Ravenheat boilers - what do people think?

[tommygee]

Helllo. I'm a bit new to this, so please bear with me.

I understand from a fairly cursory look at these pages that people tend to have quite polarised views on boilers and manufacturers, doubtless with good reason, so I thought I'd ask your views on Ravenheat boilers, specifically the CSI 120 LOW NOX. It seems pretty competitively priced (£845 incl flue, timer, VAT & delivery), has excellent flow rate values and comes with a three year guarantee. The other option for an extra £70 or so is the CSI 150, although at 41kW that seems a bit OTT.

I have a pretty well insulated Victorian 3 bed terraced house over 3 floors with good mains pressure, 7 radiators, a thermostatic mixer shower (currently supplied by an electric pump), a 2nd floor en suite (bog & basin only) in the planning and vague thoughts of a conservatory (also in the planning) with underfloor piped water heating. The last bit is not a necessity and so wouldn't really swing things either way. I am having an old vented system (boiler in kitchen) ripped out and a new combi put in a 1st floor bedroom. Access to drainage, gas supply & external wall is apparently all good in this room, although the gas pipe will have to be upgraded to 22mm.

I have a heating engineer lined up and he has made some boiler recommendations, but is equally happy for me to look on the net and see what prices & specs I can obtain. So here I am. Any advice/comments/abuse that you can offer would be very welcome.

Cheers,
Tom.

 

[Agile]

Well I for will certainly not be giving you any abuse! its not necessary or polite.

The most important aspect of fitting a new boiler is to fit it on a very clean system!

Have you compared those prices with the B&Q prices?

Also consider the length of warranty! Some manufacturers give 3-5 years when correctly fitted by a CORGI registered installer and services every year.

Some require an annual confirmation of service to be posted to them !!!

Tony

 

[micky p]

to be honest there are far better boilers on the market for that kind of money. Off the top of my head the Broag Remeha Avanta plus 28C (28Kw) can be picked up cheaper than £845.
They also do 35Kw and a 38Kw version too for extra cash of course.

Ravenheat are ok but they are not the most realiable boiler on the market.

Usually find British boilers are one of the worst im afraid.

 

[gas4you]

to be honest there are far better boilers on the market for that kind of money. Off the top of my head the Broag Remeha Avanta plus 28C (28Kw) can be picked up cheaper than £845.
They also do 35Kw and a 38Kw version too for extra cash of course.

Ravenheat are ok but they are not the most realiable boiler on the market.

Usually find British boilers are one of the worst im afraid.

I agree about the Broag, by all accounts a very good boiler. My local independent supplier sells the 28Kw combi for £620 +VAT including the standard flue

 

[c128]

My personal experience with my Ravenheat CSI-85T hasn't, I would say, been fantastic - see here:

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=619696#619696

In a nut-shell: dead timer, relay and blocked condensing heat exchanger (which highlighted an awfully crossed thread internally). I'm not saying this is typical (I don't know one way or the other) but it was my experience.

The thing is that (from memory) it cost about £450 from B&Q, with a bit extra for the vertical flue option and flashing kit. To be honest, for that money, and despite the issues I had in the past, I would say I'm pretty happy with it. It's reasonably economical to run and, touch wood, no issues for quite some time... If I had to call out a heating engineer for the above issues, and incurred that extra cost, I might feel differently...

 

[weareleeds]

If you can live with staying off work, having no hot water or htg etc go for it. If you want something reliable pay a bit more & go for a german boiler ie vaillant or worcester bosch

 

[tommygee]

Thanks a lot folks. I will look into the Broag and the Worcester/Valliant recommendation seems to be a recurrent theme from other threads. Will keep you posted for the benefit of any interested onlookers in a similar boat!

 

[bengasman]

Going to a diy centre you should expect diy quality. A tradesman who buys boilers all the time is bound to get a better price than someone who buys just one. If YOU get a better price you are very lucky. Or you are buying a lemon. Maybe; reconditioned, incomplete, end of line, damaged, stolen, wrong model, wrong size etc. my advice: ask people you know for an installer who did a wonderful job and just tell him to do what needs to be done. Don’t worry about the extra 500 quid compared to the cheapest quote you got and you may not have to worry for the next 20 years. Bear in mind that heating insurance costs about 200 a year.

 

[gasman26]

Agreed Broag remeha avanta 28 is an excellent boiler (definate contender for vaillant g4u ) Although I may be biased as we are agents for Broag..
Can provide including flue kit & free delivery £670.....

 

[tommygee]

Thanks for the additional comments. Is the price quoted for the Broag inclusive of VAT?

 

[gasman26]

Tommygee... yes thats inclusive of V.A.T also... contact me via my email address listed on this site by clicking my name if interested...

 

[corgiman]

I dont think thats allowed

better be kwik afore a mod zaps this post

 

[gasman26]

 

[BlueLightning]

Sounds like you are looking for around a 35kW boiler to give you a decent flow of around 14l/min @ 35deg rise.

IMHO the Broag Remeha 35c fits the bill perfectly with 14l/min and a stainless steel heat exchanger (5 year warranty on this part). Its well manufactured and has quality components. Trade price circa £670 plus flue (around £40 for horizontal flue kit)
http://www.avantaplus.com/index.php?content=35c

Another to consider is the Worcester Bosch 37CDi with a flow of 14.7 l/min
It'll cost you more than the Broag though. However, these boilers are excellent IMO and provided you Power Flush your radiators/system (you should do this whatever boiler you fit really) and meet other criteria you get a 10 year parts warranty on the primary heat exchanger. Dependant upon the installer you can also get a 3 year parts and labour warranty on the boiler in general.
http://www.worcesterbosch.co.uk/index.php?fuseaction=product.home&con_id=231281

As for the Ravenheat.........leave it where it is


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[tommygee]

Thanks a lot for this Blue Lightning. You're the first to suggest a 35kW boiler. Is it necessary to go for such a powerful one? Is it likely to use a lot more gas than the 28kW version and, given my fairly modest requirements, would running it at less than full capacity in any way compromise its performance or longevity? The flow rate sounds good, but is the difference between 11 and 14 l/min going to prove significant in practice?

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks again,
Tom.