Help choosing a new boiler

deanos

We currently have a Halstead Best 30, its about 12 years old

The fan is on its way out yet again, its had 3 fans and 3 circuit boards over the last few years so decided its time to change so its just costing me money every year as there is always something that's going wrong

But i haven't got a clue what to change it to , it wants to be a reliable make, im not sure what kWH i need or even what i have now :cool:

I just want a straight swap for a similar type don't need a combi boiler which i understand will need pipework adding

We have 9 radiators and 1 bathroom and an electric shower

Any help appreciated !

EDIT: Found spec here its mumbo jumbo to me tho

http://www.solvgroup.com/uploaded_files/File/HALSTEAD_BEST_db_30_GCNo.41-333-50.pdf

southcoastrgi

i think that you are lucky your boiler has lasted this long, imo halstead (or glen dimplex as they are now) is the worst boiler ever made, my recommendation is below, you won't have any probs with these i fit nothing else but this make.

http://www.remehaheating.co.uk/products/heat-only-boilers/15v/

garethgas

Nothing wrong with the above but there are others which are equally good in the Worcester Ri range. Another brand is Gloworm fexicom/ultracom but these don't have such a good reputation although personally, I quite like them.
You'll find every Engineer will have his own preferences regarding makes of boiler so my advice would be to take a look at various makes/models and discuss it with your installer.

SailorSam

A couple of weeks ago i got a new Ariston boiler, it's got a 5yr guarantee so should save several hundred in insurance costs.
That replaced a 8yr old Ravenheat, i thought that may have been the worst boiler ever made !!!

Canucklehead

deanos wrote: »

We currently have a Halstead Best 30, its about 12 years old

The fan is on its way out yet again, its had 3 fans and 3 circuit boards over the last few years so decided its time to change so its just costing me money every year as there is always something that's going wrong

But i haven't got a clue what to change it to , it wants to be a reliable make, im not sure what kWH i need or even what i have now :cool:

I just want a straight swap for a similar type don't need a combi boiler which i understand will need pipework adding

We have 9 radiators and 1 bathroom and an electric shower

Any help appreciated !

EDIT: Found spec here its mumbo jumbo to me tho

http://www.solvgroup.com/uploaded_files/File/HALSTEAD_BEST_db_30_GCNo.41-333-50.pdf

Hi: even the 'best' boiler will fail if the the standard of the installation is poor. You need to get in RGIs recommended to you by a source you trust to conduct a site survey and discuss your requirements. In regard to the 'best boilers' you could ask 5 RGIs and get 5 different answers....though most would agree that Halsteads (and Ideal) can be 'problematic'.:eek:

HTH


Canucklehead

deanos

Thanks for the advice folks , managed to strip the fan down and its running very quiet now

But still will be replacing the boiler soon , will do it when it gets a bit warmer


The Halstead is actually 15yrs old

spinningsheep

When we were looking at new boilers I did quite alot of research and after the input of various installers (including the one who we ended up going with) settled on a Baxi Duotec. My findings were:

Worcester Bosch - Rolls Royce of boilers as far as reliabilty goes but parts ridiculously expensive once out of warranty

Vaillant - Very reliable according to reviews and the choice of local authorities for housing, but more expensive to fit and in all honesty frowned upon by all the installers I spoke to, apparantly due to their reliability??

Baxi/Potterton/Main - all the same company, newer ones seem to be dubious quality but the older Duotec ones etc very reliable, easy to use and reasonable price.

Glowworm - seem that they are nowhere near as good as the older ones were, told to steer clear, better to pay slightly more for the alternatives.

Now since we had the boiler installed in March 2011, has been great, we have noticed a marked decrease in gas bills and the house is far warmer as the radiators/towel rails get much hotter than the old Glowworm we had ever managed.

Since we have had ours, I have seen a review on Youtube for Atmos Intercombi, which seems a very good machine, they apparantly offer a lifetime guarantee on the heat exchanger as not one has failed yet!!

As I said, these were purely my experience and I am in no way saying take it as gospel.

abankerbutnotafatcat

Thanks, Spinningsheep - that's info the way I like it!!

We have a Halstead, currently covered by nPower's boiler cover and we're hoping it will last us another year or two as our cash flow will struggle right now given the c£5k rewire we need to do.

cosworth_monkey

The problem with "the best boiler" is that it is only as good as the engineer who installed it and how well it's looked after. Yes there are boilers that are favoured because of ease of installation, cost of parts and warranty etc so talk to your engineer and see what he recommends.

As posted above, remeha are, in my experience, excellent.

unclebulgaria

deanos wrote: »

We currently have a Halstead Best 30, its about 12 years old

You want a medal for managing to get a Halstead Best to last that long! I've seen chocolate fire guards that last longer!

Im not sure where you have got the Worcester parts prices from but, thats not my experience.
Glowworm on the other hand are stratospheric when it comes to spares!
Worcester, Vaillant, Potterton, Main (budget boilers), Remaha...
Like Canucklehead said different answers from different RGI's.
Whatever you do dont go with Which best buys, do your own research and lots of it.

greenface

biasi and heatline are pants imho but worcester/vaillant /remeha are better and well worth the extra cost. currently got a worcester in here no problems ever (yet)