December 7, 2015

Which is the best Combi Boiler to buy?

What is the right boiler for my property?

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Choosing the right combination of product & price when installing a new central heating / hot water system for your home can be made a little easier if you are forearmed with a good idea of what to look for in the first place – so with that in mind, here are a few pointers.

 To start with

• Size of the property

Small, medium or large house? The size of your house will generally determine the size & type of boiler required because a 1 bed flat or studio is clearly going to have a lower demand for water than a 4 bed detached house.

Examples of Boilers that may suit a particular property size

BOILER MODEL	Property	Power (Kw) & Flow (litres / min)
Baxi EcoBlue Advance 40	LARGE	32 kW & 16.4 L/pm
Vaillant ecoTEC 938	LARGE	28 kW & 15.9 L/pm
Worcester Greenstar 42CDi	LARGE	30 Kw & 17.2 L/pm

BOILER MODEL	Property	Power (Kw) & Flow (litres / min)
Baxi EcoBlue Advance 33	MEDIUM	28 kW & 13.5 L/pm
Vaillant ecoTEC 832	MEDIUM	24 kW & 12.7 L/pm
Worcester Greenstar 30Si	MEDIUM	24 Kw & 12.3 L/pm

BOILER MODEL	Property	Power (Kw) & Flow (litres / min)
Baxi EcoBlue+ 24	SMALL	24 kW & 9.8 L/pm
Vaillant ecoTEC Pro24	SMALL	19 kW & 9.6 L/pm
Worcester Greenstar 25Si	SMALL	24 Kw & 10.2 L/pm

• Power output

Having an underpowered boiler will result in lack of heat and an overpowered one is just wasting energy, also the “flow rate” of the boiler should be one which can readily meet the likely water demands for your home.

• Energy Efficiency Rating

Up until Sept 2015, the SEDBUK rating would have identified the energy efficiency, but now it is covered by the ErP or Energy-related Products Directive – find out more here

• How big is the boiler and where to locate it?

The appliance does not have to be big in order to deliver a good result, with modern engineering allowing dimensions to become more compact you can fit them in many locations.

• Warranties & Guarantees

There would be a warranty form the appliance manufacturer on the boiler itself, but you also need to make sure the rest of the work is covered by the company that fits the system – including a maintenance agreement.

Product warranties can range from 2-10 years and some installers can offer workmanship warranties of 2-6 years – typical manufacturer warranties shown below:

COMBI BOILER MODEL	WARRANTY	MODEL RANGE
BAXI	2 – 10 years	Up to 10 yrs on platinum
VAILLANT	2 – 5 years	Pro, Plus & Exclusive
WORCESTER BOSCH	5 years	I, Si & CDi models

Appointing an Installer

Obviously you should get a number of quotes from different companies, but in doing so you may encounter varied approaches from those who quote. The first thing to tale into account is whether you are dealing with a salesperson or an engineer.  Whilst a well trained salesperson may very well be able to come up with a solution for you, in our opinion they are less knowledgeable than a qualified Heating engineer and in some cases be more interested in making the sale than looking after the clients’ best interest.

In any event, you should only deal with “Gas Safe” registered installers when fitting gas fired water & central heating systems.