Which Boiler – Vaillant, Glow-Worm, Worcester? Fit Magnaclean?

hugh2006

I am replacing a very old boiler for a new one. This is for a 4 bedroomed house with two showers. It can be a system boiler or an open vent boiler.

I have been recommended Vaillant Ecotec Plus 630, Glow-Worm Ultracom 30 SXI and Worcester Greenstar 30Cdi. Other brands that have been mentioned are Keston, Potterton and Baxi. I am quite confused as to which to choose. Reliability and efficiency are most important. Which one should I go for?

Most of my radiators are 15 years old. Will these radiators cope with a sealed system, or should I go for the open vent (expansion tank) system?

Separately, should I also fit Magnaclean Professional – is this effective and worth it for the cost involved? If you recommend it, should I get a 22mm version or the 28mm version? I appreciate that if one has it installed, the best time for me is now, as the system will be power flushed to fit the new boiler.

[FONT=&quot]Many thanks for your help.[/FONT]

JM_2

hugh2006 wrote: »

I am replacing a very old boiler for a new one. This is for a 4 bedroomed house with two showers. It can be a system boiler or an open vent boiler.

I have been recommended Vaillant Ecotec Plus 630, Glow-Worm Ultracom 30 SXI and Worcester Greenstar 30Cdi. Other brands that have been mentioned are Keston, Potterton and Baxi. I am quite confused as to which to choose. Reliability and efficiency are most important. Which one should I go for?

Most of my radiators are 15 years old. Will these radiators cope with a sealed system, or should I go for the open vent (expansion tank) system?

Separately, should I also fit Magnaclean Professional – is this effective and worth it for the cost involved? If you recommend it, should I get a 22mm version or the 28mm version? I appreciate that if one has it installed, the best time for me is now, as the system will be power flushed to fit the new boiler.

[FONT=&quot]Many thanks for your help.[/FONT]

---

Hi,

All I can advise is don't get Vaillant.

They have too many problems.

Also Vaillant engineers are so busy sorting out problems on their boilers that sometimes it is difficult to get the engineers to do the repairs quicly. Many times they send sub-contractors who don't do a proper job.

So save yourself and get something better.

It would be interesting to know what you choose in the end.

take care

JM2

ossie

Is a 30 Cdi boiler sufficient?
I have a 3 bed house and 1 shower and was recommended a 37 Cdi.

Worcester boiler been trouble free but had to have new pipework as pressure loss under concrete floor after a couple months.

Big big bonus was getting back loft space (no water tank), airing cupboard (no hot water tank) and only use energy on demand.

Downside hot water not instant and when heating comes on floorboards creak due to expansion.

Still glad I changed though.

hugh2006

JM_2 wrote: »

---

Hi,

All I can advise is don't get Vaillant.

They have too many problems.

Also Vaillant engineers are so busy sorting out problems on their boilers that sometimes it is difficult to get the engineers to do the repairs quicly. Many times they send sub-contractors who don't do a proper job.

So save yourself and get something better.

It would be interesting to know what you choose in the end.

take care

JM2

Thanks JM2. Can Vaillant be serviced by any engineer (say Corgi registered), or do those boilers need be repaired by Vaillant engineers only.

hugh2006

ossie wrote: »

Is a 30 Cdi boiler sufficient?
I have a 3 bed house and 1 shower and was recommended a 37 Cdi.

Worcester boiler been trouble free but had to have new pipework as pressure loss under concrete floor after a couple months.

Big big bonus was getting back loft space (no water tank), airing cupboard (no hot water tank) and only use energy on demand.

Downside hot water not instant and when heating comes on floorboards creak due to expansion.

Still glad I changed though.

Thanks Ossie. Glad to know you are happy with the Worcester. Did you have to replace a lot of the pipework? Loss of pressure sounds there perhaps may have been a leak - was one identified? As I noted, my radiators are 15 years old and that info would be useful.

Pssst

I am quite surprised at the negative comment re Vaillant . I'll admit I'm slightly out of date as the last ones i worked on were in the Sine18/ 242 range era and they were always very solidly engineered. Can you substantiate this negative vibe?

RE your system,make sure its well cleansed before and after fitting the new boiler. Check your rad valves and see if they need upgrading perhaps to TRV's ? I'd recommend fitting the magnaclean cr$p catcher also.

JM_2

hugh2006 wrote: »

Thanks JM2. Can Vaillant be serviced by any engineer (say Corgi registered), or do those boilers need be repaired by Vaillant engineers only.

Hi,

As mentioned, Vaillant engineers are busy repairing large number of their boilers and therefore you'd expect them to have more expertise. Still they are often puzzled as to the cause of the fault . It may take few days after changing many parts.

As advised by Pssst, it is worth cleaning the radiatiors beforehand. Always check with manual or manufacturer as to which chemicals to use. Some manufacturers of boilers don't like use of certain chemicals.




Kind regards

JM_2

hugh2006

Pssst wrote: »

I am quite surprised at the negative comment re Vaillant . I'll admit I'm slightly out of date as the last ones i worked on were in the Sine18/ 242 range era and they were always very solidly engineered. Can you substantiate this negative vibe?

RE your system,make sure its well cleansed before and after fitting the new boiler. Check your rad valves and see if they need upgrading perhaps to TRV's ? I'd recommend fitting the magnaclean cr$p catcher also.

Thanks Pssst. Most of my radiators have Honeywell VT117's fitted on them. Are these reliable and of good quality? Any alternatives for the remaining (4 radiators) that I should consider? By the way, how much should I pay to have additional TRV's fitted (say 4 Honeywell VT117 TRVs) if the work is part of replacing a boiler (and therefore the system will be drained off, power flushed etc)?

hugh2006

JM_2 wrote: »

Hi,

As mentioned, Vaillant engineers are busy repairing large number of their boilers and therefore you'd expect them to have more expertise. Still they are often puzzled as to the cause of the fault . It may take few days after changing many parts.

As advised by Pssst, it is worth cleaning the radiatiors beforehand. Always check with manual or manufacturer as to which chemicals to use. Some manufacturers of boilers don't like use of certain chemicals.




Kind regards

JM_2

Thanks JM2. Good points re chemicals.

You mention that Vaillant engineers are often puzzled as to the cause of the fault. Is this because the diagnostics are pretty complicated?

ossie

hugh2006 wrote: »

Thanks Ossie. Glad to know you are happy with the Worcester. Did you have to replace a lot of the pipework? Loss of pressure sounds there perhaps may have been a leak - was one identified? As I noted, my radiators are 15 years old and that info would be useful.

The plumber tried leak sealant (twice) to no avail. He then had to put isolation valves in the system to find which section was causing pressure loss. Found to be under concrete floor with no visible leak. Rather than dig up floor (expensive) he ran new pipes down from the boiler via downstairs toilet and small pantry then going through living room and entrance hall wall to connect up radiators and disconnected old pipe which was causing leak. This cost me £500 and took him 2 days and several cups of tea!

cowbutt

My recent installer was prepared to install either a Worcester or Vaillant boiler, but recommended the Vaillant Ecotec Plus 831 as he reckoned it had the edge for reliability and longevity (mainly down to a stainless steel heat exchanger, if I remember correctly). I took his advice, but sourced the boiler from vhsdirect.co.uk who were not only £100 cheaper than his normal supplier, but added an extra year's warranty taking it to three years.

He fitted a Magnaclean (the smaller model) and it caught lots of gunk just in the first 24 hours of operation. I'm pretty skeptical of the various "magnetic" gadgets out there (especially with respect to car "fuelsavers") but having seen the gunk it extracted, I think it's probably worthwhile. The labour for installing my boiler was about 1/3 of the total cost, the boiler was 1/3rd and the rest was things like the room thermostat, flue, and so on.