New boiler advice

[adamattvcy]

First time poster, long time reader.

I bought my first house in 2005, I was very naive and have learnt the hard way on a lot of things to do with home improvements etc. The boiler in the property was at least 25 years old and was unreliable at best so I decided to replace it.

To cut a long story short this was done in 2006 via e.on (then Powergen) and we went with a Viessmann Vitodens 100 WB1A (30kw) as it had a 5 year warranty and I wanted to protect against future problems. As you can imagine there have been a fair few, at least 4 during the 5 year warranty period.

Anyhow, it's come to winter and again the boiler has decided to break down, whether through faulty parts or legacy issues with poor system cleanliness (there was a build up of sludge that I had to have powerflushed and apparently some issues could still remain). I've decided to bite the bullet and replace the boiler and I'm looking for advice on what to replace it with.

The property is a 3 bedroom semi-detached house, big rooms, tall ceilings etc built around 1910 with 12 radiators of varying sizes. It takes quite a bit of heating despite loft insulation etc, I want something that will comfortably cope with this.

I'm also looking for good access to hot water as one of the main problems with the Vitodens 100 has been the water taking ages to heat up. I've had numerous people out to look at it (Viessmann trained & not) and nobody has come up with a decent solution.

The three I've been looking at are:

Glow-worm Ultracom2 35 HE Store Combi Boiler

I like the idea of the hot water storage and am not against trying a new brand.

Viessmann Vitodens 111-W DHW Storage Combi

My experiences with the Viessmann boiler I have haven't been great but they as a company have impressed me and they still seem highly commended by many installers. Again, the hot water storage appeals too although this would mean relocating the boiler as it wouldn't fit in the existing cupboard.

Intergas Combi Compact HRE 36/40

I've read lots of good things about Intergas and the lack of moving parts (and less things to go wrong) is very appealing after my bad experience with the Vitodens 100. I'd take the reliability (if true) over the hot water storage.

Sorry for the lengthy first post, if anyone has any opinions on these (or any other suitable options) I'd greatly appreciate the advice. A rough idea of price to supply and fit (assuming it's a straight swap, no problems etc.) would also be good for when I'm getting quotes. I'll try to answer any questions about the existing setup/problems but I'm very much a layman.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Intergas all the way - unless you have crazy hot water requirements.

 

[ALEC1]

the 111 is a great but simple boiler, but if you are changing a boiler you should really look at controls too.

That makes the gloworm a great choice, use the clima ro as the controls and you are getting the best future proof technology at an affordable price.

The intergas suffers in my book because it doesn't have any boiler specific controls...and you are stuck with outdated on-of controls

 

[Dan Robinson]

The intergas suffers in my book because it doesn't have any boiler specific controls...and you are stuck with outdated on-of controls

Bollocks!

The only thing the Intergas suffers from is a too high minimum output. But then I am probably one of the very few that would bother to see it as a downside.

 

[adamattvcy]

That's another thing I should've put in my original post, the controls are also something I'd like to update.

Ideally some sort of weather compensation would be there, I'd also like to be able to control the heating remotely via either the internet or a smartphone app.

However, again, reliability takes precedence over all these factors so if the Intergas is that far ahead then weather compensation and fancy apps can take a back seat. Right now, on and off would be a luxury!

 

[Dan Robinson]

The intergas has weather comp.

You can buy a programmable room stat that connects to the web if you really want, although you have to ask yourself - do you rreeeeaaaallllyyy need to turn your heating on remotely?


The whole point of advanced controls is that they sit in the background and get on with stuff. the more the user has to do with it the less efficient the whole thing is.

That is why my system is such that the missus is afraid to touch it.

 

[adamattvcy]

Looks like I'll be going with Intergas then. The web based controls etc were only really a gimmick, if they were there then great but it's not a deal breaker by any stretch.

I'm going to be ringing around in the morning and hopefully find someone willing to come to middle of nowhere to give me a quote. Hopefully I won't have to rob a bank to pay for it either, I'm sick of forking out for boilers and boiler related problems.