End user boiler choice advice please

[paultre]

Hi all

I am finally upgrading my ancient old conventional floor standing boiler which is in my cellar. This has a flue that goes up through the old chimney and I have delayed replacing it with a condensing boiler as I could not see where to mount one. However have now no choice as our original boiler is going to expire any day and I have luckily found an installer who has worked out a way to have a new boiler still in the cellar.

He has given me two choices of boiler and I wonder of anyone could spare a few moments to help me decide. The house is an old poorly insulated Victorian villa with 3 floors and 5 bedrooms.

Boiler 1 - Viesmann Vitodens 100-W Open vent 35kw

Boiler 2 - Baxi Eco Blue Advance Heat 30kw

I know you are all busy but would appreciate any advice

 

[footprints]

I am well out of touch with boilers these days I hung up my U gauge a while ago!
I can say this that when I was looking around for a new boiler a couple of installers recommended Visemann, however when I looked into it while they have a good reputation the spares situation is not good, they are not really mainstream it looked to me you would be tied to the installer or a limited number of engineers for service and repair unlike a maker like Baxi.
Buy a Rolls Royce or Lamborghini by all means but when it comes to a breakdown chances are you will have a good deal less trouble getting a Ford fixed!

 

[muggles]

Are we allowed to say "neither"?

I'd spec an Intergas HRE OV, 7 year warranty and a heat exchanger design that hasn't seen a single mechanical failure in over 20 years of service. All-metal construction for robustness too. They do a chimney liner kit so you can mount the boiler on the chimney breast wall and run the flue up to a terminal on the roof. The Intergas is OpenTherm compatible as well, meaning it works with the most energy-saving controls.

To pick up on Footprint's service and repair point, anyone can service a boiler and the manufacturers will repair under warranty, although Baxi can take two or three days to get to you whereas Intergas are often same day or failing that next day. Not sure how long Viessmann typically take.

Hope that helps

 

[chrisw99]

Warranty plays an important part considering costs of repairs these days. I've just had a Viessmann Vitodens installed (very impressed with it so far), as it had a 7 year warranty compared to 3-5 with the other choices.

My installer said that although they haven't been that quick with parts/engineers previously they are vastly improving year on year and he said that shouldn't be a concern these days

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Buy a Rolls Royce or Lamborghini by all means

Bizarrely, you can buy Lamborghini boilers. Unlike other manufacturers, and to stretch the car analogy a little further, it's not a case of 'you can have any colour, as long as it's white'. Lambo boilers are also available in silver, black or bright red.

http://www.eastcoastheatingsuppliers.co.uk/lamborghini-combi-boilers.htm

 

[footprints]

Bizarrely, you can buy Lamborghini boilers. Unlike other manufacturers, and to stretch the car analogy a little further, it's not a case of 'you can have any colour, as long as it's white'. Lambo boilers are also available in silver, black or bright red.

http://www.eastcoastheatingsuppliers.co.uk/lamborghini-combi-boilers.htm

Bet it's rubbish round the Top Gear track!

 

[muggles]

Bizarrely, you can buy Lamborghini boilers. Unlike other manufacturers, and to stretch the car analogy a little further, it's not a case of 'you can have any colour, as long as it's white'. Lambo boilers are also available in silver, black or bright red.

http://www.eastcoastheatingsuppliers.co.uk/lamborghini-combi-boilers.htm

They haven't actually been produced for a couple of years, and in reality are just a Ferroli Opticrap in a dinner jacket

 

[dilalio]

Hi all

I am finally upgrading my ancient old conventional floor standing boiler which is in my cellar. This has a flue that goes up through the old chimney and I have delayed replacing it with a condensing boiler as I could not see where to mount one. However have now no choice as our original boiler is going to expire any day and I have luckily found an installer who has worked out a way to have a new boiler still in the cellar.

He has given me two choices of boiler and I wonder of anyone could spare a few moments to help me decide. The house is an old poorly insulated Victorian villa with 3 floors and 5 bedrooms.

Boiler 1 - Viesmann Vitodens 100-W Open vent 35kw

Boiler 2 - Baxi Eco Blue Advance Heat 30kw

I know you are all busy but would appreciate any advice

It’s likely that your installer has not heard of Intergas, let alone installed one.
Ask him to look them up and watch a couple of the YouTube vids on them... if he’s a decent engineer and passionate about his trade, I’m pretty sure he’ll be intrigued and, if you and he go for one and he installs it, I’m confident he’ll start specifying and installing them henceforth .

They are great boilers.

 

[Nige F]

Bizarrely, you can buy Lamborghini boilers. Unlike other manufacturers, and to stretch the car analogy a little further, it's not a case of 'you can have any colour, as long as it's white'. Lambo boilers are also available in silver, black or bright red.

they also make tractors

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Bet it's rubbish round the Top Gear track!

Would probably corner better than an E-Type, with Ideal track conditions.

 

[dilalio]

with Ideal track conditions.

Then surely an Ideal would do better on such a track!?

 

[aptsys]

Are we allowed to say "neither"?

I'd spec an Intergas HRE OV, 7 year warranty and a heat exchanger design that hasn't seen a single mechanical failure in over 20 years of service. All-metal construction for robustness too. They do a chimney liner kit so you can mount the boiler on the chimney breast wall and run the flue up to a terminal on the roof. The Intergas is OpenTherm compatible as well, meaning it works with the most energy-saving controls.

To pick up on Footprint's service and repair point, anyone can service a boiler and the manufacturers will repair under warranty, although Baxi can take two or three days to get to you whereas Intergas are often same day or failing that next day. Not sure how long Viessmann typically take.

Hope that helps

All metal isn't necessarily a plus point these days. Materials technology has advanced significantly and non-metallic parts often offer some significant improvements either in the manufacturing process or maintenance/in-use.

 

[muggles]

All metal isn't necessarily a plus point these days. Materials technology has advanced significantly and non-metallic parts often offer some significant improvements either in the manufacturing process or maintenance/in-use.

They certainly offer improvements for manufacturers - they're cheaper so they can increase their profit margins.

I do realise that the correct plastics can work well, but I also know I've replaced far more leaking plastic hydroblocks (often pinholed) and stuck plastic diverter valves than I have brass ones. Worcester now supply a replacement rubber gas hose in the bag with their burner seals, because it needs replacing just as often as the burner seal. I can't think of any manufacturer who has ever routinely supplied a replacement copper gas pipe in a service kit

 

[bernardgreen]

They [non-metallic parts] certainly offer improvements for manufacturers

Out of interest, do any of the larger (48kW) domestic boilers suffer from flame / combustion instability at any point in the modulation range.

Could it be that flexible components such as rubber gas hoses are needed to allow for any vibration of the combustion chamber when flame / combustion instability occurs.

Flame / combustion instability is considered as a possible source of vibrations when designing large (100kW) commercial boilers.

 

[ServiceNumpty]

Or alternatively Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30cdi Regular Open Vent - 10 Years Parts & Labour Warranty Via Accredited Installer.