I'd appreciate some advice on gas combi boilers, please (particularly from any heating engineers out there). Which makes and models would you recommend? We think we need 32/35KW and it will go into a cupboard in the kitchen.
Advice (from friends):
Baxi
Viessmann
Vaillant
We want an efficient, not too noisy, reliable boiler which won't break the bank and will last, so if anyone knows of any good deals, please do post!
We have a Vaillant as recommended by our plumber. It came with a ten year warranty which dealt with a communication problem between thermostat and boiler caused by the construction of our house (so not really a fault). Other than that it's been quiet, reliable and economical. If they do go wrong they're designed to be easy and therefore cheap to repair.
Firstly don't guess what size/output you need. Size for combis is calculated from cold water flow at a tap near the mains supply. No point have a boiler which can heat 17l a minute per minute if your mains flow is only 12l a minute. Start by measuring the flow, then match the size.
As regards brands we had a Vaillant installed in 2012. It had one issue after a couple of years with a sensor, but it didn't stop working. Otherwise it has been faultless. It was however fitted by an old school engineer who had fitted every brand and he fitted it correctly.
He stopped fitting Worcester Bosch after they started cutting corners on design, but kept paying him large sales bonuses. He didn't want a bonus if it meant customers complaining to him when a poorly designed and manufactured component failed.
Quote: Originally posted by daveyjp on 20/6/2025
Firstly don't guess what size/output you need. Size for combis is calculated from cold water flow at a tap near the mains supply. No point have a boiler which can heat 17l a minute per minute if your mains flow is only 12l a minute. Start by measuring the flow, then match the size.
As regards brands we had a Vaillant installed in 2012. It had one issue after a couple of years with a sensor, but it didn't stop working. Otherwise it has been faultless. It was however fitted by an old school engineer who had fitted every brand and he fitted it correctly.
He stopped fitting Worcester Bosch after they started cutting corners on design, but kept paying him large sales bonuses. He didn't want a bonus if it meant customers complaining to him when a poorly designed and manufactured component failed.
Our Vaillant was fitted 2nd February 2000 and has only needed a fan replacement in these 25 years. The plumber who services it loves Worcester Bosch because they give him so much work, but he would only install Vaillant as he said he had a reputation to protect
We have a worcester bosch. It was installed while I was still working and bear in mind I retired around 18 years ago. I guess it owes us nothing. In those days the only place permitted for installation was in the loft which is a bit of a pita.
We had a Worcester Bosch combi boiler in our previous house that worked very well for us for15 years and still is.
We recently moved house and replaced a 25 year old Ideal boiler with a Baxi combi, it has a 10 year guarantee its only been installed 8 weeks and it was cheaper than a Worcester Bosch boiler.
I did some internet searches and Baxi had good reviews .
We don't have mains gas in the village, so it's LPG or oil heating.
Our neighbour had a new Worcester Bosch combi fitted and it had a lot of teething troubles for the first coupe of months. It's been going fine now for some time, so I guess it's been fixed.
I had a new oil boiler fitted this year. The installer only recommended Grant or Worcester Bosch boilers, but they were more expensive. Both came with a 10 year warranty, subject to annual inspection.
I think this is a bit of a rip off. Most faults will either be early life or old age with a long period of reliability in between. This is the 'bathtub reliability curve'.
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I have to be honest, if I buy something these days with a 10 year warranty, I think to myself, I would be very pleased if I am still here to need to worry about the item failing after that.
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Topic: Any Heating Engineers? Which Boiler?
via mobile 20/6/2025 at 9:29am
