Boiler replacement: which one and where from?

[Jonny69]

I'm planning to replace my boiler in the next few weeks - but I need to spec a boiler! I thought I might just run by my thoughts on here to check I've got the right ideas (and I need a bit of help finding somewhere to get it from).

It's a 3 bed semi, average size, cavity walls, loft is insulated but cavity wall is not, central heating, half double-glazed and planning to get the rest glazed asap. Current system is an old gas boiler with central heating a huge water cylinder. I'm planning to ditch the water cylinder in favour of a combi boiler and bridge the existing plumbing to get a nice short run to the bathroom and kitchen. I'll have to run some fresh pipes up because the existing boiler only has one output and the water and heating is dealt with in the cylinder.

I'm thinking the Worcester-Bosch Greenstar 28CDi is probably what I want. I actually wouldn't be able to name any other boiler manufacturers, but I think they are a premium brand, so is it worth spending the extra on them?

I'll be fitting it and modifying the plumbing myself, then I'll get someone in to connect it up - so I need to find somewhere that sells boilers. Google returns places like onlineboilers.co.uk, discountedheating.co.uk and boilers2go. Do these places actually offer any discount or should I look elsewhere?

 

[Jonny69]

Avoid Ideal like the plague

What kind of cost would I be looking at to have one of these Valiant boilers installed in a 4 bedroom house? I see the boiler itself is around £900.

There's usually a bit of plumbing to do to switch to a combi boiler. You take the hot water cylinder out and add a second hot water feed from the boiler, as the hot water and heating are on separate feeds. You can also drive the boiler straight from mains water pressure, so you can take out the cold water tank as well. It's this stuff that adds to the cost. My friend recently had his done with a higher-end Worcester-Bosch and the total cost was £2500.

 

[Jonny69]

Excellent, will look at Valiant boilers as well.

Our current one is an ancient Ideal. It's a right old iron radiator with a fire at the bottom and a pilot light, but on the flipside there's nothing to go wrong. I take it it's usually electrics that go wrong on the new ones?