I'll throw something in here John.
Eco Hometec are a distributor for MAN Heiztechnik (part of the MAN BW company that make the big diesel engines and trucks) based in Hamburg
I researched good quality boilers a year and a bit ago and shortlisted to this one, Keston, Viessmann and a couple of others. My main issues were build quality, specification, reliability, spares availability, technical support etc.
I put together a very detailed questionnaire and emailed it to each supplier. I also contacted MAN Heiztechnik in Germany and spoke to their technical department and to a product manager, specifically on how they are selling the product. It is a high end boiler, no question, and that is reflected in the price - north of £1k.
I received a somewhat satisfactory reply from Keston and from Viessmann but the one from Eco Hometec was much more detailed and they answered every question. I had asked things like the prices for the six most expensive spare parts and so on. Frankly they did a lot of work to answer my questions that the others didn't bother to do.
I also checked out Eco Hometec's filing at the Registrar of Companies and they are not large, but I felt set up adequately to address what they are doing. They specialise in the selfbuild and discerning markets and sell directly to the end user or installer, not through plumbing and heating merchants. I visited their place in Doncaster - on an industrial estate on the edge of town. I guess that they employ around 15-20 people including service engineers in different parts of the country. There is a demo room set up with all of the boiler types that they sell and you can see any of them in operation - they'll show the components and how it all goes together etc.
The Micromat is an extremely well engineered and solid machine made from quality components. There was no comparison to the Glow Worm that was installed before and ended up in the skip not long afterwards.
In terms of design, I didn't need a lot of help apart from figuring out the correct setting for the boiler controller to drive the motorised valve setup that I have.
I did the installation except for the commissioning and everything else went smoothly.
I don't think that they will do complete installations but may organise someone for you. I believe that they do do designs including UFH if you want it. I'm pretty sure that they won't attempt to do things beyond their ability.
In terms of purchasing, this was uneventful as well. The questions were answered, and I deliberated for several months. They called me on an agreed basis each month to follow up any issues and then quoted
- didn't hassle me for the order.
If you are going for a HW cylinder, I would recommend getting one with a pocket for a temperature probe and getting the probe accessory for the boiler. This gives much better control of the hot water temperature and reheating than a cylinder thermostat does. The outside temperature sensor is included with the boiler.
I'd certainly buy the same boiler again and from them, so certainly I'd ask for a quote and ask your other questions.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl