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First plumber says fit a system boiler, he knows my house/system and thinks they are better boilers, that heat-only are out of date and wont last.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

Your current system can be changed to combi boiler. Since you are getting a new boiler, the way forward always has been to go for a combi boiler. The gas engineer can do modifications to match the combi boiler. Combi boilers are energy efficient. Further you have to get quotations from different gas engineers. If you are lucky you will be able to find a gas engineer you could do for less than £ 2750. I would definitely go for viessmann or vaillant brand or other popular brand which have stainless steel heat exchanger. Also make sure you get at least 5 to 7 years of warranty.

Arent combi boilers unsuitable for a large house?
Will deffo get the system cleaned etc when the new boiler goes in.
its just working out the best choice, its quite hard to make such an expensive decision on my own, esp with so much conflicting advice.

Hi there, I am a local (Underriver-based) gas and heating engineer and have been kindly recommended a number of times on this site. If you would like some information (even on getting your 'dead' boiler back to life before being rushed into a decision), I'd be happy to offer you some (free ) advice.
Kind regards, Andrew. Sevenoaks Gas
Ps hopefully you ar least have how water via the immersion heater(s) on your cylinder.

My heating engineer only recommends Vailant, has done for years and continues to. Mine has been in for nine years now, absolutely nothing needed other than an occasional service (not every year either).

On gas boilers, if you have more than one bathroom, there is no point going for a combi. They won't be able to cope with being used by more than one bathroom at a time. With oil combis, you can probably have two bathrooms running from a boiler. If you are unsure about what to do trickyex, I am more than happy to talk you through some impartial advice, as I'm sure others are too. And as I said earlier, if you know anyone who had a new boiler installed, consult them on who they used and whether they would recommend them.

I have a combi and can run two bath/shower rooms at once. It wouldn’t take more as the water pressure reduces slightly but two is doable simultaneously for showers, it’s no different than the washer or dishwasher being on with the shower.

Thanks all, am now getting a bit upset as the last engineer who came round and seemed very genuine has quoted me nearly 5K to put in a WB system boiler and low loss leader etc etc.
Out of my league.
I will ask around but am low on time, house temp is around 11-13 degrees and dropping. We do have hot water though, which is good at least.
Muchly could i send you a private message?
I think the boiler is not to be saved as water has leaked into/from it and when the first engineer tried to get it going it made a dreadful noise.

I dont think a combi would work here, the system isnt set up for that as we have pumps and cylinders, plus two showers and lots of rads.

We’ve had many an issue with our boiler 🤬 it’s a WB BUT our original installer didn’t mention flushing the very old system before installing. This has caused many problems - we joined WB servicing plan and it has literally only just started working properly (gas btw) since we recently had the system flushed the filter and boiler work perfectly.
And it is 10 years old this year.

Closed system, heats hot water and rads as we have tanks - only survived a couple of winters as the old tanks have elements too.

Plumber didn’t rate WB and we trust him but we originally chose it with the idea of using solar panels with it in the future. We haven’t got their yet though 🤦‍♀️

Course you can trickyex.

Have you got in touch with intergas regarding the boiler bob? If your boiler was installed correctly, it should still be covered by the warranty.

How about British Gas. X

Heat only will easily heat your home , the pump and expansion can be updated as required and I've never had an issue with heat only.....in fact most commercial systems are heat only.

The biggest demand is your hot water not your radiators and your hot water is supplied by the best system available which is unvented....so all this nonsense about draw off is complete and utter bollocks.

The only time I choose a system is purely on new installation because it saves space and effort. But what you have was adequate before and will be adequate now, simply get a new boiler end of.

With the money you save go on holiday or if your that worried split your system into zones on separate pumps and controls

Thanks again everyone, the system is already split, zones for down and upstairs with separate pumps, we spent a fair amount putting it in 9 years ago (had been a floor standing old Potterton before which conked out).
One of the issues we've had is the long distance between the boiler to the airing cupboard then on to the bedrooms, the ceilings are 3.5m so it was hard to get the bedroom rads warm enough and air was often trapped. So the system wasnt quite up to scratch, which is why we added a large Grundfors pump. And I think the reason for the suggestions for a system boiler.
But I dont have 4-5K anyway so will have to go with heat only. Now to decide the make of boiler/fitter.
Have been offered Viessmann and WB with 10 year guarantees (approved installers).

Muchly I have sent you a message, hopefully it worked!