Boilers; Ideal vs Worcester? Hardwired vs wireless thermostat?

colin79666

We got a Vallant Ecotec condensing combi boiler and new rads in the autumn. Actually did away with the room thermostat and just have TRVs. Get on fine with this as each room can be controlled how we like and the boiler only fires up when there is demand. You can also control the central heating and hot water temps on the boilers control panel. We were a bit unsure about losing the hot water tank but have found the boiler is actually quicker to fire up and deliver hot water than the old system was as there is less pipe work between the tap and hot water source.

Opinion of those who gave estimates to us is Bosh and Vallant are the best in the market for the small to medium combi boiler.

davidsuffolk

"Your RGI relied on WB telling him what the fault code is? You could have done that yourself and saved the diagnostic fee, if that is all his approach to fault finding involves. "

He's a friend and for several visits (after parts delivered) he charged me £30 so I can live with him ringing WB

Butterfly21

Hi,
I'm new to the forums so navigating my way around. I too am looking for a new boiler and can tell you from previous experience, stay away from ideal boilers! My elderly parents were given an ideal isar he24 under the warm front scheme 8 years ago and they have spent £1000 atleast on boiler cover over these years, this piece of junk has haf an array of problems ever since installation. No wonder why the government happily gave these wasteful freebies! Growing up I remember we had an excellent sturdy valiant boiler which didn't cost us a fortune in plumbing costs. Sorry I can't be techincal but my 2p advice would be to choose the Worcester bosch as my relatives have one which they are pleased with thus far!

lstar337

Butterfly21 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm new to the forums so navigating my way around. I too am looking for a new boiler and can tell you from previous experience, stay away from ideal boilers! My elderly parents were given an ideal isar he24 under the warm front scheme 8 years ago and they have spent £1000 atleast on boiler cover over these years, this piece of junk has haf an array of problems ever since installation. No wonder why the government happily gave these wasteful freebies! Growing up I remember we had an excellent sturdy valiant boiler which didn't cost us a fortune in plumbing costs. Sorry I can't be techincal but my 2p advice would be to choose the Worcester bosch as my relatives have one which they are pleased with thus far!

As posted earlier in this thread, ideal have had issues in the past, but the Logic+ seems to be a good boiler. The cheap parts used in older models have been replaced with high quality parts for the Logic+. Ours is still going strong, not a single issue at all.

The Logic+ also comes with a 7 year warranty.

I'm not saying there may not be a bad egg, but they no longer seem to be plagued by issues of the past.

System

Atag, Worcester Bosch, Viessman and Valliant are the boilers recommended by installers. The consensus though seems to be that Worcester Bosch has excellent spares support and stands by its warranty whereas others look for an out (with poor system flushing on installation being a key get out of warranty for free card). There would seem to be fewer warranty issues if you use a manufacturer's approved installer.

Cardew

lstar337 wrote: »

I don't understand how you keep your heating balanced when you have a movable Thermostat.

I have a traditional fixed thermostat in the hall/stairs/landing space. This is the largest space in the house, so I know that when this space reaches a set temp then all the other rooms will be too and the boiler can shut off.

I have set and adjusted my TRV's over time to finely balance this system.

I know that with my TRV's set at:
Hall - Full
Kitchen - 2
Front room - 4
W/C - 2
Master bedroom - 2
Second bedroom - 2
Office - 2
Master bathroom - 4

That when the hall gets to 18c, the rest will be:
Kitchen ~16c
Front room ~ 21c
W/C ~ 18c
Master bedroom ~ 16c
Second bedroom ~ 16c
Office ~ 16c
Master bathroom ~ 19c

If I moved the thermostat all the temperatures would be off.

Interested in this post. Presumably you have all rooms heated whenever CH is switched on?


I now have a movable thermostat and with a large house don't heat all rooms, unless they are to be used. Even the two bedrooms in use are switched off during the day, using the TRV, and the TRV is turned up again late afternoon.


I find to get the temperature I require in a particular room(other than the one with the thermostat) I have to resort to 'fudging' e.g turn up thermostat and turn down TRVs in the same room as the thermostat.

lstar337

Cardew wrote: »

Interested in this post. Presumably you have all rooms heated whenever CH is switched on?

Yes, when the heating is on, all rooms are heated. We have a small house though, and a 7 year old. It is also worth pointing out that our house is a new build (2014) and is A rated on the EPC for insulation.

Cardew wrote: »

I now have a movable thermostat and with a large house don't heat all rooms, unless they are to be used. Even the two bedrooms in use are switched off during the day, using the TRV, and the TRV is turned up again late afternoon.

My logic for heating all rooms, is that all of the rooms are going to be opened at some point during the day (7 year old), so heat will move to any unheated room anyway and dilute heat in occupied rooms. If the heating were run for long, it would just top up and we'd be none the wiser. However, because the house is well insulated we only need two heating periods a day (5:30-6:30 & 17:30-16:30), and only in full winter. I also only run the radiator temperature at 55c to keep the return temp low enough for condensing.

Cardew wrote: »

I find to get the temperature I require in a particular room(other than the one with the thermostat) I have to resort to 'fudging' e.g turn up thermostat and turn down TRVs in the same room as the thermostat.

We find this rarely to be the case. The only time I have noticed an issue is if we have a sunny winter day. In this situation the sun pours in through the south facing patio doors and window, heating up the concrete slab floor in the lounge. As this happens after the morning heating period, it results in a higher than usual temperature in the lounge which can filter through to other rooms. We usually compensate for this by opening a window for a while.

It's got to the point where the only time the heating is touched is to turn it off in spring and on in winter.

This years gas usage was 3400kWh, but it think most of that was DHW.

Eric_Disley

Butterfly21 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm new to the forums so navigating my way around. I too am looking for a new boiler and can tell you from previous experience, stay away from ideal boilers! My elderly parents were given an ideal isar he24 under the warm front scheme 8 years ago and they have spent £1000 atleast on boiler cover over these years, this piece of junk has haf an array of problems ever since installation. No wonder why the government happily gave these wasteful freebies! Growing up I remember we had an excellent sturdy valiant boiler which didn't cost us a fortune in plumbing costs. Sorry I can't be techincal but my 2p advice would be to choose the Worcester bosch as my relatives have one which they are pleased with thus far!

I've had both ideal boilers - the isar and logic +. The isar never stopped breaking down. The logic+ has been fine.

If you're selling it, get the cheapest. If you're renting, I'd go with the logic+, it's a decent boiler, £1400 is a good price and you've got a 7-year warranty.

If you were living in the property, it might be worth paying more for the Worcester but you're not.

Laurensalive

I have had an Ideal Logic 30 boiler installed four weeks ago. I am thrilled with it. A really good boiler. I love the LCD display on this boiler. This boiler will tell you if there is a fault on it, via the LCD display. A good boiler.

gilbert_and_sullivan

New Ideal Logic in last year, recommended and supplied by my boiler man (all he does is boiler/heating), known him years and he's getting good results.
As said above 7 year warranty, and massive savings over the year both for heating and much much less gas used for hot water during the summer months.
Roughly 30% less gas used during the winter months and roughly 60% less used for hot water during the summer period...mind you the previous Vaillant was 22 years old.
Cost £1350 supplied and fitted, if it dies in year 8 another one similar cost will go in, paid for in gas savings alone.