twiddling his thumbs.

We have a Viessman which works well (so far) BUT getting it serviced is a real problem as the only local person who does them retired. I found someone else who travelled quite a distance and had to book him weeks in advance. Heaven only knows what we would do if it broke down.

I have a Viessmann and am very happy with it, but agree that (in UK) there are not many installers, the one in my small town retired too. The agents who do warranty repairs are about 30 miles away. Have a look on the manufacturer's websites to see what Approved Installers are nearby.

They are much more common in northern Europe.

Perhaps its a good sign that they need so few repairs that the menders can't make a living....

Our Valliant had failed every winter since we had it. It's been so frustrating and is now out of warranty. The plumber who fixed it last time said that they'd moved manufacturing to China and that it had made the parts less reliable. It's been awful, I really would steer clear

That's interesting about Vaillant if.

There are some Viessmann installers nearby. However, I don't recognise any of the names.

I got personal recommendations for the other installers and after some heating nightmares over the past few years, that's important.

I'm increasingly leaning towards Worcester guy. He looked at things carefully and seemed to be thinking about how he would do the work in a meticulous way. He was also the one with the most glowing review, and the busiest.....

All gas engineers I've used say vaillant every time. Apparently the insides are all copper piping rather than any plastic parts, and parts inside are much easier to get to if they do need repairs.

Our old house had an Ideal, which was bloody awful, and our new house has a Vaillant. No more waiting 3 minutes for the water to get hot!

Intergas (Dutch company) meant to be good.

Worcester now have a lot of plastic components, though we have one and I rate it so far (less than a year)

Vaillant were good but now nothing but trouble.

Intergas worth checking out.

This is according to our very good, used-for-twenty-years plumber, today. I pressed him on what he installs.

Used to be Worcester, then vaillant (and he has a french wife too) now intergas.

I'd trust him every time.

though if an older vaillant probably fine.

My boiler failed on Sunday. I had switched service contract 6 weeks ago but when the engineer arrived Monday it transpired that the boiler should have been inspected during the cooling off period. He condemned the boiler as it was leaking flue gas, all the seals were faulty, the burner is cracked, the valve micro-switch for the pump had failed and it is generally a bit rusty internally. He did show me all the faults. To replace the bits was to be around £800. Slightly peeved as his boss did not get in touch but I contacted them and have an appointment for Saturday.

I now have 5 others coming to give quotes before then starting at 8am tomorrow, the second is at 8.30am. I used the local council "Care & repair" trusted tradesmen list meant for the disabled and elderly and emailed all 6. This is the best response I have ever had from trades. I gave a description of the setup and BCCd.

There is only one Veissmann installer listed 20 miles away so I assume they will offer a mix of Vaillant and Worcester. The Valliant website gave me options but I could not find out the differences between the options. Once upon a time bigger number meant larger and mark 5 was newer/fancier than mark 1.

State sponsored firms operating under schemes, just as an aside, will use whatever is cheap - we replaced the ancient, expensive Potterton at our last rented house with a new Alpha. They also cleaned out the system.

It went from three functioning radiators out of fifteen, to all of them working, two brand new replaced ones and a new boiler.

It wasn't a brand I'd have chosen but it worked very well for about five years until we left - I imagine it is still going strong.

The radiators sucked though, both were rusting within a few years. Maybe that was because they were in bathrooms?