Combi Boiler

beachBOYken

beachBOYken

beachBOYken

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Hi

We are looking at replacing our boiler in the kitchen later in the year to a combi boiler, just wondered what makes and models are recommend to look at?

Thanks
 
robfosters said:
Vaillant eco tech pro according to my gas engineer brother.
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robj20 said:
You will get so many answers to this.

Better to find a good local installer and go with what they use and are familiar with.
Most good brand come with at least 10 years warranty now.
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Im thinking Vaillant or Ideal as I have installers near me.

Vailliant Eco-tec plus combi, looks ok.

Unsure on what flow rate I should be looking at?
 
robfosters said:
Brother says flow rate depends on your incoming flow rate. Do you know what that Is?

Power wise, he says you need a 30kW boiler. That will do 10-12 rads and a couple of bathrooms easily.
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No idea, will have to see if i can find out.

Thanks anyway, not looking to do it yet but just wanted an idea on what to look at.
 
I have narrowed my search down to 2 combi boilers, although need to be sure they will be fine for the house.

Vaillant ecoTEC plus (35kw 14.3 flow)

Vaillant exclusive with green IQ (35kw 14.5)

Did look at Veissmann, but not sure how easy it would be to get repairs/spares, Vaillant seem to be easier to get from local boiler shops as well as repairs.

As for the above boilers, the green IQ one looks interesting, anyone got that ?

Next step is to go to a local boiler shops to get quotes and make sure the above boilers are ideal for our requirements.
 
robj20 said:
What extra requirements do you have?

If all you want is hot water and heating it will be fine.

I narrowed mine down as i wanted specific things.
-Opentherm
-Large modulation for the heating
-Stainless exchange
-Metal valves not plastic
-Long warranty
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Didn't meant to say requirements, just that the boiler is sufficient for the house.

Do want a long warranty though, i believe the Vaillant is 7yrs when installed by an advance Vaillant engineer and 10yrs with a protection kit.
 
Steampunk said:
I've had good experiences with Vaillant Ecotec, but make sure you have it set up with the right heat output for your house. I get mine regularly serviced, and the engineers are always surprised by how efficiently it's still running years later. Chatting to one of the engineers this year, he said that the Vaillant's are much easier to work on, meaning that if you do need something fixing in the future, you're not paying extra man hours because other makes are a pain to work on.
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Good to hear, pretty sure we will go with a Vaillant, currently have an Ideal which is a standard boiler with the separate cold and hot water tanks in loft and airing cupboard.

But we want to do away with all that and go combi.
 
Small update, had some quotes.

Looking like it will be a Vaillant EcoTec plus 32kw or Ideal Vogue Max 32kw.

Has anyone experience with the Ideal Vogue Max?

This was actually recommended by one of the plumbers when getting a quote, I know they had some reliability issues a while back but apparently they have improved a lot recently and this Vogue Max is supposed to be a very good boiler.
 
robj20 said:
I have one, been faultless. Deciding factors for me were its high modulation and Opentherm support built in.
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Thanks, I was seeing the Vogue Max combi and Vogue GEN2 on Ideal website, apparently they are the same boiler, but the max comes with the filter and a longer warranty.
 
robj20 said:
As soon as my boiler warranty is up i wont be servicing it. It is a big con, on my Ideal Vogue they literally just check the flue gas. The actual boiler tells you everything else on the screen.
Better to just start putting a few quid a month aside to go towards repairs/replacement in the future. The whole gas safe lark is a bit of a con if you ask me, not like its hard working with gas with a bit of common sense and correct tools.

Wonder what the cheapest flue gas analyser is, £250ish, service my own boiler then.
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I think you have that Honey Well evohome kit looking at a post of yours, thinking about getting it, but do you need to fit them controllers on every radiator in the house, that would be pricey.
 
Syla5 said:
But my point on servicing wasn't directed at you. It was directed to the OP who is getting a brand new boiler put in. The fact you chimed in and about trying to compare your 20 year old boiler to a brand new one is completely moot as you are not even close to comparing the same thing.

The reasoning I gave for maintaining a service schedule, to the OP, is due to maintaining warranty.
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Yeah thank you, I was aware that you need a regular service to maintain warranty, the guy fitting our new boiler is someone we were recommended and is local, he still services a family members boiler that he fitted a few years ago.
 
robj20 said:
Yep, I have 6 of the HR92, 1 WiFi controller, and 1 opentherm bridge.
No other system comes close to the versatility of evohome.
I'm thinking of adding a couple of temp sensors as well.
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I have about 10 radiators, so it would cost a lot to fit HR92s to all of them, unless I don't need to fit them on all of them, got a small downstairs toilet with a small radiator, that could be a bit pointless fitting one in their for example.
 
robj20 said:
I have the 32Kw, 3 bed semi. Size of house is irrelevant for a combi though even the smallest will heat a standard size house. Purely go of what hot water you want, going more complex too big a combi wont modulate low enough for the heating side of things so will still cycle on and off rather than just stay on nice and low. So although bigger is better for the primary function of hot water, you risk making the secondary function of heating less efficient.
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Yeah 32kw is what we have quotes for, I think I will leave the Evohome stuff for now, guess that can be fitted at a later date if I decide on it.
 
*UPDATE*

Had our new combi boiler installed (Ideal Vogue Max 32), early days but impressed with it so far, just need to get used to the Honeywell Thermostat and what settings to use to maintain a good temp.

Anyone else use a Honeywell thermostat that can advise with best settings to use, Im currently using AUTO mode with customised time periods and temperature control for all 7 days a week.

Unsure how I should operate the thermostat in the Summer months, should I just use the off button or programme it differently in the AUTO mode, obviously we won't be using the heating in Summer so presume off is best.
 
Steampunk said:
I just leave ours on all the time. It's too warm in the summer for it to fire up the heating, so it never does unless it gets unseasonably cold.
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Good point, never thought of that, got mine set to 20c at most so shouldn’t fire up that much if I left it on auto then.

See how it goes, really like the simplicity of it all.
 
Yeah will leave on Auto for now see how it goes.

Unsure if I should change the temp of the radiators on the boiler think its around 70 at the moment, but some radiators are very hot to the touch, especially the ones without thermostat valves.
 
The Craig said:
If you want your boiler to run efficiently it should be lower temp (allows it to condense).

I believe 55 deg is the reccomended (mine has an eco identification on dial).
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RJC said:
I have mine set between 55c and 60c depending how cold it is, being a old house with no cavity it takes some heating. I have added a heat-imp to the hall way to help.

Had the boiler service for the first time in the 4 years it’s been installed and passed without issue which was good.
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I have two dials on the boiler one for the water temp and other the radiators, I believe one is set to around 55c, will have to check again.
 
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