alpha boilers

Ruski

If you get a minimum 7 year warranty then you know you're heading in the right direction wether it vaillant, wb, alpha.

My gsr says wb has gone too plastic internally and flue seals fail too soon, but vaillant and alpha are down to personal preference.
true that alphas used to be poor, but from personal experience of the boilers today they've put the past to bed.

HTH
Russ

Cliffdweller

In 2005, the OPDM (remember John Prescott?) said all new boilers must be A rated. The Trade were concerned that maintenance costs could outweigh efficiency savings, ref Daily Telegraph.
We went for the Alpha CD24C, 3 year warranty in 2006. A 7 year warranty sounds good when you add the call-outs to the servicing. Here's its record:
Oct 2006 Installed
2 Jan 2007 Failed to light - Spark generator
10 Jan 2007 Failed to light - earth electrode position
Aug 2007 No DHW - clip-on switch – problem with plunger sticking – silicone grease had been tried but they reverted to no grease.
April 2008 Failed to light - Clear sensor tubes – last of 3 year warrenty
May 2010 No DHW - another switch.
Feb 2011 No DHW - switch plunger lubricated with silicone oil and then cleaned off.
7 Dec 2011 Water leak from expansion tank connection. Several union nuts showing green deposits.
12 Dec 2011 Continually losing pressure day by day - expansion tank found exhausted
4 Nov 2014 Loss of pressure with leak - DHW heat exchanger union
7 Nov 2014 Water leak – running down cable sleeves from sealed chamber – bottom of chamber full of water – primary heat exchanger to condensate pipe seal broken into three pieces. Recommend check this seal at service.
16 Nov 2014 Primary pressure switch – leaking through body.
Who said they leak like sieves?

bridgedino

My Worcester Greenstar Junior 28i

Fitted in Nov 2010

Provides 2 showers per day for 4 people, at least 3 bowls of dishwater and the occasional bath.

Feeds 12 radiators

Serviced annually, never missed a beat

Zero breakdown visits

Very happy owner

Ruski

My 23 year old Ferroli Combi is strong as a mule and people slam them as crap boilers too.


I'm not saying that anything is better than anything else, the OP asked about Alpha, I gave them an up-to-date view of a 2014 build boiler


HTH


Russ

PaulBowen

Well I guess it depends on opinions - "if it don't break and it's serviced every year, should be a ok".

Seronera

bridgedino wrote: »

My Worcester Greenstar Junior 28i

Fitted in Nov 2010

Provides 2 showers per day for 4 people, at least 3 bowls of dishwater and the occasional bath.

Feeds 12 radiators

Serviced annually, never missed a beat

Zero breakdown visits

Very happy owner

Most are fine of course but most engineers don't rate the Junior. My elderly neighbour has one and when it failed before christmas I called Worcester out instead of repairing it myself as the parts alone would have been £300 to me, and its not an old boiler at all. I also had to replace a heat exchanger in a Junior that corroded through in four years and WB paid half of that parts cost. Most Alphas are OK and backup is OK. My main objection to Alphas is that whilst the boilers are cheap the spares are horrendous. They struggle for market share a bit, though they have pockets of popularity round the country.

The most popular mid range boiler at present has to be the Ideal Logic which is proving to be excellent after five years of production, is beautifully laid out inside and easy to work on, 7 year warranty on 'plus' models and excellent backup. Personally I'd pay a few more quid and get one of these. I've installed a good few now and...touch wood...not had a complaint yet. In fact people love em. Forget all the old Ideal stories. They involve the Isar/Icos which was truly rubbish, but the new one has put right all the things they got wrong.....No I don't work for Ideal, but I have got a Logic heat only in a box ready to put in my own house this summer..(I meant to do it last summer...but you know..)