New boiler - Vaillant or Worcester?

housebuyer143

So I'm thinking I'm going to need a new boiler and wanted to know what make is potentially better. I always sway towards Vaillant after having one in my old place from new and it being fault free for 11+ years. However, I hear people big up Worcester boilers and the warranty is better. 

Which do people prefer?

kempiejon

9 years ago I did all the research and bought Worcester, the 7 year warranty and Which recommendation pushed me in that direction. I got 3 quotes and the smaller local firm who we preferred - for those reasons - was a Worcestershire supplier. No problems in my ownership though I have heard that Worcestershire are not built as well as they were 20 years ago when they acquired their reputation.
No experience of Valliant. My anecdotal experience doesn't count for much, perhaps cancelling your equivalent sample of 1 for the opposition.

Albermarle

Everybody seems to have a different opinion, including the last 3 heating engineers who have come to our house.
One thing I can say ( and others have mentioned it to) that WB respond well to problems, and will send their own engineers out quickly.

TELLIT01

The comment about things not being built as well now as 20 years ago may well be valid.  Built in obsolescence seems to be the situation now, whereas reliability and long life were apparently deemed to be far more important 20 years ago.  Our Worcester boiler was installed in 2008 and is still going strong.  When is was serviced a couple of years ago the engineer said it has many years of life left in it.  We will find out in a couple of weeks when the annual service is carried out

FreeBear

I'm more than happy with my Viessmann. OpenTherm compatible, although not all OT commands appear to be supported. For the average user, that is not an issue... Can't comment on reliability or response to warranty claims as it was only installed last year. But with a 10 year warranty, I don't expect any issues with it for a while.

Just don't go for a Raven or Navien - The former is built down to a price, and the latter, a Korean company that has been in the UK market since 2014. Not long enough to gain a picture of long term reliability, although some do rate them highly.

Vaillant uses a proprietary version of the eBUS, so finding a smart thermostat may not be straight forward. WB is similar, but their interface is reasonably well documented, so you do have options beyond just WB hardware.

OpenTherm is the one to look out for - Most smart thermostats can talk OT, and there are open source hardware & software if you want to build your own control (you can also do the same with EMS with caveats).

MysteryMe

I've just had a Viessmann Vitodens 111-W installed but I think most long established boiler manufacturers are OK. You will always have instances of bad experiences whichever boiler you buy.

Sallyforth

My vote goes to Valliant but only because we’ve had a very positive experience. Moved here 32 years ago into a new build and our Valliant boiler lasted over 20 years and even then it was still working but perhaps not quite as efficiently. Replaced it with another Valliant with a 10 year warranty in 2018 and it looks as though it will outlive us both! We do get it serviced annually.

knightstyle

3 years ago we and our daughter needed new boilers, she got a Viessmann and it is trouble free, we got a grant to cover somSo my advice is find a trusted installer and ask them which boiler they specialise in plus what needs to be done to the system to install and get the full g'tee.

FreeBear

Just to throw in another thought - Octopus gave me a quote a little while back for a heat pump. With the government Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, the cost to me was coming in at around £2700 (subject to survey). The quote included upgrading radiators, DHW cylinder, and a limited amount of plumbing. That is very close to what I paid for a gas boiler last year - Once I take in to consideration what I paid for new radiators & copper, the Octopus quote actually works out cheaper.

As for why I didn't go for a heat pump - The main one was the cost of upgrading insulation levels if an EPC recommended them. At the time, that was a requirement of the BUS, but from May, that rule is being relaxed. Also struggling to find somewhere for a DHW that would be within 10m of the HP and still get hot water in the bathroom quickly.

Monanore

I've had a Worcester boiler for 15 years and my guy ( seriously expert ) says it'll go another 5.  However, he said if I wanted to change it he would recommend Ideal.

MrsWenger

I can recommend Vaillant based on my own experience. We had one installed 4 years ago, by a  local company and serviced annually by them too. Thursday before Easter engineer came to do service and spotted a valve leaking. He called Vaillant and their engineer attended that afternoon to fit it. LPG version as well.