Best Boiler?

[Peadee]

Hello all,
I posted a question here earlier this week asking about BROAG boilers and whether they were any good. I got a good response and it's obvious that they are a good boiler. In the meantime I've been reading other posts asking if "this boiler or that boiler" are any good and they have also recieved good responses. This got me thinking about which boiler is best overall so that is the question that I'm looking to get answered.
The boiler I'm looking for would need to heat my house which is a 3 bed semi using 7 rads at the moment but eventually there will be 9 or 10. It will also provide the DHW and there will be a plumbed in shower eventually. It doesn't have to have lots of fancy controls, just a simple timer will do (if I want the thing on, I'll turn it on!!!). The budget for this boiler is £1,000 inc vat
So, which one would be the best?

Thanks

Peadee

 

[sidepipe]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I would suggest that if you plan to run a mixer shower off a combi then £1000 isn't enough! I would stick with an electric shower, or at a push use a system boiler ( though pressure for the shower can then be a problem. )

In my very limited experience to run a shower off a combi you absolutely need to get the biggest boiler in terms of output that you can afford! At least in the region of 35kW ( which will set you back just over a grand I think. ) Definitely DO NOT skimp on the boiler, you'll regret it later.

 

[transam]

Take a look at the Johnson & starley HE Reno combis , 30 & 37 , decent boiler from a decent company . I do not work for them , (just an installer)


WARNING edited 27th feb 2011 , The Johnson & Starley Reno boilers have proven to be the most unreliable boilers we have ever had the misfortune to install a total disgrace really , I apologise to all

 

[XKESTONMAN]

i would go for an ideal icos or keston c25.

 

[screech]

i would go for an ideal icos or keston c25.

i second that as people love cold showers

 

[MarkRainbow]

I definitely wouldn't goo for an Ideal Icos... Same stable as the Isar which is affectionately known as the Isaw.

I'm a big fan of German engineering and have fitted a a lot of Vaillant and Worcester boilers. Vaillant customer service has gone down the tubes since taking over glow-Worm three years ago though. Worcester after sales service is streets ahead of anyone else in my opinion, and if you get a Worcester Accredited Installer to fit it, you'll get a 5 year guarantee to boot.

 

[tamz]

£1000 will get you pretty much any boiler you fancy. 3 bed semi assume you only have 1 bathroom you won't need anything more than a 30kw.

Steer clear of Ideals (LOTTTTTs of problems) Johnston and Starley? Never knew they had jumped on the combi bandwagon. I think not (warm air specialists)

Worcs for good build quality, reliability, after sales service second to none.

There are other makes just as good. Pay your money take your chance.

A lot of advocates of Atmos, Broag/Remeha. Never, or doubt i ever will came across an Atmos and only saw Remeha in commercial (where they are very good). Haven't a clue about their after sales or parts availability but having a smaller market share you can bet it will not be great.

No matter what HE boiler you decide on it WILL break down at some point.

 

[sidepipe]

This is probably another discussion topic because its a whole can of worms in itself, BUT I can not say enough that IF you intend to have a thermostatic mixer shower running off a combi at any point, and IF you want performance of the shower to approach what people would consider "power shower" performance, then I don't believe that 30kW is enough - regardless of how big the house is or how many bathrooms it has. If you don't fall into that category, then 30kW is plenty. Just don't underspec the boiler if you like a good shower!

You only need to look at the number of issues posted on here regarding combis and thermostatic showers - some of which are genuine problems, but many are simply flow rate related.

To illustrate what I mean, a power shower driven by a pump will generally be up in the 15l/minute range. Now I wouldn't expect that, but 12l/min is perfectly reasonable. A 30kW combi is going to give a rise of around 36 degrees at that rate ( at least a decent modern one when it is brand new and nice and clean. ) The obvious argument is that the flow will also include cold water, so that flow is not made up of entirely hot through the boiler... BUT in the winter when the inlet is around freezing, it WILL be entirely hot water because the thermostatic valve will pretty much shut off the cold because the hot is not hot enough ( and actually any cold that it injects just makes the problem worse. ) Most people apparently like to shower at 40 degrees or so... so you should be able to spot the problem! Factor in a degree or two loss in the pipework and you will really struggle.

In the summer though it should be fine, so if you only shower in the summer then go for your life

 

[Keston]

i would go for an ideal icos or keston c25.

last time i checked C25 wasn't a combi lol

C36 Combi however is

Before people start flaming how Keston is crap etc etc, they cant be that bad as I haven't had anything to reply to for ages on this site and we are defiantly still selling boilers.

 

[transam]

The Keston boiler we used to install at one time , was the keston thermomatic combi , did about 8 they are all still chugging away , good reliable combi ' always used to offer it but they were a bit pricey for most customers , ther u go said something nice about keston , However ?????????

 

[Keston]

The Keston boiler we used to install at one time , was the keston thermomatic combi , did about 8 they are all still chugging away , good reliable combi ' always used to offer it but they were a bit pricey for most customers , ther u go said something nice about keston , However ?????????

aha, I don't know if wrote that knowing what I'm about to say or not...

The thermomatic was never manufactured by Keston we just sold it with our name on it. It's the only boiler that Keston never manufactured and its the only 1 you like.

*sigh* theres no hope for keston.

 

[Agile]

I was hoping to see Keston in the engineer's forum where we have been discussing some Keston Boiler isues which he could have expressed some views on.

Tony

 

[transam]

aha, I don't know if wrote that knowing what I'm about to say or not...

The thermomatic was never manufactured by Keston we just sold it with our name on it. It's the only boiler that Keston never manufactured and its the only 1 you like.

*sigh* theres no hope for keston.[/quote]

There you go , live & learn , I did know that they came from Italy (?) , but I thought that one of the owners ? or founders? of keston had some design input , ???( I can't resist ) perhaps the reason they are all still chugging away is because they were not made by Keston ????
They were a well made boiler though , other than than the thermomatic ,
can't say I have had much to do with kestons , put a couple in as they were specified , used to do some maintenance work in a restaurant in Richmond Park , were some one ran riot with keston boilers , numerous installed , had a particular poor exp ' with keston office / depot in london
so never bothered with them .

 

[Keston]

aha, I don't know if wrote that knowing what I'm about to say or not...

The thermomatic was never manufactured by Keston we just sold it with our name on it. It's the only boiler that Keston never manufactured and its the only 1 you like.

*sigh* theres no hope for keston.

There you go , live & learn , I did know that they came from Italy (?) , but I thought that one of the owners ? or founders? of keston had some design input , ???( I can't resist ) perhaps the reason they are all still chugging away is because they were not made by Keston ????
They were a well made boiler though , other than than the thermomatic ,
can't say I have had much to do with kestons , put a couple in as they
were specified , used to do some maintenance work in a restaurant in Richmond Park , were some one ran riot with keston boilers , numerous installed , had a particular poor exp ' with keston office / depot in london
so never bothered with them .[/quote]

Well you probs didn't get me on the phone, just avoid the happy go lucky old guy on the tech team, he knows what he's talking about but doesn't come across all that well on the phone

 

[Keston]

I was hoping to see Keston in the engineer's forum where we have been discussing some Keston Boiler isues which he could have expressed some views on.

Tony

I would of been more than happy to have said a few things but I still don't have access, no response 2 my email or on the thread regaurding the 'combustion chamber'.

Wish the admins would hurry up but I assume they are 2 busy...