Gas boiler, Vaillant or Worcester? Recommendations please.

In message , Malcolm H writes

Most fitters prefer to it the ecotec, worcester quality seems to be dropping a bit

HOWEVER,

there are cheaper boilers on the market with a 5 year warranty. Without the warranty, they're not worth a second look, but, given that a modern boiler has an expected lifetime of 5-7 years, it might be an approach worth thinking about

I bought the Vaillant, based upon my own and others' experiences of using them in the past. However, it can be difficult to find a boiler service company that is familiar with them, which may be where the adverse reports have their origin.

Colin Bignell

C'mon geoff that's for the crap you make your living selling parts for! And even Ideals can last 5 years*. I'd expect the better made current generation to be pootling along with the sort of lifetimes we're currently seeing for W-B 'i's and CDis, Profiles and Solos.

Damn' well hope so for iJuniors or I'm going to have some unhappy customers (or ex-customers) down the line ...

• that's in heating: in politics substitute 'minutes' for 'years' ;-)

Some interesting comments from YAPH in a related question I once asked:

Kostas

Quite a lot of people I've talked to seem to be thinking along the lines of getting a long warranty rather than a good make.

Not something I would have advised last year, but I'm beginning to change my mind

Vaillant would be my choice but you have to get an installer that knows the Vaillant 400 series VERY well, they can be quite tricky to set up, you can always go for the 615 model which is better.

I don't know the current Valliant range particularly well, but I have installed a WB combi recently and was impressed with the design and fitting arrangements. By contrast I've also fitted a glow-worm a few months ago considered it to be crap by comparison to the WB.

WB ZB 11-40 R 40E installed Dec 2004. Annual check £50 Replacements: 1 Thermocouple assembly & Exchanger Gasket Dec 2010. No other problems so far.

It's different, isn't it, the 615 is a system (with the pump included), the 415 is just a heating only (Open Vent per Vaillant terminology) boiler.

Good to know the warning about them being tricky to install, though...

Kostas