Over the last few years the Worcestor greenstar 28i that was fitted here has become more and more unreliable despite the annual servicing and with the imminent install of a thermostatic shower to remove he old electric one in worried failure will become more often leaving us not even able to have a shower in the morning.
Added to this I went into the cupboard this afternoon after I heard a clunk and thought something had fallen off a shelf in there, only to find water dribbling out the bottom of the fecker and the electric board in it fried.

It's taken the biscuit now and after a quick read online the reviews are less than great coupled with a 2year warranty speaks volumes about the quality of it!

I've been looking around and am thinking of replacing it and for a 3bed detached thinking a 30/35kw should do is fine and something like the BaxinEcoblue range would be perfect and it comes with a 10year warranty! Now I know I can't do the full fit out myself as I'd need a gas engineer to come in and cap the current supply to it, remove and replace old unit and then have them back to connect it up, thus reducing the cost of its install and they seem available for under £1k which seems good value for me, but I'm not a plumber so throwing it out there incase anyone has better experience but I won't be touching a Worcestor turd pile again as its not helped by eon's service team not coming out for 3days just to have a look and then generally another 3days for parts and a service slot to come round so two days off work for someone 😬😬 FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Why don't you get a Worcester engineer out to have a look, they are far more knowledgeable than other lesser mortals who call themselves service engineers.

How much is an hour of labour these days for one of those? Are there such things as dedicated boiler engineers to a specific manufacturer these days? FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Yes, Worcester Bosch have their own engineers. I used them when we had a new WB boiler fitted by British Gas and after one day the boiler failed due to an installation fault. Another British Gas engineer then promptly condemned the installation.
I had WB engineer attend, at British Gas expense, who resolved the situation.

Try contacting them, personally I wouldn't use anyone else. Probably cheaper than a new boiler.

https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/support/product-service

Id have to try and phone them tomorrow and no doubt be stuck with everyone else who has had failures over the weekend as well so id still be looking at Wednesday for an engineer to attend really and then God knows how long for parts.

I've got a plan with eon so have to wait for them to come and do the repair as part of their contract but I'm just sick to death of it and the days off work wasted on the issues so far in the last 12 months total roughly what a new boiler would cost to buy for one like I've mentioned above  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Im sure WB do a fixed price repair.

How many showers are you running off the combi?

I find that if there is more than one shower in the house running off the boiler then no matter what combi it is then there is insufficient flow and when the second shower is put on then you get a significant temperature drop. In terms of heating though 28kw will be plenty for a 3 bed. But if you have more than 1 shower the bigger the better.!

I agree with the other chaps that WB would be my first port of call to see if they can do a fixed price repair.

Should you want to replace, I have fitted several of the Baxi Eco Blue Boilers this year. Haven't had a problem with any of them yet, though only one was a combi. But it's early days.

There are lots of manufacturers who offer good warranties now, so it is worth looking around.

Having installed may boiler brands in the past few years there seems to be little internally that is different between them, most of them are full of plastic parts, and to some extent the longevity of the boiler can vastly depend on the quality of the install.

If I was fitting a new boiler I would also plumb in a central heating filter, change the water get the system flushed and cleaned them make sure that a good inhibitor was used. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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Quote:

If I was fitting a new boiler I would also plumb in a central heating filter, change the water get the system flushed and cleaned them make sure that a good inhibitor was used.

Sadly, everyone seems to be advised to fit combis these days, the simple reason being that they are quicker to install. But instant hot water comes with a few hidden issues - the heat exchanger is half the size of a cornflakes packet, and to raise the incoming mains temperature to 30 Celsius in the time it takes for the water to flow thru' the exchanger, the poor little thing is cherry red, and the thermal stresses involved are extreme. They ain't cast iron or indeed have any steel in them. Generally pressure-formed aluminium Worth checking if a pressure reducing valve has been fitted upstream of the boiler, as they don't like more than 3 bar on the inlet, obviously this adds to the heat exchanger's woes.
If you do have the room, I'd go for a system boiler and unvented ( mains ) cylinder. With a correctly rated boiler, and a cylinder sized to suit, the recovery from cold to max temp. after NMJ turns on every shower in the house is not too bad at all. You also have the immersion heater as a backup, at least giving you hot water.
Most modern domestic boilers these days are built to similar standards as kitchen " white goods " and this is a fair guide to their expected lifespan, imho.
Good luck !  The best 4.4 x far

The reason a gas condensing boiler is now invariably fitted in domestic dwellings is that it is now a requirement under the Building Regulations in England, Wales and Scotland.

Below is a summary of the requirement.

Each boiler must have a minimum efficiency of 86% for gas and 85% for oil. The replacement of a gas boiler will probably have to be a condensing boiler unless there is sufficient reason why one cannot be installed. An assessment is carried out by a registered installer on the type of boiler you will be required to have. The assessment is described in the Department for Communities and Local Government publication:

Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide (PDF 1023 Kb)

Condensing Boilers - A condensing boiler with a SEDBUK rating of A or B should be installed unless an assessment carried out by a Gas Safe Register installer from 1 April 2009 suggests that it is not viable to install one, then less efficient boilers with SEDBUK Ratings of C or D can be installed providing they have meet the minimum efficiency as stated above.

I fully agree with fretless a system boiler and Un vented tank is the way to go for best hot water performance, I am about to fit 2 of these systems with baxi boilers to the new 4 beds I'm doing at the moment, it really does depend on how much space you have though, if there is plenty in the boiler cupboard then fitting a tank may be an option, however if you have to have the tank remote from the boiler then a flow and return to the tank would have to be plumbed in as well as a cold to and hot from the tank and pressure relief Pipework so this may not be a practical solution in most cases.

In The houses we are building at the moment the nice architect hadn't given us anywhere to fit the tanks, so we have had to be a bit constructive with tank placement...... There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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Unfortunately space and long term cost of keeping any sized tank hot for on demand water would prove more than I could stomach and if have to find the room and time to do all that extra plumbing with my dad

I was thinking that about the warranties as well that if it comes with a 10yr like those Baxi Ecoblu things then I'd stretch my budget to the highest kw possible which is 40kw, compared to my current 28kw unit I'm hoping this will mean larger heat exchanger and thus less work for the unit overall as it will be much easier for it to maintain water at a decent enough temperature and pressure without taxing it.
Well that's the theory anyway!! The difference in price is about £350 which if it lasts the 10years with only a hiccup or two would be worth £1200!!

If I could find the space for an invented tank I'd have solar up on the roof as well to keep it toasty but space is the problem

The filter and flush for the heating circuit is something I don't think has been done in the past so I'll be taking the chance to do it while the system is down for the count for more days as I'm waiting for the WB callback from yesterday but hey ho I've been chocka so not too worried, I'll see what rubbish comes out of heatteam/eon tomorrow!

Thanks for the advice guys, it's had me thinking about the towel rail radiator in there and using a small solar panel and deep cycle battery to keep it warm 24/7 without costing anything but the bits and some time  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Oh and only one shower in the house and three hot taps with only one tap and shower ever likely to be used at the same time  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Look at the specs on the boilers in terms of hot water flow rate figures and see how much of a benefit the larger one brings they are all available online, 40kw would certainly be overkill for the heating side. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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Yup, 28kw does 11litres/min and 40kw does 16litres/min so I get almost a 50% improvement in hot flow for about 15% more ££ which for me is a no brainer if it comes to it 😄 FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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