Which Boiler for Upstairs Flat?

[Andrew Millne]

Had a plumber round today to quote for replacing an old back boiler, moving some pipework and a radiator, fitting a towel rail and running new water supply pipes to the kitchen.

He's quoted £1450 inc VAT and says it's no more than a days work. The price includes a 28kW Baxi combi boiler with a 2 year warranty or for the same price a 28kW (Vakera?) boiler with a 5 year warranty.

Can anybody foresee any problems with this solution or should I consider another boiler? Also are there any drawbacks to going with a combi boiler? I have a hot water storage cylinder but it's quite old and I'm assuming this will be redundant with a combi.

The flat is quite large compared to modern flats, has 8 radiators but only one combined bathroom/WC.

I also qualify for the £400 scrappage scheme credit.

[Andrew Millne]

If the hot water storage cylinder is removed it would make a nice space for my node one at the back of the bathroom directly above the downstairs consumer unit and incoming supply.

[Andrew Millne]

I also qualify for the £400 scrappage scheme credit.

That closed YESTERDAY

[toscal]

I hear Vaillant are very good.
Never heard of Vokera but apparently there are 1.5 million people in the UK with their boilers.
Here is a link to their website http://www.vokera.co.uk/
These link may make for interesting reading http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...ad.html?t=3902

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=197469

http://www.which.co.uk/reviews-ns/gas-boiler-brands-rated/potterton-vaillant-vokera-worcester-bosch/index.jsp

[alldone]

When we had our boiler replaced the reliability figures read Vaillant first (by quite a way), Worchester-Bosch second (which we got as Vaillant didn't do a floor standing model). My friend got a Vaillant about the same time and seemed like a very good boiler and looked a bit better constructed to my non-expert eye. A little bit more expensive than some of the cheaper models but with (as we found out) the cost of a boiler repair being hundred(s) of pounds ...

If I was looking for a wall hung boiler I'd go for Vaillant, although installers tend to have their favourite (know how to install it without reading the instructions, what problems will crop up etc).

[Andrew Millne]

Thanks guys. Vaillant seems to be very popular across the board so I'll put this to the 2nd plumber coming early this week for his opinion. Would it make sense to also keep the storage cylinder connected with an immersion heater do you think?

[alldone]

Our flat was about 2500 square feet on 2 floors, 10 rads and was heated easily with a (large) combi. We did away with the storage cylinder and gained half a cupboard of storage space. The boiler we installed had a small storage tank for hot water so there was no lag in turning the taps on (not been much of an issue in other houses anyway). If you like a powerful not-very-energy-efficient shower pay attention to the hot water flow rate -we had the potential for 20 litres/min which gives a head-hurting shower while still running the hot tap in the kitchen (or 2 decent showers at once).