# Gas boiler recommedations



## CCOVICH (6 Feb 2009)

Hi all

We have been told that we need a new gas boiler.  We have a 4 bedroom semi-d, with kitchen, dining room, sunroom, living room and 1 main bathroom (1 rad in each of these rooms and 1 more in the halllway).  Water is also heated by gas.

Would anyone care to recommend a make/model of bolier and the likely cost?


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## beldin (6 Feb 2009)

Every installer will be different.
I had 4 guys in limerick offer 4 different boilers so I went with the guy who was most recommended and who gave a quote there and then.
It was a Baxi condensing boiler. These are supplied by heat merchants so if spare parts are needed , we would hope they would stillbe around.
Cost was 2k.


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## CCOVICH (22 Feb 2009)

We received our first quote last week-€2600 (supply and fitting and disposal of old bolier) for a 'Glowarm' 18kw condensing bolier.

Is this a fair price and is Glowarm on a par with Baxi?


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## colm5 (23 Feb 2009)

Thats a bit high, 2.6K. I got a quote for a condensing boiler (replacement) and to move it outside the house in a weather pack for 2K.

Generally, any german or nordic manufacturer will have a good boiler. I would not go on price of boiler alone. In these countries they will know how to make boilers for cold climates etc... Try to avoid Potterton boilers, they do not have a good reliability record.


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## DGOBS (23 Feb 2009)

an outside weather pack for a GAS boiler???????

bit of a generalization on Potterton me thinks, we all know the suprima story with pcb's but can't say much more bad about them!

Look at Vaillant, in vouge with me at the minute


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## CCOVICH (23 Feb 2009)

Does 18kw sound about right for 10 rads (3 doubles, 3 half size)?

I'd say our boiler will be staying inside.


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## Towger (24 Feb 2009)

DGOBS said:


> we all know the suprima story with pcb's but can't say much more bad about them!


 
From having spent a freezing cold Sunday morning resoldering every connection on my Glowarm's PCB, I can tell that they are just as badly made as the Suprimas. After finding 2 legs not soldered at all and 1 dry joint, I was amased that the boiler ever worked!


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## CCOVICH (24 Feb 2009)

Anyone have any views on the 'Alpha' brand of gas bolier?


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## johnnygman (24 Feb 2009)

Anyone have any views on the 'Alpha' brand of gas bolier?

Well i have one the last 3 years and the boiler itself has worked fine no issues here.
Some bad plumbing work was done when installing it but that can hardly be blamed on the appliance.
I do know that between the 5 houses built they all have this boiler and no problems yet...


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## CCOVICH (24 Feb 2009)

Thanks Johnny.


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## bamboozle (24 Feb 2009)

i'm getting a 'highline' gas condensing boiler fitted, 24kw at a cost of €750, think its so cheap as plumber is currently doing other work in the house.


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## DavyJones (24 Feb 2009)

Price depends on where you are based. €2600 is a little on the high side.
Does it include VAT?

My advice would be go for a boiler that has a main supplier in your area. Heat merchants do Baxi. It will makes things easier when your boiler breaks down(every boiler will break down) and you need a part asap.

If you wish I can calculate your boiler size, or if you want to do it yourself, this site  [broken link removed] is usefull and easy to use. Add 15% for hot water demand and add up the rest to find suitable boiler size.  

BTU to KW = KW x 3414 = BTU


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## CCOVICH (24 Feb 2009)

DavyJones said:


> Price depends on where you are based. €2600 is a little on the high side.
> Does it include VAT?


 
Yes-supply, fitting disposal and VAT.


Thanks for the advice-very useful.  Had you heard of 'Alpha' and what is your view of their equipment?


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## DavyJones (24 Feb 2009)

I haven't fixed too many of them, which probably is a good thing.

 Gas boiler installation and repair is not our main business. where we operate I come across alot of Baxi/Potterton boilers. I have fitted mainly Baxi and Vokera. Parts and warrenty support is readyily availible. Vokera have an Irish base in Kilkenny.

When I operated in the UK, I would nearly only fit Vaillant boilers. Worth looking into. Again depends on support etc. Haven't seen too many of them here.


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## DGOBS (25 Feb 2009)

Davy, Vaillant are now back pushing in Ireland, the are elling through pulsardirect.ie

Must say, have done their product course, I was impressed, a little more expensive, but worth it in mho


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## Canny39 (25 Feb 2009)

Does anyone know anything about Ideal gas boilers. I had one installed 18 months ago following very high recommendation from installer. It has a label which says Classic SE 15 FF.


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## DavyJones (25 Feb 2009)

Ideal are a leading maker of boilers and parts are readily availible. All servicepeople will be familar with them.


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## Canny39 (25 Feb 2009)

Thanks Davy, was just wondering as reading this thread I realised that unusually I had just accepted the advice given from supplier and had not looked for independant info.


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## CCOVICH (25 Feb 2009)

DavyJones said:


> Ideal are a leading maker of boilers and parts are readily availible. All servicepeople will be familar with them.





Ideal is our current make of boiler and according to the initial diagnosis, it has a faulty heat exchanger which would cost around €800 to replace? We were advised not to bother (the advice was from someone without a vested interest in selling us a new boiler)

A plumber who was here this evening siad that the issue was probably caused when the bolier was installed when the house was being built-he reckoned the system was not flushed properly and this caused debris/fluid to build up and erode the heat exchanger.  The house is 10 years old (we bought it over 2 years ago).


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## DavyJones (25 Feb 2009)

It is all too common that boilers and heating systems aren't chemically treated. Treating and ensuring you have a water tight system are imperative factors to insure the long life of your system.

What exactly is wrong with boiler?


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## CCOVICH (26 Feb 2009)

DavyJones said:


> What exactly is wrong with boiler?


 
It is leaking/emitting a red/brown type liquid, which has been diagnosed as a faulty (leaking?) heat exchanger. Still works ok as far as I can tell, although there was a large spike in our last gas bill (although we're not alone there as far as I can tell!), and apparently it could go at any minute.


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## DavyJones (26 Feb 2009)

CCOVICH said:


> It is leaking/emitting a red/brown type liquid, which has been diagnosed as a faulty (leaking?) heat exchanger. Still works ok as far as I can tell, although there was a large spike in our last gas bill (although we're not alone there as far as I can tell!), and apparently it could go at any minute.




Sounds fairly terminal alright. Besure that quotes include power flush and system is treated after new installation.


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## CCOVICH (26 Feb 2009)

Yep, anyone who has quoted so far has mentioned the above.

Thanks again for your input.


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## onekeano (12 Mar 2009)

Hi CCOVICH - just wondering if you got the new boiler installed and if so could you provide some details regarding supplier, quotes you got and if you were happy with the supplier. I found out yesterday that I have to have a boiler replaced and I want to try organise it very soon.

Thanks
Roy


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## CCOVICH (12 Mar 2009)

Not as yet 'Roy' still checking out 1 or 2 things-have received a lot of helpful advice from AAM members however.

The cost looks like coming in at north of €2,000 to get it done for our house.

I will update further when we have made a decision and everything is installed.


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## DGOBS (12 Mar 2009)

Davy, I would like to add the sad thing about this is, we are only going to start getting the heatexchanger problems with high-eff boilers in the next few years, and as the pathways in those heatexchangers are so narrow it's going to be hell! (plus the heatexchanges of most are twice the price of standard ones!)


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## DavyJones (13 Mar 2009)

yeah, repair is a lot more expensive on these models and any savings on fuel may be wiped out.
It really annoys me that installers don't flush and treat systems properly. do things right and lessen the chance of future problems.


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## kingfo (13 Mar 2009)

The heat exchangers on some of the 
HE condensing boilers such as Glowworm and Worcester have quite large waterways and are made of cast alluminium , they are much better than fin-type which look like car rads and would block up easily, a good bolier should give a good guarantee on heat exchanger( I have no connection to either of the above manufacturers)


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## DGOBS (13 Mar 2009)

I have no issue with manufacturers warranty, but the will void warranty if system is not flushed or treated! small or large waterways, they will sludge up and block


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## gary71 (14 Mar 2009)

Lets not forget, leaking auto air releases,low water pressure switches, pump proving switches, blocked filters, blocked bypass, stuck pumps, diverta valves that don't divert, o-rings that leak due to brittleness, expansion vessels that split, miss reading thermistors...... non of these are covered under warranty and thats before worrying about the size of the heat exchanger, so if a installer wants to fit a boiler without flushing properly and adding a inhibitor then show him the door and help him out with a good kick up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language and those who may need a boiler fitted for cheap money without flushing, be warned it's cheap money now and will be again when you have to replace it because of it's shortened working life, as some poor fella i saw this week had to do after just 3 months and had to pay again as the installer had disappeared.
My recommendations would be Worcester Bosch, Viessmann, Vaillant and for cheap money anything the local merchant has and carries parts for( most modern boilers are easy fixable with parts), Gary.


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## flakey (16 Mar 2009)

Could someone please advise me? I purchased my house just over 3 yrs ago, new build. Since then i have had to have one of the tanks in the attic replaced, cracked, also one of the 'boxes' in the hot press. I have 1 rad that leaked but doesnt any more. It is supposed to be a sealed system but have had to frequently manually fill the system. Most recently last week. Now my boiler won't come on at all. It has intermittantly come on and not heated the rads just the water hence having to fill the system. Am I flogging a dead horse here? Should I bit the bullet and replace the boiler and have the whole system flushed? Am sick of calling plumbers/gas board workers and just want to be able to use my heating etc. I have had my boiler serviced every year since purchase. It is a Vokera boiler. What kind of money am I looking at for a proper resolution? Feel sick that I may have to hand out thousands for something I expected to get 10 yrs free of major maintenance when I bought the house.

Thanks in advance for any help/info.


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## dodo (17 Mar 2009)

Got a new boiler in last year total cost was 1900E in Dublin South


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## Complainer (17 Mar 2009)

dodo said:


> Got a new boiler in last year total cost was 1900E in Dublin South



Is it a condensing boiler? We got a  condensing for 3300 last year.


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## gary71 (17 Mar 2009)

Flakey, the first place to start is the pressure loss from the heating system, check the boiler and the discharge pipe that goes outside, look for any water, if you want, tape a water bottle over the discharge pipe outside to confirm it's not letting by, once you have confirmed it's not the boiler then that leaves the pipework and rads, it will be the amount of time the system pressure takes to drop that will indicate how bad the leak is, if you can't see any damp patches or drips around any rad valves then you will have to get someone in to help identify where the leak is ie.. thermal camera or pressure testing individual circuits, a good plumber can help you here, unfortunately you must deal with the pressure loss first, once that is dealt with then you can decide what kind of flushing is needed by asking the plumber what the water is like and if he feels it needs a big flush or little flush before any inhibitor is added, it's not till you get to this point that you are giving the boiler a Chance to work properly, there may not be to much wrong with the boiler if it's firing to generate heat for the hot water cylinder, it may just be a external control fault, like the boxes(zone valve) in your hot press, hope this helps, Gary.


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## flakey (20 Mar 2009)

Thanks Gary. Have ruled out some things you mentioned. Plumber has been dealing with numerous episodes of same problem throughout the estate. Appears many short cuts taken by installers and we are paying the price. Infuriating. Will have to locate the leak, no water coming outside so problem not there. Thanks again.


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