Help....boiler advice needed!

[powercharger]

Hi everyone.

I'm new to this so please forgive me if the following question has been asked before...

I am wanting to replace my old existing combi boiler (Chaffoteaux & Maury Britony 80) by a fully qualified CORGI registered heating engineer.

I have been doing some research on what type of boiler to have and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of choice and prices.
Obviously I want reliability together with value for money but i don;t want to get caught in the 'brand' trap.
Two extremes are Heatline Solaris 35 (£700) and a Worcester Greenstar 37 cdi (£1100+). I pick these because they have a dhw flow rate 14/15 litres per minute.
Rule of thumb is you get what you pay for BUT......does anyone know the reliability of either of these two boilers? Your recommendations or guidance in the right direction will be much appreciated.

 

[kev_1911]

yes the choice is vast as is the price range,but what you need to consider is.......what you want from the boiler in terms of your needs, the size of your property,how many rads do you want to run off it,etc etc.......if you have a good installer he will advise you on the best boiler for your needs,we only fit worcester's so i maybe biased,however like all things they can and do go wrong even when new.

 

[mikej2005]

I had a WB 37CDi combi installed last year and so far it's been great - it's pretty quiet in operation too.

The only problems I'm having are with the (optional) WB wireless thermostat occasionally losing signal (might be a range/battery issue) and the condenstate pipe leaking slightly (I just need to re-align the fitting I think)

Just watch your gas supply if you're going for a more powerful boiler - I don't have any other gas appliances in the house but even then I only just escaped having to have the pipe upgraded to 28mm, due to the distance/bends involved.

 

[Doctor Drivel]

yes the choice is vast as is the price range,but what you need to consider is.......what you want from the boiler in terms of your needs, the size of your property,how many rads do you want to run off it,etc etc.......if you have a good installer he will advise you on the best boiler for your needs,we only fit worcester's so i maybe biased,however like all things they can and do go wrong even when new.

He wants a combi so the main factor in combis is flowrate - he said that - so rads do not apply in the average to large house. He is also looking at quality too. An extra £300 for a quality combi is buttons to pay.

The W-B range are not OpenTherm compatible or have integral weather compensators.

If 14 to 15 litres/min is fine then go for a Keston C38 with a higher spec and OpenTherm compatible and an integral weather compensator. Outside senor is extra. Then buy a Honeywell OpenTherm Chrontherm stat programmer which moduates the burner along with the compensator.. About £790 + VAT.

If you want better quality then go for a Viessmann. ..and OpenTherm compatible and integral weather compensator too.

Avoid HeatLine. They are in the budget range, although good value for money not the best by a long way.

 

[powercharger]

Thanks so far guys.

What I forgot to mention was that I'm looking for a relatively small footprint as I want to fit it into a kitchen cupboard if at all possible (some 300mm in depth).

I've looked at two more combi's this evening....a Ravenheat 150A T low nox combi and a Chaffoteaux & Maury Minima HE 35 combi. Both have good flow rates especially the Ravenheat @ 17 litres/min and a 3 year gurantee and a depth of 300mm and 280mm respectively. Any comments?

PS My old C&M has been no problem for the last 3 years since I moved into this house.

 

[simond]

All the boilers you have mentioned are a bit cheap and nasty.

Doctor D mentioned Keston, but he is off with the sparrows. As would be anyone risking their cash on such a heap of scrap.

He also mentioned Viessmann being compatible with Opentherm - that's news to me. Is this true? Viessmann almost invented the word Proprietary where controls are concerned.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

General concensus is towards Worcester Bosch or Vaillant. Personal choice is the W-B, friends have a Heatslave 14 years old+ and still going strong. Ive recently done CH for a friend, Corgi man put a W-B in there and said they're pretty much fit and forget. Ravenheats can be problematic....

 

[mickyg]

i'd have to be bias and say vaillant ecotec 837 as a direct comparison to the WB you mentioned. Saunier Duval boilers are now a good option aswell..but there's not so many options for the flow rates you've mentioned.

 

[kingo15]

We fit at least 3 ariston clas he combi's 30kw a week.

nice boiler and now they do a 35kw i think it is now.

had a few set up issues but that has been engineers error more than boiler.