Do you feel lost when you go to buy something you know nothing about?
I know I do. It’s hard to trawl through the reviews to decide what to get. And even when you’ve made your mind up, there’s still that niggling doubt – “did I buy the right thing”? – especially if it’s expensive.
So it’s no wonder most people feel lost when it comes to boilers. There’s all kinds of mis-information and opinions on the internet, but not a lot of honest expert advice.
In an attempt to give you some solid information, I’ve made a list of the top boiler brands I recommend and a list of the boilers I think you should avoid.
These lists are based on 20 years in the heating trade, not just installing boilers, but repairing them as well. So I get to see what goes wrong with boilers 5 or 10 years after they’ve been fitted, unlike people who just install boilers and move on.
The Heros List
Boiler brands I recommend (in order) are:
- Viessmann
- Vaillant
- Worcester Bosch
- Potterton/Baxi
- Ideal
The Villains List
Boiler brands to avoid (in no particular order) are:
- Ferolli
- Vokera
- Biasi
- Ravenheat
- Heatline
The Harsh Truth
So if you pick a boiler from the “Hero’s” list, you should be fine, right? Not quite…
Here’s something no other heating engineer will tell you, but you really should know. It’s probably not what you want to hear, but I like to be completely upfront with people. Here it is:
No matter what boiler brand you choose, your boiler WILL break down at some point.
The better brands are less likely to break down and less expensive to repair when they do, but don’t be under any illusions. All boilers break down at some point. It’s because there are so many moving parts – and they work so hard for you every day.
Beware Of This
Here’s another insider secret…
All boiler manufacturers offer boiler installation companies bribes to install their boilers. They don’t call them bribes, they call them “business support”, “rewards”, or “installer clubs” – but they’re basically bribes. It’s not always cash. It can be holidays, shopping vouchers, or workwear if an installer fits a particular brand of boiler. Of course, the more of that brand they fit, the bigger the bribes get.
Some companies get ?100 or more for each boiler they install from a boiler manufacturer.
How does this affect you?
Most boiler installation companies don’t tell you who rewards them for installing their boilers.
This means a heating engineer may strongly recommend, say, a Worcester Bosch boiler, over another brand. But what he won’t tell you is Worcester Bosch will give him ?50 to fit their boiler and the other brand may only give him ?20 – or nothing at all.
The dishonest bit is that you think you’re getting honest advice. The truth is, most heating engineers are getting paid to recommend a particular brand of boiler and not telling you.
For instance, Vaillant give me ?15 for every one of their boilers I install. But I’d recommend a Viessmann over a Vaillant most of the time based on personal experience. I’d just rather be honest and tell you about anything like this upfront so we all know where we stand.
So when a heating company strongly recommends a boiler to you and discredits all the others, ask them if they’re getting paid to recommend that brand.
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