Boiler upgrade

madlyn

I suppose I could spend 40k on a brand new Audi and the engine blow up a year later or I could spend 15k on a brand new Fiesta run it for 20 years and never have a problem.


I asked for a quote using a Worcester Bosch and the Ideal boiler is what the plumber recommends unless asked otherwise.

I have checked reviews and contacted people who have used this plumber and all are positive.

southcoastrgi

The price difference between Ideal & Intergas is prob £100, the difference in quality is priceless, let me put it slightly easier for you, Logic's are crap

missile

I replaced my Vokera boiler with Viessmann and very glad I did.

ric1982

Have a look at this https://www.boxt.co.uk/.

I am not associated with this company. But a friend of mine have used in past and they are cheaper. It will give you quote if you need boiler in different part of the house. worth a try.

stragglebod

They're cheaper - in the short term - because you'll get a Worcester. Who own Boxt.


Of course cheaper and cheaper in the short term aren't neccessarily the same thing.

DiscoTechno

Conversions are expensive, back boiler conversions even more so (at least a couple of days work and lots of additional pipework etc).

Price also depends on a few different things, like whether you want the old back boiler to completely removed etc. You'll find the online companies offering the best prices instead of local installers and definitely not British Gas unless you want to remortgage!!!!

Cant post a link for some reason, Google Heatable New Boiler Cost. They have a good guide.

akira181

My current flat is a similar sized flat (6 rads, 1 bathroom plus non-electric shower) and I'm in the process of upgrading my 20 year old Valiant. It's had a number of repairs done on it in over the years and it's now leaking, so it's finally time. It had a 70% efficiency rating when new, so who knows what it's dropped to now, either way, I've noticed a decent increase in gas consumption compared to my old flat, which was a larger with an additional flatmate (brand new baxi of some sort).

A friend of a friend is a gas engineer and he's given me mates rates of £250ish for materials plus whatever boiler I pick (labour FOC). He says anything in the 24-32Kw range is big enough, higher will give better hot water production but consume more energy unless the boiler can modulate it's output well.

He reckons it'll take a little over half a day to install in the same location as the previous boiler. New location, I expect materials and labour to double before the tradesman adds their profit margin. As for boiler brand, he's a Vokera engineer so that's what he recommends as it's what he's most familiar with. Efficiency wise, they're all pretty much the same unless you go absolute top-end expensive like a Viessmann Vitodens. Although for a small flat, the rate of return is likely non-existent.

As with all things, you're paying for brand reliability. Vokera's have a bad rep online but his company installs hundreds of them every week and he only gets a few callbacks, which isn't bad. Sure it probably won't last 20 years like my current Valiant but its energy efficiency is so bad now, it would have been better to replace it 5 years ago anyway so longer life is not necessarily always better.

It's around £500 for a Vokera or a little over £1000 for a Valiant in the same range, both with 5 year warranty. I'm leaning towards the Vokera, hopefully get another 7 years after warranty with a few repairs, and by that point heating tech should have advanced enough that an upgrade makes sense. Don't see the point in paying double just to have it run longer into it's least efficient years (plus having a mates rates gas engineer gives a little piece of mind when OOW repairs are needed)

Other side of the coin, my mother has a Valiant and the circuit board broke 3 months out of warranty. So just because it's more expensive, doesn't mean it's infallible.

ButtersUK

Re. Intergas.


I see they have been acquired by a big American heating company called Rheem. This was just a couple weeks ago.


Is it me or do I see less mention of Intergas than I have done in the past?


To be honest I'm keen on the brand and would anticipate having one installed in the foreseeable. But it's a tiny bit daunting to know they've changed hands (no-one likes change) when, in the scheme of things, the company is so comparitively little known at this time.

Novice_investor101

A lot of people seem to berate Ideal boilers, but I've had a Logic 30 since 2014 & never had any issues with it. It works perfectly, seems to be really efficient & is plenty powerful enough for my little 2 bed terrace.
I get it serviced every year to maintain the 7 yr warranty & in August last year the engineer commented on how clean it was inside & still like a brand new boiler. I expect the same applies to any boiler - look after it properly & it will do its job.

Typhoon2000

Has to be a Viessmann or Intergas for quality and reliability. The Viessmann is worth the extra notes IMHO, stainless heat exchanger and all.