Need to get a new combi boiler in our house (the other one has lasted 20 years but is getting very tired and the water pressure is shit).

Its a three story town house with a family of three living inside (although often 4/5).

What does everyone reccomend? What is the santa cruz of combi boilers? Whats the specialized boilder? Whats the single speed AND do i need a beard for it to heat my house?

We got a cheapo Ravensheat from B&Q when we lived in a 2up2down terrace. Seemed to do the job ok.

bosch Worcester. Expensive but good

If my experience is anything to go by, DO NOT buy an Ideal

A constant pain in the arse and been rebuilt twice in nine years, thank heavens it was covered by the British Gas boiler repair scheme

Worcester Bosch.

Worcester Bosch

Worcester Bosch

Vailant ,Bosch or baxi or look for( main )this is baxi's trade range
same as the retail version but not a shiney looking ( same internals).
don't buy cheap non descript boilers from merchants or the likes of wickes
and b&q ( u can't get bits if things go wrong and if u can they are more expensive, due to availability.

I've got a Vailant. It has worked well so far.

Worcester Bosch here too – excellent award winning boiler

I had a good experience with a Vailant.

Got a Worcester Bosch couple of years ago, gas bills went down a hell of a lot from what we were paying before. We also got 5yrs parts and labour cover from them. Plumber we had fit it is approved WB dealer and they keep doing this deal every now and again. Just nice to have a bit a peace of mind. Oh, and the covers free too!!!

santa cruz – vaillant
specialised – worcester/vokera
cheap & nasty – baxi/ideal/wickes/B&Q

there will be some installers who favour vaillant/baxi/ideal/vokera and will argue whether i've done baxi/ideal an injustice but thats my experience of selling them.

We also got 5yrs parts and labour cover from them.

judging by the number of people I know who have problems with their W&B boilers, that's a very good thing!

Would a new boiler improve water pressure????

The boiler itself might not but the new pump inside it might

But I thought they just ran on mains pressure? Serious question as ours is on its way out and if we get better reliability + cheaper heating AND better pressure I could become more tempted to take the plunge straight away. At the moment I have decided to wait until it gives up the ghost.

The boiler cant improve pressure/flow rate but a cheap one could worsen it – and the pump inside them doesnt touch the domestic water.

My earlier answer above assumed you were already forced to use a combi boiler – i personally wouldnt touch one with the proverbial bargepole!

If you have the choice, get your mains pressure and flow rate tested – in a 3 storey townhouse you want at least 3-3.5bar standing and 25-30l/minute – then look at getting an unvenyted cylinder and a system boiler (the ratings system in previous post still applies).

HTH

I might be wrong, but are you supposed to fit the new fangdangled condensing boliers now?
Also have you considered or been offered a power flush, might be the H/E is full of limescale , hence the flow rate issue.
If its the C/H pump then some or most have 3 speed settings, wang it up to No.3 , see if it improves things.

ps , not a heating engineer so usual disclaimer applies

just had worcester bosch 30 si fitted.