combi

3695jones

my SIME Friendly Format combi boiler has had it - so the plumber says. i have a large 3 bed end terrace house with 8 radiators installed. i am obvisiously without propper heating at the moment. there are so many boiler makes and types - can anbody tell me the best make and type please.

many thanks in advance

covbaldy

Blimey where to start. The latest combi boilers are 'condensing' boilers and are very economical. After reading various posts on a couple of trade forums I would suggest that you avoid Baxi, Ravenheat and Biasi.

Glowworm, Alpha & Valliant get very good reviews. But correct instalation is king, many people scrimp on the choice (& price) of plumbers. Get at least 3 quotes.

Use https://www.radcals.com to get the correct size rads (if needed).

I'm in a similar position and am moving into a 3 bed semi (quite large rooms) and am looking at a 28kw output combi with a flow rate of at least 12 litres per minute - I'm getting a plumber to come over and check the water flow rates (makes a difference for filling baths and when more than one tap is being used, or that a washing machine is being filled!)

Theres a few other links on combi's just do a search.

https://www.screwfixdirect.com has a couple of boilers but I don't know how good they are. They also have a great plumbers forum. You could ask there too.

HTH
Alan

sujman

I am in a similar circumstance to you and different plumbers are recommending different boliers. Whilst one swears by Vaillant, another says they are "past it" and only recommends "Worchester Bosch". Yet another says that one of the cheapest on the market, "Biasi", is also great!!! Personally, I think it'll be pure luck if the boiler you eventually buy lasts the distance!

Use this site to read about boilers and compare prices between the diffrerent makes:

http://www.bhl.co.uk/

To me, on of the best indicators is how many years warranty the manufacturer gives on the boiler. Interestingly, Vaillant used to give 3 years but now are only giving 1 year......... the assumption being the better the warranty, the more confidence the manufacturer has in their own products!

So what am I going to buy??? I am probably going to buy a Vaillant as the my plumber (famly friend) recommends it and if it goes wrong, I'd expect (and receive) free repairs!!

As covbaldy says, get atleast 3 quotes and try and see how they price the job up. My plumber will charge for the cost of the equipment (he will keep that information open to me as I've already said I know the best available prices to me and dont expect him to charge me more), plus a flat £500 for labour.

For a Vaillant ecoTEC Plus 831 NG (£920 invc VAT), plus flue and timer (£130), I am looking at a total of around £1,600, all in.

I had two other quotes, one for £2,300 and another for £3,000 for the same boiler from other plumbers. They were going to do additional work such as a "power flush" but I cant see how that would make up for the price difference.

My suggeston is get as many quotes as there are plumbers willing to give quotes. You can suss out the good one from the bad, once you get talking.

Hope this helps

Sujay