Vaillant Ecotec Plus vs Vaillant Ecofit Pure

[xanaxx]

Hi all,
I need a regular boiler urgently as my 16 year old Vaillant has seized. I am looking to swap it with another Vaillant in 30 kw and have been recommended the Ecofit Pure and the Ecotec Plus regular boilers. I believe I have to settle with Aluminum heat exchanger as there aint many options in Stainless Steel in the regular/conventional boiler option. Both of the above Vaillants have aluminum heat exchanger in the regular boiler option.

Can I take your views on which of the above I should go for and why? Are there any differences between the two? Or if there is anything else you would suggest?

Thanks in advance

 

[Hairymelon]

Ecotec plus is is stainless steel hex

 

[xanaxx]

Ecotec plus is is stainless steel hex

in combis and system boilers only. The open vent regular ones have aluminum hex

 

[petit_pablo]

Both have the same heat ex as far as i know...wouldn't have either personally. The pure is a dumbed down version..basically as glowworm energy.

If you want SS heat ex look at viessmann or go for a system boiler.

 

[Hairymelon]

My apologies

 

[muggles]

Are you sure you need a 30kW? How many radiators do you have? Oversized boilers are inefficient and suffer from increased wear and tear, leading to premature failure, as well as costing more to run. My 1970s 140m² 4 bedroom house runs quite happily on 11kw, for example.

The ecoFIT Pure is a rebadged Glow-worm Energy. The ecoTEC Plus has the stainless heat exchanger

 

[xanaxx]

Are you sure you need a 30kW? How many radiators do you have? Oversized boilers are inefficient and suffer from increased wear and tear, leading to premature failure, as well as costing more to run. My 1970s 140m² 4 bedroom house runs quite happily on 11kw, for example.

The ecoFIT Pure is a rebadged Glow-worm Energy. The ecoTEC Plus has the stainless heat exchanger

The existing boiler was 28kW (was there for years before I even bought the house). I am not sure Vaillant does 28kW open vent anymore, so I was suggested the 30kW in the quotes I got.

I am still debating going for 24kw instead as I have only 12 radiators plus megaflo 300ml unvented with inlet pump and a separate small expansion tank connected with copper pipes. No other gas usage as the hob is induction

 

[xanaxx]

The existing boiler was 28kW (was there for years before I even bought the house). I am not sure Vaillant does 28kW open vent anymore, so I was suggested the 30kW in the quotes I got.

I am still debating going for 24kw instead as I have only 12 radiators plus megaflo 300ml unvented with inlet pump and a separate small expansion tank connected with copper pipes. No other gas usage as the hob is induction

Ecotec plus as open vent/regular/heat only boiler has Aluminum hex. I got that confirmed with Vaillant. Their SS hex is only present in System/Combis. also i would like to stick to heat only for now. The system has been sealed on the airing cupboard so it kinda functions like a systems boiler but with the seal in the cupboard instead of the boiler itself

 

[muggles]

The existing boiler was 28kW (was there for years before I even bought the house). I am not sure Vaillant does 28kW open vent anymore, so I was suggested the 30kW in the quotes I got.

I am still debating going for 24kw instead as I have only 12 radiators plus megaflo 300ml unvented with inlet pump and a separate small expansion tank connected with copper pipes. No other gas usage as the hob is induction

12-15kW will almost certainly be enough for you, maybe 18kW. Don't make the same mistake the last installer made by oversizing your boiler. Do a proper heat loss calculation to find out what size you actually need, then go from there. If the quotes you've got are suggesting going up rather than down, it's time to find a different installer who actually understands boiler sizing and doesn't just go off what the last bloke did. Consider too that the figure the calculator comes up with will be for worst case when it's -3 outside. On an average cool UK day at 9°C you'll only need half that number to keep your house warm. That's where modulation comes in - how low can the boiler go?

 

[Mottie]

I have the EcoTEC plus and it does have an aluminium heat exchanger. I think I read that the early ones had stainless steel. I had several quotes, only BG did a (rough) heat calc and said 15kw but they were pushing the ecotec pure model. Other quotes said 18kw, the same size as I already had. In the end I got a Ecotec plus 18Kw fitted for less than half the BG quote. I have it set at 15kw max output and it’s been fine. If I was ever to extend my property I could turn it up higher if needed.

 

[xanaxx]

12-15kW will almost certainly be enough for you, maybe 18kW. Don't make the same mistake the last installer made by oversizing your boiler. Do a proper heat loss calculation to find out what size you actually need, then go from there. If the quotes you've got are suggesting going up rather than down, it's time to find a different installer who actually understands boiler sizing and doesn't just go off what the last bloke did. Consider too that the figure the calculator comes up with will be for worst case when it's -3 outside. On an average cool UK day at 9°C you'll only need half that number to keep your house warm. That's where modulation comes in - how low can the boiler go?

i agree cent percent with what you mentioned. Can I ask how many kW I should add for hot water to the cylinder on top of the power for the radiators?

Assuming hot water cylinder is run 2-6 hours a day via a timer, I am guessing it will be cheaper and more efficient to have it on a timer as compared to having it on 24X7?

 

[xanaxx]

I have the EcoTEC plus and it does have an aluminium heat exchanger. I think I read that the early ones had stainless steel. I had several quotes, only BG did a (rough) heat calc and said 15kw but they were pushing the ecotec pure model. Other quotes said 18kw, the same size as I already had. In the end I got a Ecotec plus 18Kw fitted for less than half the BG quote. I have it set at 15kw max output and it’s been fine. If I was ever to extend my property I could turn it up higher if needed.

Can I ask what made you go for the Ecotec Plus over the Ecofit Pure?

Ive was told by 2 installers that both have aluminum hex in the open vent boiler and have exactly the same specs, other than that Pure is physically a bit smaller than the Plus and suitable for a kitchen cupboard. Both also said they only fit the Ecofit Pure though in the open vent option and Ecotec Plus only in the Combi/Systems option. My current boiler was in a cupboard too, so that impressed me. However, when I went to the Vaillant website, I found both of them to be similarly sized and spec’d, so clearly the installers had wrong information

 

[Mottie]

Can I ask what made you go for the Ecotec Plus over the Ecofit Pure?

Ive was told by 2 installers that both have aluminum hex in the open vent boiler and have exactly the same specs, other than that Pure is physically a bit smaller than the Plus and suitable for a kitchen cupboard. Both also said they only fit the Ecofit Pure though in the open vent option and Ecotec Plus only in the Combi/Systems option. My current boiler was in a cupboard too, so that impressed me. However, when I went to the Vaillant website, I found both of them to be similarly sized and spec’d, so clearly the installers had wrong information

Asked the same question on here and was told that the pure was a rebadged gloworm. The plus was more expensive so I assumed that it would be a better quality. I was also told about the size difference but I wondered if they were both the same spec and were just different sizes, why make a big version of something?

I have my hot water on 24/7. Just two of us having one shower each per day plus a bit of washing up. Gas hob too and in summer when there’s no heating, my gas usage is about 35p a day so not worth bothering with timers IMO.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Asked the same question on here and was told that the pure was a rebadged gloworm. The plus was more expensive so I assumed that it would be a better quality. I was also told about the size difference but I wondered if they were both the same spec and were just different sizes, why make a big version of something?

I have my hot water on 24/7. Just two of us having one shower each per day plus a bit of washing up. Gas hob too and in summer when there’s no heating, my gas usage is about 35p a day so not worth bothering with timers IMO.

Mine, 2 /3 baths per week, no heating, electric shower every day, seems to burn around £1.10 per week in gas consumption (15p per day). I have it now set to only heat water when it is likely to be used in quantity - 10am to 8pm.

There is a bit of a Vaillant spec. comparison here. https://www.warmzilla.co.uk/blog/which-vaillant-boiler-is-best

 

[ScottishGasMan]

To clear a few things up.

The heat only Vaillant boilers are all Aluminum heat exchangers, have been for a number of years.

Fully agree that if your installer cant do a heatloss calculation and spec the correct boiler, then they are not the correct installer.

Of course it depends on you're budget and preference, but I only ever fit a heat only with the manufacturers controls, (sensoHOME or vSMART in your case) This allows you 2 big features.

1, weather or load compensation. So where right not your heating runs 100mph to get to temp then cuts off, then on and off and on and off, the weather/load compensation looks at how much heat you actually need to maintain a comfort temperature in the house, and modulates the flow temperature from the boiler to the radiators to supply what's needed rather than maximum which lowers flow temperature, increases condensation and comfort in general.

2, These control setups have whats know as priority hot water, so the boiler will only heat hot water OR heating, not both at once, which allows for 2 different flow temperatures depending on whats needed, ie higher (your current) flow temp to quickly reheat the hot water, and a lower variable temperature to the rads as needed, which means the boiler is specced only to the heating load, as it will stop heating very temporarily to topup the the hot water cylinder so in the likes of my own case, my 1910 sandstone semi has a heat load of 7kw, so a 7kw boiler would be enough for me (its actually an 18kw) but much closer to a happy boiler than a 30kw would be.

Its much less about what boiler, and much more about what installer fits it. Buy a Ferrari sports car and fill it with deisel and its not going faster or further than the Fiesta thats been filled with the right fuel.