I urgently need a new boiler, please help!

[trickyex]

My boiler has died and I need to replace it urgently.
I have had two quotes so far and quite conflicting advice.
First plumber says fit a system boiler, he knows my house/system and thinks they are better boilers, that heat-only are out of date and wont last. He rates Vaillant. His quote is around 3.9K (ouch).
Second plumber says replace with another conventional boiler, he rates Worc Bosch. Quote is 2.5K ish.
We have a megaflo type cylinder in the airing cupboard plus a good pump in the airing cupboard (recently installed) as the current boiler was struggling to heat all the radiators. Its a big house (5 beds) with high ceilings.
Which rates these two boiler suppliers plus Veissman (first plumber doesnt like them, second fits on WBosch).

I am now quite confused and need to make a decision fast - the house is very cold.

Please share your thoughts, before my head explodes and our feet freeze...
TIA

Ok thanks, am hitting overwhelm I think.
Will have a break then more research. Gah.

From the picture, you have a sealed system. The red barrel is the expansion vessel and the filling loop is down on the right hand side. If the heat exchanger has gone it's probably not cost effective to fix by the time you pay for the parts and labour. Although I've never had one where the actual heat exchanger has gone. Usually I find it's the O-rings on the cast elbows that bolt on the top and bottom of the heat exchanger. Have you tried British Gas to see if they'll do a fix for £99? I'm sure they offer a one-off repair for a fixed price.

I'm not a home owner, I'm a council tenant, the boiler in my home is a Vailliant combi one, was only a year old when I moved in 6 years ago. It breaks down at least once a year, has to have the sensor which switches the boiler on when triggered by the timer every time, this last one has only lasted 5 months. I wouldn't touch a Valliant one if I was paying myself, Worcester Bosch would be my choice, my mum has had 3 boilers in 40 years, all Worcester Bosch, never had a problem, has just updated over the years to more modern ones.

Three bedrooms house one bathroom 10 radiators just like to know the perfect size kw boiler size for my house

Do you have a separate pump to the boiler? This is likely to be located in the airing cupboard.

If you have a separate pump you have a conventional open vent boiler.

The cheapest easiest way forward is to do a direct like for like swap for whatever you type of system you already have installed.

I still question the size of your boiler, but that's something for the installer to decide on, based on how many rads you have water tank size and property heat loss, it might well be right.

If the boiler is oversized then it would cycle on and off a lot and substantially reduce the life of the boiler.

You should be looking at around the 2k as already mentioned, this will depend on what boiler you go for.

The best advise I can offer is to decide what boiler brand you will be most happy with. Then go on that brands website and find your locally approved installer.

I have done this and found not only do those installers provide the best service (they are approved for a reason) but from my experience have also been the cheapest.

Avoid the big companies and the company's that carry out loads of advertising, you will not get good service or a decent price.

I'm not an expert but had similar dilemmas. It sounds and looks like you have a system boiler. If you have a mega flow then it is just a straight swop. Don't consider combi for a house that size and already having a mega flow.

We were quoted cost of the boiler £1100 plus £400 fitting. Was a straight swap,as had expansion vessel and filters already.

We have a W Bosch combi

We have a Megaflo (which I am just learning about) and a Vaillant Ecotech boiler which was not cheap but has been working well for about 8 years with only a couple of call outs, one to recharge or replace the expansion vessel as we had skipped a service or two and one when the PCB gave up.

I would get another Vaillant if we needed to replace.

Thank you everyone for your helpful comments.
I found the original paperwork, its an unvented system now< will ask the engineer if he thinks a repair is possible, the boiler is 10 years old so has done ok.
If not will see what he says. I have read through Which it seems that W Bosch, Vaillant and Viessmann all score very highly.

Hi you have a heat only boiler that has an unvented vessel kthe big red thing from the photo) IMHO you will need a reliable boiler and the one that suits your purpose is the Vogue Max it has advantages over other Boilers being the materials it's made from stainless steel heat exchanger and all brass components. If you get the Vogue Max it comes with a 12 year guarantee and comes with a new brass magnetic collector. I work for several gas insurance companies and over all through the year with all the Boilers we see this is the one we see less of and only service once a year. Hope this helps it's also very efficient when updated smart controls are fitted at the same time.

Thank you, yes stainless steel heat exchanger would be good. Will have a look at Vogue Max, not a brand I know of.

Hi, I'm a plumber (not your area I'm afraid) £3,900 is incredibly steep. That plumber is unnecessarily converting you to a system boiler when all you need is a heat only. Just get a heat only with enough power to hear your home. As a general rule, I count each radiator at 1.5kW. add them all together and you'll have a number, so get the boiler that is the nearest to it without going below it.

Please please don't pay nearly £4k. That's way too much. Put it this way, I'm currently installing a boiler, 12 radiators and a new soil pipe. I'm supplying everything. I'm charging £3,500 and I'm making £1,400 on that.
The boiler is 36kW so you can see how £4k is ridiculously high.

And don't just go with the cheapest. You want good service too. Cheapest isn't always best, infact, it usually never is.

Thanks for that. I knew straight away it was far too much, hence seeking other opinions.
He had been looking after my heating system for 2 years so it is quite disheartening.
I dont have 4K to spend anyway!
Have now had two prices of 2-2.5K for heat only boilers, both 35kw, one is W Bosch, the other Viessmann, using the system I have here but with new filter etc. Both will come with 10 year guarantees fitted by approved installers. Am going to use one of them.

If you have unvented hot water and you want a new boiler the system boiler differs from a heat only in that it has Integrated pump and expansion vessel.

If you already have a pump and expansion why go for heat only? A straight swap heat only install would typically cost about 1700 in the Midlands I've just done one today.

Obviously would have to look at the install before I price but if you take some photos and post them I'd be happy to price up your install.

Sorry I meant system

My only comment re the wBosch is that you need to consider the pipe run from boiler to main bathroom, our re sited (after house renovation) ended up very faR from bathroom and the hot water cools during the distance, and the heat exchanger ? Element thingy is a small thing so actual volume of water is inadequate

Argh
So another engineer came tonight, he is a W Bosch top installer and Which trusted trader.
He says the runs are too far and the rads too large for a heat only boiler and we should put in a system boiler with some upgraded pipework and add in a low loss header. He also offer a 12 yr guarantee (dreading the quote).
My young son heard him and told me to use him!
Dubse can I message you direct?

As I tell everyone, If you like/trust an engineer and they recommend a boiler and are likely to carry on servicing it for you, then go with what they recommend. On the other hand, the 3.5k quote is ridiculous. Do you have friends who use an engineer to service/install their boilers? If so, get contact details from them.

In terms of your boiler and whether you need a system boiler or heat only, no-one can say which you need without doing a whole host of measurements, checking your pipe sizing to and from the boiler and hot water cylinder etc etc. If you have a current heat only boiler in your house, the likelihood of having to change to a system boiler is highly unlikely.

Valliant and Worcester Bosch are both good boilers the main difference being the Valliant has a stainless steel heat exchanger.
Check the warranties, you should get extremely good warranties if you use registered installers.
Install a magnetic filter such as boiler buddy too.

Muchly it was the heating engineer who has been servicing the boiler the past 2-3 years who first suggested it. He said the current heat only boiler had done well at 10 years old, as its a big house and it has been a struggle to get the rads warm enough, esp those furthest from the airing cupboard, hence the new pump we put in a month or so ago. Hence my confusion...

I'd look at fitting an Intergas boiler because you could swap the boiler now then convert the system later withought changing the boiler. Not to mention they are the most reliable and most efficient boiler available.

Don't forget... Your heating system will need to be flushed when you install a new boiler otherwise you'll void nearly every manufacturers warranty. You wouldn't put old oil into a new car. This usually takes between half a day and a full day to complete. Fitting a central heating filter is also the done thing.

Can I be cheeky and ask the experts on here a question? We may need a new boiler as it is nearly 20 years old and parts are becoming obsolete and it has a tendency to break down. It is a conventional boiler as we have a cold water tank and a hot water tank.If we change to a system boiler does that mean we would no longer need to use the cold water tank, and does it mean rerouting pipes?