I am in the process of replacing my 18 year old Worcester Bosch system boiler for a combi boiler, I have been recommended a Baxi 800 30kw combi boiler, has anyone on here had one fitted, if so what do they think of them, it is a toss up between a baxi or another Worcester boiler, the Worcester boiler seems to be more digital and as we are both in our 70s I am looking at a boiler my wife would be comfortable with using should something happen to me, I am not looking at other makes, so only looking for thoughts from people who have either of these fitted, many thanks in advance
My personal approach is to go for a boiler which provides the longest warranty.
Baxi offer 10 years on a 800, but there are lots of conditions attached to get ten years. Your system must be free of all sludge so will probably need a full flush and you will need a magnetic filter. There are other checklist items to complete.
It has dials rather than buttons and menus so should be simple to operate.
One question. Do you know why a 30kw boiler has been suggested and not a 25 or 36? It shouldn't be based on guesswork so you need to know how this assessment was made.
Also do you have any hot water outlets which need a system boiler and may not work with a combi, usual one is a power shower.
I can't speak for Baxi, although they are a very long established brand. We have a Worcester Bosch Combi boiler installed about 3/4 years ago. Much more economically that the old boiler. We had it installed by BG and we use the Hive system to control it, handy app on my phone or you can do it from the freestanding controller although I have to say its easier on the App.
Daveyjp thank you for your reply, the baxi as you quite rightly say comes with dials and would be probably easier for my wife to use, this was explained by my installer also, I am just trying to get some reviews on reliability, build, noise etc off anyone who has a baxi or Worcester combi installed, both boilers would have a filter fitted as a prerequisite by the engineer, as regards other outlets I have an electric shower not a power shower, I don’t know anyone who has a baxi and that is why I asked the question, the reason I may opt for the baxi is because of the dials and also because there are brass fittings within where there are plastic in the Worcester I am told, my Worcester system boiler has had a number of major parts replaced in the 18 years we have had it installed, as regards the warranty they both give 10 years providing the criteria is followed although Worcester is 10 year guarantee where baxi is warranty which means they are not guaranteed or obliged to repair, too many grey areas in all the t&c
We had our boiler replaced and relocated upstairs last year. This was prior to having a new kitchen.
The old one was fine ( over 20,years old) but replaced with a Baxi condensing model. We decided against a combi as it would have needed a lot more work and cost.
The new one is much more efficient, quiet and heats up very quickly it also A rated so should reduce gas usage.
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664DaveS thank you for your information on the Baxi, ours is already upstairs so just needs the cylinder and tanks removing, we are putting a small radiator in the airing cupboard, so will utilise some of the pipe work (hopefully) without the need for a lot of disruption, will feed the condensing pipe through the wall and down into a trap filled with limestone chippings, as I said before, I am looking for reviews from people who have either of these boilers and their thoughts on their experience with them, I have a Worcester system boiler already so know a little about Worcester but apart from installer reviews about the Baxi I cannot find any reviews from people who have had them fitted, my gas engineer recommends the Baxi for ease of use etc but is happy to fit either one albeit the Worcester is about £450 dearer, although the price is not a factor in my choice as I want reliability and peace of mind should anything happen to me that my wife can work the boiler and that it won’t cost her an arm or leg to keep repairing or indeed having to replace because we made the wrong choice, Baxi back boilers were pretty good in the past
Our system was flushed and has a Magnaflux filter. The engineer removed the header tank from the loft and fitted a pressure vessel. It has been trouble free.
We have a power shower but that would have had to be removed and replaced with a mixer as the combimworked at higher pressure.
Our plumber is a chap,we have used for years, he quoted for both. He is a great guy,who works to a very high standard.He also does tiling plastering and most other work!
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Our Worcester was installed over 15 years ago (must be nearer 20). We decided to keep the hot water cylinder as it has an immersion heater fitted. That means we can get hot water if there is a problem with gas supply.
I can't speak about Gas boilers specifically as I have oil heating in my current house. I had a Potterton system boiler in my last house and it worked fine.
I was asking a local plumber / heating engineer about a new boiler. He said that there were only two makes worth considering - Grant and Worcester
(oil boilers). He said Worcester was slightly better / dearer, but other makes weren't up to the same standard. So, Worcester sounds like a good bet.
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664DaveS thanks for your review, it seems a positive account of the Baxi, food for thought, I have this morning seen my daughters Worcester boiler that was fitted earlier this year, the digital dial doesn’t look to difficult but I had been in the building trade all my working life and have come across all sorts of boilers, being a decorator who removed and replaced radiators when wallpapering I have had to know how to refill etc, it’s my wife I am thinking of mainly should anything happen to me, our engineer is a chap I have used for a couple of years, he is ex British Gas and is very thorough in work that he does, so not doubting him or what he says about Baxi, I am just looking for opinions on the Baxi from people like yourself who have one fitted, as I said in an earlier post I can only find reviews from installers as opposed to end users, once again thank you for your positive comments
We had a Worcestor fitted last year. We do not bother with the phone bits of it. I am 82 and my wife in her 70s. No problems working it for either of us.
We had a Worcester Bosch installed by British Gas this year with a hive controller and thermostat. It can be controlled manually from the hive thermostat or the phone both are super easy.
You can still have the traditional mechanical thermostat fitted according to Worcester Bosch https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/products/mechanical-controls.
We are thrilled with the boiler and ease of control I am not convinced you will see any difference in your bills if you already have an 18 year old bosch. My Mum has a 15 year old Worcester and ours is 3 months old. I sort both bills and find no difference between the 2 on gas useage.
Whilst I can heartily recommend the boiler and the hive system I cannot recommend British Gas, they aren't the company they were. We ended up with a distant contractor rather than the British Gas engineers we expected fitting the boiler. There were several awful issues with the job.
If you want the job done hire a local contractor yourself and save some money from British Gas.
Quote: Originally posted by madz on 05/11/2022
We had a Worcester Bosch installed by British Gas this year with a hive controller and thermostat. It can be controlled manually from the hive thermostat or the phone both are super easy.
You can still have the traditional mechanical thermostat fitted according to Worcester Bosch https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/products/mechanical-controls.
We are thrilled with the boiler and ease of control I am not convinced you will see any difference in your bills if you already have an 18 year old bosch. My Mum has a 15 year old Worcester and ours is 3 months old. I sort both bills and find no difference between the 2 on gas useage.
Whilst I can heartily recommend the boiler and the hive system I cannot recommend British Gas, they aren't the company they were. We ended up with a distant contractor rather than the British Gas engineers we expected fitting the boiler. There were several awful issues with the job.
If you want the job done hire a local contractor yourself and save some money from British Gas.
Interesting you say that about BG. We had ours fitted by BG and had no difficulties at all with the fitting. Ours was fairly complicated as we moved the boiler upstairs and had all the old tanks ripped out.(previously had a different system) They also had to route a gas pipe up the outside of the house. One guy did it all in about three days.
During COVID we did have one visit to service the boiler by a non BG person which I would agree is not satisfactory. The problem we have previously found is that finding a reliable local independent service agent in MK has proved difficult, hence we stick to BG although we probably pay over the odds for the service?
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Topic: Combi boiler
via mobile 05/11/2022 at 1:42am
