Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)
  • Worcester Bosch Boilers – worth the extra £££
  • davieg
    Free Member

    We are looking to replace the 25 year + boiler in our house. We have two quotes from a reputable company we have used before. One for a Worcester Bosch (WB, and an Ideal Logic + (IL), combi boiler.

    The WB boiler quote is £500 more than the IL. I understand that WB are one of the best and has a longer warranty, but are there any other factors to consider the £500 difference?

    As a better analogy, with the WB are you getting BMW/Merc levels of quality and reliability, which comes at a premium? Is the Ideal Logic more equated to a Ford, or maybe even a Peugeot or Citroen in that it will do a job, but hope you have a good one?

    Appreciate any real world feedback or experiences. If WB boilers are that good, then surely an additional £500 is nothing over 25 – 30 years?

    aroyalnit
    Free Member

    I lived in a flat with a Worcester combi boiler (already installed before I moved there) for 7 years, during which it never skipped a beat. Fit’n’forget type stuff.

    I moved into a house 4 months ago with an existing Alpha combi boiler of around the same age. It generally works fine but I’ve had to top up the pressure once already to kick it back into action. Makes me a little nervous with Scottish winter kicking in, especially with a toddler in the house.

    I’d not have much hesitation getting a WB fitted if the Alpha packs in.

    tjagain
    Full Member

    My friendly plumber says they used to be the best but no more. He recommends valiant now. One of the key differences in cheap and expensive boilers is stainless or ordinary steel in the heat exchanger.

    MY BW worked well for about 7 years then steadily became more unreliable ending up as scrap. replaced with a valiant

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    ransos
    Free Member

    Vailant and WB are generally held to be the most reliable brands.

    Our WB has been flawless so far but it’s only 2 years old. The Halstead it replaced was a useless heap of junk.

    darrenspink
    Free Member

    Check the specs of the WB boiler, is it the same KW as the other, what about the flow rate? It may be better suited to your house (amount of rooms etc) or they may be selling you something you don’t really need. Im about to have a Valiant ecotec installed next week.

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    I fitted a viesman. It came with a 7 year warranty and more on the heat exchanger. I don’t buy in to the whole costs more so is better philosophy that some on here and in general seem to follow. Compare as above, kw, flow rates, energy efficiency, then do the math. Also bear in mind plumbers will be looked after by suppliers if they are regular customers of brand x, so may “prefer” to fit one over another.

    chiefinspector
    Free Member

    2 of my friends are heating engineers (one self employed, the other works for an independent company) and they both say that WB are the best and worth the extra dosh. I had one fitted 4 years ago and it has been flawless.

    DT78
    Free Member

    My inherited valiant ecotech broke a couple of weeks ago, 5 years 1 month old – it sounds like a common fault as the valiant engineer knew exactly what part to replace based on the symptoms. £170 plus labour plus callout for a faulty gas valve. Parts are extortion prices – currently pricing up a replacement flue, which has to be valiant at over £500 then labour on top…

    Previous house, knackered old thing, never spent anything above the service.

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    Last time I looked there wasn’t £500 difference between he Worcester Bosch and the Ideal in the Plumbfix catalogue, but I don’t have one to hand to check.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    If you’re in WB level money, Ideal Vogue is worth looking at (it’s more of a WB price equiv than the Ideal Logic), stainless steal exchanger, opentherm capable, 10 year guarantee. Ideal used to have a poor rep, but they’ve pulled their socks up now, mostly by poaching designers/engineers from other companies to completely redesign their range. WB don’t have a single boiler that is opentherm capable so it would appear that they are living on their rep of older design boilers, whilst others are moving into new tech. Having said that, I’d be quite happy with WB

    Painey
    Free Member

    2 of my regular riding mates are plumbers, experienced ones at that. They’re both in high demand so I value their opinion. Both say that W.B. are not very good these days.

    davieg
    Free Member

    Many thanks for the input, I shall check the specs and make a decision on that, other than, “they are very good”. I don’t mind paying a premium price where the label is continuously deserved and earned.

    PimpmasterJazz
    Free Member

    Vailant and WB are generally held to be the most reliable brands.

    This. We had a WB combi recently replaced with a WB boiler and tank. By buying together (and a magnet crap-collecter) we increased the warranty by two years too. Out tame plumber recommended either WB or Valiant, but as we had called the local WB engineer out a while back and he diagnosed a problem totally FoC (and is on good terms with tame plumber) we figured it was the devil we know.

    db
    Full Member

    Ideal combi in our rental house has just gone wrong – 1 year out of warranty.

    Being replaced with WB cdi29 currently sat in the back of my car next week! Should have never got the Ideal but cheaper price persuaded me at the time.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    One of the key differences in cheap and expensive boilers is stainless or ordinary steel in the heat exchanger.

    Sounds unlikely, Stainless steel is a not a good conductor, so you wouldn’t use it in a heat exchanger.

    smell_it
    Free Member

    Tend to put the Valiant into the properties I’m doing up at the moment, have used WB’s but the plumbers I use currently rate the Valiant higher. Got about 40 of them running in the properties I rent/ let, and it’s about a 50/50 split and only had a few issues with both which I think is to be expected.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    They might mean the outer shell of the heat exchanger rather than internals? anyhow my boiler info says the heat exchanger is ss.

    tjagain
    Full Member

    footflaps – top end boilers use SS heat exchangers. The whole thing. corrosion resistance and longevity trump slight decrease in efficiency perhaps?

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    I don’t mind paying a premium price where the label is continuously deserved and earned.

    What bike do you ride?
    I just can’t understand this whole label thing when there are perfectly good equivalents for less money.

    Bear
    Free Member

    Condensing boilers are usually stainless. Ordinary steel would last weeks in a condensing appliance. Some might be aluminium but very few now I think.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Went through this very question a couple of years back.

    Came to the conclusion that it’s impossible to predict, the reports you hear of WB boilers that’ve lasted 20 years are pretty irrelevant, it’s the quality and longevity of what is being produced NOW that is relevant, and we won’t know that for a few years, in reality…

    In the end, went with an Ideal as it has a 10 year warranty, and I trust the fitter that fitted it, and he’d be my point of contact case of warranty.

    davieg
    Free Member

    I just can’t understand this whole label thing when there are perfectly good equivalents for less money.

    I agree, but it is the margins of these equivalents I am trying to gauge in this thread. Maybe “label”, was the wrong word to use, I am not looking to buy a designer boiler. More just understand how much, (well I know £500*), that the WB reputation is worth in real terms.

    *This is total install works etc, so mot just the cost of the boiler alone.

    ransos
    Free Member

    I just can’t understand this whole label thing when there are perfectly good equivalents for less money.

    Has that been established? I know you mentioned Viessman upthread but I don’t think they’re a particularly cheap option?

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    More just understand how much, (well I know £500*), that the WB reputation is worth in real terms.

    If you take into account what Nobeerinthefridge says, which is bang on, then there is no way of knowing for sure. I did the same as him, bought a 10 year guarantee which included a boiler that seemed well regarded in the trade and had latest tech.

    hodgynd
    Free Member

    Worcester Bosch oil fired condensing boiler here to..new last year ..faultless so far .
    I also have one ( gas ) in my btl which is 5 years old and hasn’t missed a beat .
    Most of the property that I look after on behalf of my clients ( landlords) also have Worcester Bosch boilers ..with very few problems..and where there have been problems they have usually been caused by the tenant …

    northernmatt
    Full Member

    Which Worcester boiler have they priced? I’m guessing if it’s pitched against a Logic+ it’ll be a 25i/30i. Personally I don’t think that particular boiler is worth £500 more than an Ideal. If it’s a CDi against a Logic+ then yes the £500 is well spent.

    Worcester boilers do have their faults but usually rather than admitting it what they do is make the part that fails a lot (flow units, flow sensor adaptor to name two) very very cheap to offset it.

    Lots of installers will bad mouth Ideal because of the saga they had with the Isar/Icos boilers but usually they are the ones that haven’t fitted a Logic or Vogue.

    breatheeasy
    Free Member

    Tend to put the Valiant into the properties I’m doing up at the moment, have used WB’s but the plumbers I use currently rate the Valiant higher.

    Don’t mistake ‘rating’ things with making more profit. I’ve heard WB fitters don’t make much profit if doing small ish quantities

    Blazin-saddles
    Free Member

    I’ve got a Veismanns that has been sat quietly purring away in the cupboard for the last 7 years without fault. if that’s any sort of recommend. It’s neither a Worcester or an Ideal though.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    I survey lots and lots of heating systems, but only on a commercial scale. In terms of quality, Veissmann are highly regarded, Ideal far less so and I see less older Ideals.
    There is a lot which affects how long a boiler will last; Maintenance (water treatment is a very large part of this), environment, quality of manufacture, quality of installation, quality of application, use/control. So many variables.
    I’ll be installing Worcester Bosch come replacement time. Through my work, I meet a great many installers and maintainers and they all rate them. Some of the older guys will say “they don’t make them like they used to” no, but they also don’t make them 80-odd% efficient any more either.

    gavtheoldskater
    Free Member

    ive had two wb oil boilers, external greenslaves, both, in all honesty, have been really unreliable and both failed within weeks of installation.

    however, after my experiences with the first one i had no hesitation in having another this summer. why? because wb own service care is utterly outstanding and after the two years warranty is up their annual service plan i believe offers exceptional value considering that your annual boiler service is included.

    birky
    Free Member

    Hope they’re good, getting one installed this week. Will it last as long as the old Baxi that came out? They stopped making that model in 1984 😯

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Will it last as long as the old Baxi that came out?

    No

Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)

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