New boiler time :(

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

Messages
15,727
Edit My Images
No
Well, after >22years the boiler has a fault for which the parts are no longer available:( NB we are currently relying on the immersion for the HW but the CH is out!

We are getting a quote from BG next week and I will arrange for another independent supplier to come and quote too.

However, ideally from others who have recently had a new boiler which make should we be aware of that is considered "best in class" so to speak?

TIA :)
 
Ours is a Worcester Bosch Greenstar CDi Classic. It's been in two years now and no problems (if they still make it). Three bedroom bungalow radiators in each room and a wet room.
 
Last edited:
Oh, it's not the boiler that costs the money. It's the flue...... :)

Btw I've heard of significant cost increases in boilers recently. If you shop hard then buying a pre price rise item might save 20% or more.
 
carper said:
Have a look here https://www.hssspares.co.uk/Parts/BAXI/SOLO 2 50 PF
Click to expand...

gerry s said:
Both are available from a company called the heat exchange. I have no connection with them.

Checkout | The HeatXchange

www.theheatxchange.co.uk www.theheatxchange.co.uk
the link should give you the prices
Click to expand...
Thanks both for the links.

FWIW we have covered it with a BG Homeserve 200 support and the engineer that came this time checked both their internal stock control and their (selective) 3rd party sources and = N/A !

@carper I think I found the parts described as the issue (only the circuit board has a picture) and about £370 excluding the gas safe engineer to fit it and sign off.......so quite an outlay!!! NB the problem was diagnosed by the engineer (Lights were power and fan but pilot light off = pilot won't light = has valve and/or circuit board.

We will have to consider all the options, especially bearing in mind the boiler is not the most efficient compared to a modern condensing boiler.

The dilemma is, assuming the parts are available and will remedy the problem, paying possibly nigh on £500 (parts, time & VAT) to repair such an old boiler or bite the bullet and get a new one!
 
The board is apparently in stock at £283.66 inc. VAT) it will cost 500 plus vat including fitting so in all honesty I would personally advise a new combI. After £600 you will still have a 22 year old boiler waiting for the next thing to go wrong. It’s quite a lot towards the cost of the new one. plus you will save at least a couple of hundred a year on running costs.
 
gerry s said:
The board is apparently in stock at £283.66 inc. VAT) it will cost 500 plus vat including fitting so in all honesty I would personally advise a new combI. After £600 you will still have a 22 year old boiler waiting for the next thing to go wrong. It’s quite a lot towards the cost of the new one. plus you will save at least a couple of hundred a year on running costs.
Click to expand...
Yes, the cost to long term benefits ratio is in favour of "new" but not a combi as we like having an airing cupboard and the backup of the immersion heater that we are currently relying on right now ;)
 
If the new combo is going in the airing cupboard could have a mini radiator in there as well?
Back up immersion & system vs a combi :thinking:
 
nog said:
If the new combo is going in the airing cupboard could have a mini radiator in there as well?
Back up immersion & system vs a combi :thinking:
Click to expand...
No, the boiler lives in the kitchen......the airing cupboard is internal and in the bedroom.
 
Vaillant boilers have always served us well. (and other family members).
Worcester Bosch are popular in these parts.
 
Just a suggestion, I had exactly the same issue recently.
It was a stuck diverter valve, all sorted for the cost of a bottle of vodka (y)

It might be worth looking at before you spend a few grand.
 
Cobra said:
Just a suggestion, I had exactly the same issue recently.
It was a stuck diverter valve, all sorted for the cost of a bottle of vodka (y)

It might be worth looking at before you spend a few grand.
Click to expand...
I had to look up "stuck diverter valve" and read it seems you exclusive to combi boilers.

Our old boiler is an old non-condensing one.....and basically the start up sequence fails at the point of 'pilot light'.

The engineer took meter readings at the gas control valve and got no reading i.e. either the valve has failed and/or the circuit board to which the valve is connected
 
Gas valves can be replaced. reasonably cheaply. Also check fuses on the board as they sometimes pop. Had that with a failed pump.

Also check igniter as if it tries to ignite the gas and it won't it will shut off the gas supply.

If you have already got a hot water tank it's worth looking at the boiler upgrade scheme as heat pumps are getting more affordable. Octopus are doing installs that are often very cheap as the grant has gone up to £7500.
 
Last edited:
We've had a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 37 CDi for about 11 years now and never failed. Plenty of power and efficient. If getting a wireless thermostat controller my advice is to get one with a one hour boost button/option.
 
The gas valve is available at
£151.09 inc. VAT plus fitting. Just have to see if gas valve is getting a signal, if not it’s the circuit board.
Still probably best idea for new boiler.
Worcester, Vaillant or Glowworm are all pretty much as good as each other and you should be able to get a 10 year plus warranty. All hydrogen blend ready.
 
srichards said:
Gas valves can be replaced. reasonably cheaply. Also check fuses on the board as they sometimes pop. Had that with a failed pump.

Also check igniter as if it tries to ignite the gas and it won't it will shut off the gas supply.

If you have already got a hot water tank it's worth looking at the boiler upgrade scheme as heat pumps are getting more affordable. Octopus are doing installs that are often very cheap as the grant has gone up to £7500.
Click to expand...
I don't know how many fuses are on the board but suffice to say it shows Power, Fan On but then not Pilot Light etc

Thanks for the heads up re: boiler upgrade scheme. IMO Air source heat pumps are not the ideal solution..................?
gman said:
We've had a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 37 CDi for about 11 years now and never failed. Plenty of power and efficient. If getting a wireless thermostat controller my advice is to get one with a one hour boost button/option.
Click to expand...
Good feedback on both the make and model plus the use where wireless control is used. NB our currently wire controller has such boost buttons for the water & heating.
Cobra said:
My boiler is a conventional one, heats water to a tank,
and water to the rads.
Hence the divertor valves.
Click to expand...
Ah! I don't call that the diverter valve AFAIK it is called a 3way valve and was changed at last service....or was it last year. The engineer fitted what he said was the preferable brand....he did not recognise the name of the one that failed. Oh, it was not the valve that failed but the controller attached to it. NB when it goes wrong it is stuck in water of CH and the boiler will always fire up :)
gerry s said:
The gas valve is available at
£151.09 inc. VAT plus fitting. Just have to see if gas valve is getting a signal, if not it’s the circuit board.
Still probably best idea for new boiler.
Worcester, Vaillant or Glowworm are all pretty much as good as each other and you should be able to get a 10 year plus warranty. All hydrogen blend ready.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the thoughts re: makes and the 'hydrogen ready' aspect .

As mentioned we pay for the BG Homeserve 200 and the engineer did make voltage checks and said he cannot confirm if the lack of voltage at the valve was due to the board and/or the valve!
 
I don't think anything is fully confirmed yet and it may not even affect you, but just in case it may be worth making a cursory glance at the potential forthcoming EPC requirements. I believe the efficiency of a boiler has a fair impact on it.
 
gman said:
I don't think anything is fully confirmed yet and it may not even affect you, but just in case it may be worth making a cursory glance at the potential forthcoming EPC requirements. I believe the efficiency of a boiler has a fair impact on it.
Click to expand...
Nothing would surprise me!
 
boogie man said:
I would avoid getting BG to do the replacement, they tend to overcharge like crazy. Get an independent contractor to do it.
Click to expand...
Many many years ago I had BG carry out a service on a gas fire. A long haired ex hippie turned up, layed a prayer mat on the floor, sat crossed legged in front of the fire, removed the imitation coals one by one, brushed them with a paint brush and laid them down in a straight line he then blew down a rubber tube onto the burners, put the coals back, rolled up his prayer mat, wished me goodbye 'man' and left.
 
boogie man said:
I would avoid getting BG to do the replacement, they tend to overcharge like crazy. Get an independent contractor to do it.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

We had a new Worcester Bosch (combi) 2/3 years ago which was fitted during one of the lock downs. WB has their own network of recommended independent installers. Worked well for us.
 
Def new boiler time. Dont throw good money away bandaging the old boiler. Its at that point in its life that it will be one thing after another giving up the ghost...
 
i would avoid bg at all costs - when i got a quote they only seemed to do worcester or vaillant and i prefer baxi as they are much better quality - my installer was ex bg and said i would have paid about 50% more for the same job with bg
 
boogie man said:
I would avoid getting BG to do the replacement, they tend to overcharge like crazy. Get an independent contractor to do it.
Click to expand...

beyond the blue said:
Many many years ago I had BG carry out a service on a gas fire. A long haired ex hippie turned up, layed a prayer mat on the floor, sat crossed legged in front of the fire, removed the imitation coals one by one, brushed them with a paint brush and laid them down in a straight line he then blew down a rubber tube onto the burners, put the coals back, rolled up his prayer mat, wished me goodbye 'man' and left.
Click to expand...

Brentor said:
Agreed.

We had a new Worcester Bosch (combi) 2/3 years ago which was fitted during one of the lock downs. WB has their own network of recommended independent installers. Worked well for us.
Click to expand...

Raincloud said:
Def new boiler time. Dont throw good money away bandaging the old boiler. Its at that point in its life that it will be one thing after another giving up the ghost...
Click to expand...

boliston said:
i would avoid bg at all costs - when i got a quote they only seemed to do worcester or vaillant and i prefer baxi as they are much better quality - my installer was ex bg and said i would have paid about 50% more for the same job with bg
Click to expand...

Thanks all for the insights & thoughts.

I think I mentioned it before about the odd random resurrection of it working......well it happened again. When we got back from shopping the OH said the heating has been on.

I took the opportunity to check(?) that either or CH & HW would start the boiler and they did.

All very odd, and as IMO intermittent faulting out is the hardest to diagnose.

The BG new boiler guy is coming on Tuesday but wonder/doubt he will be an engineer to reflect on what the heck is going on.

We have also booked an independent to visit on Thursday to quote for a new boiler and the guy that comes is the company owner.....if he is am engineer, I ask what he thinks?

FWIW when it was not starting up, when pressed the +1 hour boost I could hear what sounded like a latching relay and the same click when turning off the +1 hour boost.

Our immediate thought is what is the possibility that under the Homeserve 200 contract could there be a 'parts available' repairable fault ???

But as mentioned above, this boiler has likely 'hit the buffers' so come what may we need a new one!

So, setting aside that it might limp along.....we are going to get two quotes (BG and independent) and see where we got from there???
 
If you go for a new boiler, don’t rule out another Baxi. Made in UK and parts far easier to source than others.
nobody has mentioned how much more efficient a new one will also be compared to your old one either.
And even if it is just for comparison purposes get a quote from https://www.boxt.co.uk/
 
Last edited:
And don’t be surprised if anyone quoting insists you need to change any non-thermostatic valves to thermostatic on all (but one of) the individual radiators around the house to meet building regulations.
 
Most boilers come with a 10 year warranty nowadays, but the warranty will only stay in force if you have it serviced annually by an approved company. FWIW we’ve had Vaillant boilers in our last two houses and they’ve been no trouble, no doubt everyone has a favourite brand they’ll recommend though.

And yes, Mozthecat is right, the heating regs have changed fairly recently so you won’t get a building regs certificate issued for the new boiler install unless you have TRV’s fitted, if they’re not already in place. It’s also good practice to have a filter (like a Magnaclean) installed at the same time as a new boiler, again assuming there isn’t one in place already. A filter will clean up all the loose sludge and magnetite that’s inevitably floating round an old system and stop it clogging up your lovely new boiler. Neither are particularly expensive extras but you need to factor those costs in. Any decent heating installer should advise you on these and add them into the quote for a new boiler.
 
Craig1912 said:
If you go for a new boiler, don’t rule out another Baxi. Made in UK and parts far easier to source than others.
nobody has mentioned how much more efficient a new one will also be compared to your old one either.
And even if it is just for comparison purposes get a quote from https://www.boxt.co.uk/
Click to expand...
Re: IIRC our old back boiler was a Baxi and if it was the original to the house it was well in excess of 30 years old until condemned! As mentioned the current one >22 years old

Will have look at the boxt site
Mozthecat said:
And don’t be surprised if anyone quoting insists you need to change any non-thermostatic valves to thermostatic on all (but one of) the individual radiators around the house to meet building regulations.
Click to expand...
We do indeed already have TRVs on all but one radiator.
Mag1cp2x said:
I had a similar dilemma about three years ago.
Spent nearly £300 on repairing and servicing the old Worcester gas boiler only for it to pack in a month later.
On recommendation we had a Vaillant ecoFIT pure 830 fitted which came with a ten year warranty.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight :)
boogie man said:
Most boilers come with a 10 year warranty nowadays, but the warranty will only stay in force if you have it serviced annually by an approved company. FWIW we’ve had Vaillant boilers in our last two houses and they’ve been no trouble, no doubt everyone has a favourite brand they’ll recommend though.

And yes, Mozthecat is right, the heating regs have changed fairly recently so you won’t get a building regs certificate issued for the new boiler install unless you have TRV’s fitted, if they’re not already in place. It’s also good practice to have a filter (like a Magnaclean) installed at the same time as a new boiler, again assuming there isn’t one in place already. A filter will clean up all the loose sludge and magnetite that’s inevitably floating round an old system and stop it clogging up your lovely new boiler. Neither are particularly expensive extras but you need to factor those costs in. Any decent heating installer should advise you on these and add them into the quote for a new boiler.
Click to expand...
Long(?) warranties for boilers does seem to be commonplace........not too sure but I think the engineer that came mentioned BG new boilers have 15 year warranty?

Yes, we have magnetic filter it was fitted as part of the power flush and that was done just pre COVID and yes with occasional emptying you can see the crud.
 
boogie man said:
And yes, Mozthecat is right, the heating regs have changed fairly recently so you won’t get a building regs certificate issued for the new boiler install unless you have TRV’s fitted, if they’re not already in place.
Click to expand...
Excellent. Another stupid change to building regs nobody needed.

For reasons, it's not possible to fit trvs to our radiators (or at least extremely expensive and disruptive). So now we can never have a new boiler.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Excellent. Another stupid change to building regs nobody needed.

For reasons, it's not possible to fit trvs to our radiators (or at least extremely expensive and disruptive). So now we can never have a new boiler.
Click to expand...
You can do without TRVs, for whatever reason, it just means the installer might not sign off a completion certificate. That’s not really a problem in itself as long as the installer agrees to carry out the work in the first place), it only becomes an issue if you want to sell the property in the future and the buyer starts asking for certificates.
 
boogie man said:
You can do without TRVs, for whatever reason, it just means the installer might not sign off a completion certificate. That’s not really a problem in itself as long as the installer agrees to carry out the work in the first place), it only becomes an issue if you want to sell the property in the future and the buyer starts asking for certificates.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That's exactly the kind of idiocy I expected.

Don't fit a new boiler or be unable to sell your house. For absolutely no reason. Every day, building regs get stupider.

No doubt their friends in insurance will be happy to sell a pointless indemnity which seems to be the point.
 
I wouldn't have another Vaillant, I've had to have major parts replaced about every two years, it's now on its 3rd controlled and their customer service is terrible.
 
Interval update.....

The BG guy came this morning and two key things in regard to both the boiler brand we 'had' to go for and the future of hydrogen "ready".

They can as part of the new installation move it a tad and give us an extended flue (needed to comply with distance to nearest window. NB the current installation was a compromise position....that the installer could not mitigate for plus based on his knowledge the Baxi Solo 2 we were sold in 1999 was it seems likely end stock as last manufactured in 1995.

However, we have white uPVC cladding and the new extended flue will impinge visually against the cladding. So, the only supplier that has the choice of black or white flue is Vaillant...... Worcester Bosch only offer black.

Re: a hydrogen future ~ yes the new boiler is hydrogen ready but that is for the upcoming, by 2035(?), introduction of natural gas & hydrogen blend. It was his understanding that 100% hydrogen might be rolled from 2050 onwards.

The independent supplier/installer is coming on Thursday, so will have to see what he offers?
 
I got my new one 3 years ago and after much research went for a Viessmann, well built with stainless steel internals and weather compensation. Gas and Hydrogen ready.

​

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top