Help decoding boiler quote please?

Distress replacement of existing combi boiler, have electric shower rarely use bath, condensor not worth extra expense, only running 5 rads and washin g hot water.

Got a quote that trying to work out, heating sytems not being my specialist subject....

- Supply & Install Vokera Excel 25 with 2 year warranty: £1095

From online reviews sounds like bsort of thing install just before selling place, don`t seem to rate highly for reliability?

- Supply & Install Vokera Vision 25c with 7 year warranty: £1375

Is this the same boiler with an extended warranty and Vokera tyring to resc ue reputation?

Existing boiler is a Gloworm thats been reliable for 15+ years but provokes teeth sucking from gas fitters.

- Supply & Install Worcester Greenstar 25i with 5 year warranty: £1655

Bosch Worcester seem to be a better choice for reliablity at a cost?

- Supply & Install Vaillant ecoTEC plus 825 with 5 year warranty: £1905

Is Vailliant the Rolls Royce of boilers or will it cut my gas consummption in half or some other reason for big cost jump?

- Heating filter: £100 (Highly recommend as this protects boiler heat exc hanger from any debris that would cause damage)

Would have thought there is filtering internal to boiler , seems like an ex pensive add on?

- Powerflush: £350 (Recommend when you are upgrading boiler but keep exis ting radiators/pipework)

At this ort of cost replacing the rads would seem cheaper, 350 quid seems l ike an expensive hosing through, is this really neccessary?

Any advice comments much appreciated.

Thanks!

Reply to
Adam Aglionby
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usually means 'This customer knows eff all about boilers so I'll do the usual ramping up the bill'.

I would say 15 years for a boiler is fairly good going these days. A modern boiler with a 2 year warranty will probably fail before 5 years are up.

Reply to
Andrew

En el artículo , Adam Aglionby escribió:

Greenstar 28i I had installed a few years ago has been an unreliable piece of s**te. 4 heat exchangers so far and it cuts out and puts on the red "fault light" at a whim.

Worcester engineers clueless and have resorted to the old 'pay 800 quid for a power flush or we won't look at it again' line.

It's getting binned and replaced with an Ideal.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

I had WB as 2nd to Viessmann - I'm glad you've corrected that for me!

Reply to
Tim Watts

En el artículo , Tim Watts escribió:

They may have improved recent models, if anyone has experience to offer I'm sure they'll chime in.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Can you buy non-condensing boilers now? Or get them installed (legally).

Vaillant are very well made and have a good reputation for reliability. Mine has been fine for about four years. I do have a magnetic filter and consider them worthwhile on an old system. Pressure flushing is expensive, but cheaper than replacing radiators, I would have thought.

Reply to
newshound

Our chemical powerflush prior to boiler replacement[1] (after 20+ years), didn't reveal much contaminant even with the guys hammering all the radiators with a portable hammer drill. It is a time-filled chore of a job though that swallowed £300. Oh well, at least there were no found leaks doing it.

We've fitted a magnetic filter still the same. Possibly ours has been so clean as I've looked after maintaining the X100 inhibitor?

[1] - Vailliant ecoTEC plus 430 open vent, tanks, an arm and a leg ...

If this system packs up too soon and makes an embarrassment of the steep expenditure, I fear I'll be looking for alternative accommodation, a warm coat and a dog on a string.

Reply to
Adrian Caspersz

We've had a Vaillant ECOmax VU226E for 16 years, S-plan closed system. Serviced annually on contract. A few parts replaced over the years as you'd expect, but no major problems. From time to time it goes into 'noisy' mode for a week or two. Sounds rough, like a worn bearing. Either the pump or the fan I guess. Never happens when the service engineer is around! Been doing it for a couple of years now, so can't be serious. When we get my late mother's property modernised in a few months, I'll have a Vaillant installed there.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

I doubt you have the option of NOT choosing a condenser... All the ones you list below are condensing.

£450 quids worth of budget boiler and flue... and what sounds like a like for like swap budgeted at no more than a day.
£700 quid boiler and flue...

No, different boiler. Built in digital programmer rather than extra option, and it has a build in filling loop. Also comes with the longer warranty.

£1100 for the boiler...

Indeed - also lots of people fit them, so plenty of fitters and support available.

I would expect that to be the 824 rather than the 825 since the latter is for open vented systems rather than sealed systems...

approx £1200 for the boiler

Pretty much...

Gas consumption of all of them should be similar for heating. You may get a wider modulation range on the better boilers giving slight comfort and efficiency gains. The better ones should also be able to condense while in DHW mode, so being a bit cheaper to run then.

You pay more for better quality components, and more control and system options like being able to use a weather compensator, or tight integration with underfloor heating.

For a modern boiler, its an essential add on. The boilers may have an internal filter - but its typically small and very easily clogged. Modern condensers have lots of very small water pathways in their heat exchangers so as to achieve very high efficiencies. This means they are also very intolerant of any contamination in the system makeup water. Hence very careful flushing prior to commissioning is essential, and a good external filter to catch any of what remains also a very good idea.

The alternative would be to do a mains water flush yourself... If the existing boiler still functions you could stick a system cleaner in there for a week first, then do a careful flush:

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But the short answer is that some form of flushing is pretty much essential, and you may find the boiler may not honour the warranty if the system was not flushed.

Reply to
John Rumm

Which would suggest there is a serious contamination problem in the system if you have got through 4 HEs?

Which if the problem is down to system contamination may well fail equally quickly.

Sample sizes of one are not that useful in these matters.

Reply to
John Rumm

En el artículo , John Rumm escribió:

It had a power flush at installation, plus a filter installed after the first HE failed.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Hi John,

I'm cynical - for that one complaint I assume there are 100 other complaints I will not see :(

It's not so much the failing - a Rolls Royce can break down - it's the fact they don't seem to be able to fix it - and if it's contamination (seems less likely by Mike's later post), I presume that leaves evidence in the HE that they ought to be able to spot?

Reply to
Tim Watts

I had a new (Ideal) boiler installed 4 years ago, with power flush. For various reasons, each rad has been removed, flushed and replaced since the install. The amount of black sludge remaining is quite a thing - so I'd guess a fair bit of low lying muck remains.

Reply to
RJH

Vaillant also do a very good fixed price repair deal which I needed when bad plumbing just about wrote off my boiler.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

I suggest that you ask Vokera why the Excel is not listed on their web site, though it is for sale on other web sites.

I would also check the conditions of a 7 year warranty. I recently bought an Indesit tumble drier which claimed a 10 year parts warranty, however to benefit from this you had to pay about £100 call out fee. For a simple product that cost £175 delivered, I consider the warranty worthless.

Reply to
Michael Chare

So do WB. We had a seal go, which let heat get to the wiring harness. He ended up replacing most of the boiler.

Reply to
Bob Eager

En el artículo , Tim Watts escribió:

If you search online for "Greenstar 28i red light" "Greenstar 28i cuts out" or similar you'll found hundreds of complaints and WB seem to be burying their head in the sand and hoping it goes away.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

I wonder if it's possible to give the heat exchanger an ultrasonic shake now and then, the same thing as done on a camera CCD? Alongside perhaps some jazzy computer thing to assess contamination?

Reply to
Adrian Caspersz

The cost of maintaining my Ideal boiler's 5 year warranty is an annual service - something less than £50/year. Plus receiving their junk mail

- some of which offers an upgraded warranty. Not looked at it in detail but does make you wonder . . .

Reply to
RJH

Thanks all,for being a major help, did feel a bit like this chap before...

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Bit the bullet and ordered a Valiant with filter and flush.

Reply to
Adam Aglionby

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