Thank you, great feedback !
Combi boiler in the loft
- Thread starter oggiet
- Start date
Soldato
Not a lot to choose between WB, Ideal and Vaillant. They are no where near as reliable as they used to be, ideal have come a long and WB have dropped their levels. Plastic internals are not the best. Correctly installed and maintained, a boiler should get you 15 years. Gone are the days of 30 years life! A lot of the ideal hate is based on old reputation.
I’ve had 7 years out of a poxy biasi.
I’ve had 7 years out of a poxy biasi.
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Associate
I only fit Worcester so may be biased but I think the 4000 combi range is a very good boiler and far easier to work on than previous Worcesters which did have a bit of a bad reputation for being hard to work on
Man of Honour
Around 8 years ago our housing association upgraded all of use around here to gas central heating with combi boilers. The combi boilers are Vaillant EcoTech Pro's and we have never had a problem with ours. Several neighbours are always calling out the repair men for one reason or another but I can't help feeling that 99% of thew "problems" are caused by them not understanding how it works and several was for the system running low on pressure and them not knowing how to top the system up. Why would everyone else be having problems with identical installs when we haven't needed a single call out? The one thing they did screw up was going for the absolute minimum radiator size they thought they could get away with and that hasn't worked. We have prolonged cold spells here in NE Scotland sometimes staying below zero for weeks at a time both day and night. It is these long cold periods that show the deficiences in the radiator sizing and the bathroom in particular is a miserable place to be. Moral of the story, listen to the guys and overspec your radiators.
Soldato
Have a lok at an Atag boiler. Feel free to download their installation booklet, they are designed by heating engineers. 18yr warranty, lifetime on the heat exchanger, 20yrs worth of servicing record in the booklet.
Very well made, excellent construction from stainless and brass. They usually are bought as a kit, with both filters, weather comp, and option of smart stat. I've personally fitted four of them for friends, but they aren't cheap boilers. And they only supply to the fitters directly..
But if you want the last ounce of efficiency, they can be set up to run various heat curves for different types of properties and heating systems. With the ability to offset positive or negative, depending on how the customer 'feels'
Very well made, excellent construction from stainless and brass. They usually are bought as a kit, with both filters, weather comp, and option of smart stat. I've personally fitted four of them for friends, but they aren't cheap boilers. And they only supply to the fitters directly..
But if you want the last ounce of efficiency, they can be set up to run various heat curves for different types of properties and heating systems. With the ability to offset positive or negative, depending on how the customer 'feels'
Associate
Putting the PRV where they did was beyond ridiculous. The Worcester 15/18Ri is the best heat only option out there bar none. I fitted one for someone this week,they are brilliant.
Soldato
Not really....
Rear exit flue?....Nope.
Use existing wiring without PermLive, or Pump Live?.....Nope.
Regular burner gasket failure, that required WB to release a technical bulletin having the gasket checked for leaking fumes every service, and changing the gasket every few years...Great design features.
Associate
Pretty sure I could do an Ri burner gasket in my sleep at this point. I'd still have one in my house though
Soldato
Our service guys go through hundreds of them, hopefully before they burn through the wiring harness.
Oh and don't forget about the exhaust pipe seals, they leak fumes also.
Oh and don't forget about the exhaust pipe seals, they leak fumes also.
Soldato
Simply untrue, the boiler efficiencies of vented, combi and system are all the same within 1% or so for a modern boiler.
A lot of people get vented and system confused.
Soldato
Old reputation, yes. But also the modern day models...I mean just look on the Gov website on the massive Ideal Boilers safety recall that's still on going. It just shouldn't be something we should see in this day and age, where a manufacturer removed a safety device by design, to cut corners. WTF.
Truly shocking!
Product Recall: Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi & System Boiler Range (2401-0138)
Product Recall for Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi & System Boiler Range presenting a risk of fire.
30 models of boilers, up to Jan 2024 in that list.
Again depends on the spec of the system, if you were to get a high gain cylinder and set the boiler up sufficiently you could get 200 litres in as little as 20 minutes boiler running. And then. You havnt got other issues of the wife using the the kitchen sink while your trying to have a shower, and the water goes scalding hot to freezing cold for moments, or the kids flush the loo at the same time as your in the shower, or you can't run a bath and have the washing machine on at the same time etc etc.
There's pros and cons for both system types, a system boiler is more comfortable, a combi works for saving space. The OP has opted for combi so we'll just stick with that for this thread
Caporegime
We have a combi boiler in the loft at the moment (pending unvented installation) and have no problems with it being there.
It does help to have a very good loft ladder for when you need to change a setting, check the pressure, etc.
It does help to have a very good loft ladder for when you need to change a setting, check the pressure, etc.