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Original poster

Is it worth paying £400 extra for Worcester Bosch?

61 replies

whiskyowl · 15/11/2017 09:31

I'm making boiler decisons. I need a 35kw boiler, that can run central heating.

Plumber says to go for Ideal Logic. He has one. His plumber's mate has one. The builder also has one. They have a 7 yr warranty and he is prepared to vouch for the customer service.

However, Which? (the consumer magazine) hate the Ideal Logic, though, giving it 58% in their reviews. They recommend Worcester Bosch, which they give 92%. The Worcester Bosch costs £400 more for all the bits needed for a 7 yr warranty.

Is the extra worth it? @PigletJohn what would you advise?

OP posts:
keeponworking · 15/11/2017 21:44

Worcester Bosch! £2k mine cost (still recovering from that particular psychological trauma) but if you also by the Wave thermostat that comes with the app, you get a TEN year guarantee on the boiler.

Stopyourhavering · 15/11/2017 21:54

Worcester Bosch all the way....( we've had ours 6 yrs...before that had one for 17 yrs!)
plus get Hive ....so easy to use from your mobile/tablet so you have a cosy home when you get in from work or need to boost when it's chilly

JaneEyre70 · 15/11/2017 22:01

We've just replaced a very old Potterton with a new combi Worcester Bosch. We are using around 1/3 less LPG with it, it's virtually silent in comparison to our old one and as we added a remote heating programmer and a water softener, we've upped the warranty to 10 years. I can't tell you how pleased we are with it, and we were very happy to spend that little bit extra to get it. I don't miss our old heating pump shaking the floorboards upstairs at night either Grin.

FlaviaAlbia · 15/11/2017 22:04

My plumber says the Valient boiler model we have had a design flaw that leads to gunk being collected before a valve of some kind which causes faults and needs the valve replaced. Ours has been replaced once already, luckily withing the warrenty period. It's only about 4 years old.

He's stopped fitting them and fits a different brand instead now, but I can't remember which one.

willyougotobed · 15/11/2017 22:05

We had a WB combi boiler. On the whole it was good. It needed two new parts over the 10 years we lived in the house. One of them would have caused a flood, had we not happened to have a plastic bread bin under it which collected the water and been in the house. It seemed to have a plastic part in it that just eroded. Fairly quickly actually - probably after about 5 years. So not perfect imv.

PostNotInHaste · 15/11/2017 22:08

Don't do Ideal . Ours lasted 7 years and was a complete disaster. WB and Vailant have both been good experiences so far (16 and 8 years so far).

Shadowboy · 15/11/2017 22:11

We have a Worcester Bosch boiler. It’s fabulous. Quiet and textbook efficient. Our heating guy came to service it and couldn’t believe it was running at 92% efficiency! (It’s an oil boiler) we got ours cheaper because we have a friend who works in the HO but I really rate it!

WeAllHaveWings · 15/11/2017 22:23

I found an article somewhere that said installers make bigger profits installing ideal logic. When we had our boiler done every installer strongly recommended ideal except for one. Too coincidental in my book that everyone was recommending a boiler Which didn’t rate highly.

We went with worchester. Just make sure you get an approved fitter (they have lists on their site) as you usually get a longer warranty.

BarbaraofSevillle · 16/11/2017 05:14

I'm another one who has possibly not had the greatest experience with a WB, but it is the only boiler I have owned, so it might still be better than other makes.

Ours is now 11 years old and has been trouble free for approximately the past 7 years but when there was a very cold winter the external vent pipe froze over and also there was a plastic part that failed and cracked and leaked everywhere.

Because we were a household of healthy working adults and it was the middle of the worst winter in years we couldn't get it fixed because we were (quite rightly) at the back of the queue for repairs and we were a fortnight without heating.

They may since have solved the issue that caused the problems we had, as I remember at the time that the plastic part that failed twice and the problem with the vent freezing up was a well known issue.

Protectingmydaughterfromfilth · 16/11/2017 06:20

Mine is Worcester Bosch and very very reliable. I’m renting and it’s apparently been in ten years and still going strong. In my 2 years here it’s only ever needed a new fan. You only have to look at it and the whole house is scorching

Original poster
whiskyowl · 16/11/2017 07:41

Thanks all! I think the consensus is that the £400 extra is worth paying! Grin

My plumber clearly thinks I'm a total idiot! "But I've got an Ideal!" he says "Dave (his plumber's mate) has one, and Pete (the head builder) does too! It''s FOUR HUNDRED QUID". "But you all know how to fix them if they go wrong!" I say!! Grin

What do I need to look at in the installation @PigletJohn? The plumber seems to know his onions so far. If it makes a difference, I have underfloor heating going in too!

OP posts:
Ceebeegee · 16/11/2017 17:33

Worcester Bosch here too!!
My installer said something about the key word is guarantee (which Worcester Bosch offer) rather than warranty (which some other boiler companies offer). I can't remember specifics but the guarantee is worth a lot more to the consumer than a warranty is. Apparently!!
No problems with our WB, and quite happy with peace of mind of having a 10 year guarantee .

shushpenfold · 16/11/2017 17:36

Worcester Bosch here too.....wouldn’t have anything else.

WindyWednesday · 16/11/2017 17:40

Worcester Bosh here, only had it a few months as the house didn't have central heating before. But going by this thread I'm glad I did.

mummyhaschangedhername · 16/11/2017 17:53

I would say go with the Worcester, but I’ll ask my husband when he’s come as he is a gas engineer.

thecapitalsunited · 16/11/2017 18:56

I've just got a WB installed. Had five gasmen round to quote, none quotes Vaillant, one quoted Weissman and the rest WB. We went for WB assuming that nothing is perfect so probably best to go for the brand which plenty of local gasmen can work on and get parts quickly for.

HotelEuphoria · 16/11/2017 19:03

I wouldn't have an ideal given if fitted free! Mine limped for the 8 years I had it. My plumber recommended Vailant for my four bed semi, he has vailant in his five bed Victoria terrace, our mutual friends have one in their massive detached. Only had it serviced once in five years (well, my friends a plumber right?) it has never let me down.

SciFiFan2015 · 16/11/2017 19:26

We only recently replaced our Worcester boiler. It was 29 years old, still running, still quiet, still clean, monthly costs of £35 pcm. Only replaced it because parts were not available. Not that it ever needed any! Just couldn’t risk it.
We replaced it with a Worcester Bosch. Was a no-brainer! Our independent company really rated them. Got a 10 year warranty.

Flamingale · 16/11/2017 19:32

How come when I got my WB boiler fitted in January by British Gas I've only received a 5 year guarantee? Some of you have 7 or 10 years! I'm jealous Hmm.

Angryosaurus · 16/11/2017 20:03

Is it true the WB combi can easily run 2 showers at once?

Evewasinnocent · 16/11/2017 20:15

We have a Worcester Bosch - over 3 years (recommended by family and my plumber!) - it works - so happy with my choice!

Original poster
whiskyowl · 16/11/2017 20:18

I believe the guarantees are packaged with additional bits and pieces. So you get a 2yr guarantee, increased to 7 if you get a filter. I don't really understand all the deals!!

OP posts:
mummyhaschangedhername · 17/11/2017 21:34

Confirmed my engineer husband that you should pay the extra ... he said that the ones that people have put in for free are the ideal logic boilers. He feels they won’t last in comparison to the WB. He gets a lot of breakdowns on the ideal logics.

Pixiedust1973 · 18/11/2017 00:04

WB!

CotswoldStrife · 18/11/2017 00:05

I think our extended warrenty is dependent on getting the system serviced every year. They did clean the system before installing the new boiler, put a new filter in and some cleaner in the system.