Question re Intergas/Atmos Combi

[dmdm272]

Hi, was reading about these with interest. Seems like they have a few very stout fans on the forums but also some detractors- mainly that they have faults too (eg PCB, error 4) but hardly any support, after-care or customer service as hardly anyone in UK has them. I went on website to find a registered installer and

1. Chrome warned me the atmos website (atmos.so.uk) had malware (and may infect my computer and steal c.card/pwd info!). A bad start.

2. There was only one installer near me (Brighton) whereas Vailant and WB list lots (and people still say Vaillant after-care is bad with this many engineers so lord knows how long I'd have to wait if my Intergas went pop)?

Has Atmos (UK) folded?

So, although I'm attracted to the idea of a reliable boiler with fewer expensive parts to go wrong and trying to side-step the "expensive spare parts racket conspiracy theory (reality?!) I'm not sure if it's going to be a safe bet, especially longer term if no one is familiar with them or they fold and no spare parts available (anyone remember BetaMax videos in the 1980's? Superior to VHS but got nowhere and folded).

What are peoples thoughts on this? Are my concerns reasonable?

Can anyone recommend some good installers near BN41 2BQ? It would be nice to get their opinion (and quotes if I can be tempted to risk it).

On a side-note I was on the sedbuk website (as was) and the stats for hot water only were poor for "Comparitive Hot Water Efficiency" the HE32 Atmos Inter Combi only got 62.2% whereas WB 30si Compact got 75% and Vaillant EcoTec Plus 831 got 74.4%. As I understand it this would be important to us as for as for 7 months of the year we don't really need heating, only hot water...is this a concern? In general the efficiency/green side of things seems a bit of a red herring if it saves you £70/yr but a new diverter valve, fan or whatever is £400 to supply and fit?! (approximately but you get my point- reliability outweighs all other concerns financially speaking).

Thanks for any advice or opinions!

 

[dmdm272]

Update, I went on intergas.co.uk (I thought Atmos was for UK, intergas for Holland so I didn't try this before) and there are four installers within 20minutes of me (BN41 2BQ). Still not many but more reassuring than before...

Does anyone have a recommendation? Thanks again!

G.M.B. Plumbing Heating & Gas
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 3YS

Gas Plus Rose
Hove
TN33 9EY

DJ Plumbing & Heating
16 Ridgeview
Brighton
BN1 9AL

Melvin Cox Plumbing & Heating
48 Livesay Crescent
Worthing
BN14 8AT

 

[Agile]

Hi, was reading about these with interest. Seems like they have a few very stout fans on the forums but also some detractors- mainly that they have faults too (eg PCB, error 4) but hardly any support, after-care or customer service as hardly anyone in UK has them. I went on website to find a registered installer and


Thanks for any advice or opinions!

The problem is that the IG office in the UK, for reasons most of us dont understand, does not give the level of support which installers expect from a manufacturer.

A few years ago, when they opened, it was pretty clear that the company did not want to spend any money on their installers.

I do have an IG pen and an IG mug too. But no IG teeshirt !

Tony

 

[doitall]

Don't the the others so cannot comment but Melvin Cox Plumbing & Heating has a good reputation.

Check em out and go for the one you like on instinct.

Not that it means much, even top of the range cars breakdown, but in my book a reliable boiler is better than an army of service engineer doing nothing but rectifying faults under warranty every day.

 

[dmdm272]

Thanks for quick replies guys. It's a shame about their lack of support given their weak place in the marketplace, it amplifies other concerns.

What did you think about the hot water rating thing? Weird as I called IGUK and their tech dept said it was the only fully condensing boiler in HW mode and should be 98% efficient, why it only scores 62% was a surprise to them and still a mystery. It is important to me as majority of use will be for hot water( apart from approx nov-march each year)!

doitall - what did you mean by "not that it means much"?

Thanks!

 

[Dan Robinson]

in HW mode and should be 98% efficient, why it only scores 62%

Because the 62% figure is seasonal efficiency rather than operational efficiency.

 

[doitall]

Not that it means much., is an opinion thats all.

I replaced my 40 year old most reliable tin box (Servowarm) with an intergas 3 years ish ago, also fitted one at my Daughters. for the record I also have a 7 year old Alpha that hasn't missed a beat.

Not that it means much, we have a BMW in Spain that requires a new £700 PCB more or less every year since we got it.

I bought a Samsung Monitor that lasted about 6 hours, the replacement is around 8yo.

Anything electrical can fail and quite often does and you and up paying through the nose for rip-off spare parts.

Do away with the diverter valve and a couple of other money generators and it suddenly becomes a good bet.

Atmos was an agent for Intergas, now the uk sales are in house. Intergas the Company has been going for a very long time if you do some googling.

Hot water, supposedly there's different ways to measure it, actual and looks good on paper. I have the smallest and is great for a shower, on the other hand if you have 2-3 bathrooms and a family of 5, forget any combi.
Hope all that helps

 

[dmdm272]

ah....I found this thread which discusses the hot water problem and ATAG A325ECX is recomended over intergas (with regards to the hot water efficiency) so now I'm really confused!

//www.diynot.com/forums/plumbing/atag-a325ec-or-intergas-combi-compact-hre-36-30.378845/

It was before the new IG eco combi though....I like the sound of the ATAG with the included heat recovery flue- ( although I thought all condensing combis had these as standard?).

Should I go for the ATAG A325ECX or the IG eco combi?

Thanks again!

 

[dmdm272]

Cut to SEDBUK and the ATAG 325ECX mentioned in the post only gets 69.3% for hot water efficiency so round and round we go! Sheesh!

http://www.ncm-pcdb.org.uk/sap/pcdbdetails.jsp?pid=26&id=016353&type=105&mid=000227

 

[Dan Robinson]

SEDBUK is a complete load of bollocks.

Best keep these discussions to a single thread BTW. Otherwise people lose track and therefore interest.

 

[doitall]

What size property, occupation etc

 

[dmdm272]

ah sorry, this thread only? I just saw the other one and it looked relevant.

I just called ATAG and technical said they'd spotted this and it was an error and in the process of being changed...I guess maybe the same could be said for the Intergas as their scores are very low (62%!).

I have a smallish 2 bed bungalow with one bathroom. We may add an extension in the future but not another bathroom.

Because the whole house is such a small space I'm not sure how much certain things (eg the heat recovery flue, weather compensation, zoned heating controls etc) will actually save us in the real world, especially when you take into account their cost? Will they?

If this is the case I'm guessing that reliability must be the most important to me, although I am open to education about this!

 

[St0rmer66]

Dan is getting confused and thought you'd started 2 threads, not often that 2 will pop up almost simultaneously asking about Intergas!

 

[Tibbot]

reliability outweighs all other concerns financially speaking).

In that case, open vent heat only boiler, cold tank and vented cylinder, s-plan controls and external pump.

 

[Dean744PiN5]

Both the atag and intergas are good choices, the trouble is over thinking things. There was a guy on here a little while ago asking similar called Mick who over thought things way too much and just ended up confusing himself and others
for ease of setting up with weather compensation then atag and intergas are the best out there imo , but weather comp is more of a comfort control than an effiecieny control (though it will reduce your consumption just don't expect £££££'s to be saved)