You do have a point but I try to offer advice and answer a direct question and not simply name a boiler.
The advocates of other brands can answer your questions about their suggestions as they have the figures to hand otherwise it's just a model and brand that you have to research yourself in the dark.
How low is minimum modulation for heating?
What's the residual head of the pump at the boiler, can adjustment be made.
Can they post a pump graph from their manuals?
Is the anti-cycle delay adjustable?
What control options, modulating stat, single or dual temp weather comp?
Can it be range-rated in heating and does the boiler fire from max heating output or from range rated.
PDHW a possibility?
Is is a heavy heat exchanger with mass (why heat up a big lump of metal in addition to running a kitchen tap for a couple of minutes).
If they've had good service from the brand or is the unit easy to work on?
Large bore or small bore exchanger?
Things like that for each suggestion.
As you can imagine, Vulcan, I'm extremely grateful you took the trouble to come back after, what might have been thought, a bit of a negative reply to your post (#18) some way back now.
You've listed ten points.
1. That's an easy onr to answer. I can see the figure given for each boiler.
2. Still haven't got that one cracked. Not familiar with the term or where to find it.
3. Nope, lost me there. A pump graph means nothing to me.
4. I've never seen the term 'anti-cycle delay' shown in any of the manu's literature I've looked at.
5. As I've probably said more than once the various controls offered by numerous third parties as well as manu's own controls are not exactly straightforward. If I showed them to my wife and told her she would have to master them if I dropped dead (not impossible I'm no youngster) she quite simply wouldn't have a clue ... and they confuse me almost as much.
6. That I have grasped. I can see Viessmann do and, apparently, Ideal either don't, or don't do it as comprehensively ... but I'm confident it's not as simple as what I said.
7. I've seen Urban Plumber's videos in which he describes his work with PDHW and I've read some comprehensive articles online - it might have been Heatgeek. Now even you, Vulcan, have got to admit is not exactly 'plug and play', is it?
8. I'm guessing this is aimed squarely at Intergas. Muggles and Razor used to rave about them. Much less so now. Muggles has offered a word outlining his reduced enthusiasm which I listened to and have no reason not to accept. Plus there are no local installers and their website hasn't shown any additions to the list of installers in Devon in the last five years. I'm inclined to think they're no more recognized than Johnson and Starley.
9. Ah! This is the one that really causes divisions of opinion. The universal recommendation of Vaillant and Worcester by most of the UK's population is famed - as you well know - far better than I in fact. Personally I'm fed up with hearing over and over again that Which recommend those two as well as Viessmann. Maybe they are the two or three best manufacturer? Who am I to say? But I also see, time and time again, the same criticisms ... I don't need to recite the pros and cons of those two/three makes. I also see the same old comments about Ideal and, again, I don't need to repeat them here. I read WB isn't easy to work on when compared to Ideal or Baxi ... but for every fan of a make or model there's the polar opposite on the next page .... you MUST know what I'm saying. You must have read a million more threads and articles than I have - and I've read a few in order to try familiarise myself and get a handle of what is and isn't a sensible route to go down. There's rubber hoses and plastic blocks in boilers, composite units in Baxis that contain most of the innards of the boiler and they all come as one part (or so I'm often told online or on forums) ... that might not be the case though, I'm not an installer or repairer. I could go on all night trying to explain how conflicting the advice that members of the public are subject to is - and whilst some of it is correct, even I can see that some of it is just stuff and nonsense and either mistakeny wrong or just plain lies ... but how is the man on the Clapham Omnibus supposed to tell right from wrong.
10. Apart from the obvious example of Intergas I honestly don't know which HEXs are categorised as one or the other. The available literatue gives little or no clue in my experience ... so how am I supposed to know that one?
Ringing manufacturer's helplines or technical lines is a lottery. No more no less. You, Vulcan, have insight into these things and if you rang Ideal, Baxi or Worcester you might be able to immediately discern that the voice at the other ensd of the line is a trainee with virtually no knowledge apart from the script he/she has in front of them but the likes of me is stuck with them and their automated telephone systems which may, or may not, grant you access to a human being. I can remember when you could ring someone like Pegler and speak to an ex engineer who knew exactly what he was talking about ... but too often we ring, and get 6 options to choose from and get absolutely nowhere. Have you tried ringing BT or TalkTalk lately? We are currently experiencing high volume of calls and you are in a queue, your call is important to us so please sit down and listen to Vivaldi's Four Seasons for the next hour and a half.
I rest my case M'lud and shall take my seat whilst the Honourable Gentleman for the Defence is called.
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