best budget boiler?

[JR EWING]

Hi,

My baxi eco 80 has packed in and i have to get a replacement. I was hoping for some advice as to what the best budget boiler available is? I only have a budget of £400-600, would like to spend more but this is about as far as i can stretch. Any advice would be much appreciated.

thanks

 

[themyth3]

Biasi are the best budget boilers in my opinion. Cheap and cheerful and things very rarely go wrong with them. You can get them through Screwfix and B&Q.

 

[hihowudoin]

imho wouldn't touch biasi they are the happy shopper/tesco value line equivalent of the boiler world to buy,but the sting in the tail is high cost of spares. i would suggest, if possible upping your budget and get something longer lasting/ more reliable. i would suggest a remeha avantaplus, or another highly reccommended (by gasman) is
Potterton Performa 24HE Eco Combi Boiler Pack (Inc Boiler, Flue & Clock) £609.74 inc VAT
which is closer to your budget

 

[JR EWING]

many thanks for the advice, a mate has recommended the vokera pro combi??? is this any good. He reckons he can get it for under £400

 

[SafeGasInstall]

why dont you just not change it and it will be even freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[bikerbas]

vokera and the performa are band B boilers.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

whats wrong with your 80 eco? they are very repairable as said the performa would fit strait in,no pipework to alter,re use the bracket just a different flue, vokeras are tat IMHO

 

[gasmarc]

dont forget to get something with a 5 year guarantee which i believe biasi are doing , my local merchant said the new biasi is good and he sells the most spares in SE london and knows what he is talking about

 

[ecowarm]

dont forget to get something with a 5 year guarantee which i believe biasi are doing , my local merchant said the new biasi is good and he sells the most spares in SE london and knows what he is talking about

Good for him, he sells the spares!!!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

sorry to disagree gas mark not a biasi fan

 

[oldplumber]

main/pottertons all of a muchness and easy to get cheap spares for unlike vokera and biasi (unless your in london)

 

[JR EWING]

whats wrong with your 80 eco? they are very repairable as said the performa would fit strait in,no pipework to alter,re use the bracket just a different flue, vokeras are tat IMHO

thanks for the replies. i have had constant problems with the pressure dropping and every couple months the boiler switches off and i am left with no hot water or heating. This has been going on for nearly a year on and off. I have boiler cover and various engineers have been out and to date all they have done is install a new expansion vessel on the wall beside the boiler. I have since been told that this was a waste of time because the pressure is dropping and not rising. I am reluctant to change the boiler because of limited finances however nobody can seem to find the root cause as to why the pressure is dropping. Had an independent engineer out on saturday and he noticed a couple of leaks in the boiler, which he fixed. He also installed a new safety valve and left assuring me the problem had been solved. However sunday morning the pressure had once again dropped and radiators were lukewarm.

When i initially had boiler installed 12 months ago it was only with one radiator in the lounge, i soon found out that whenever i put heating on this radiator would instantly become red hot and the pressure would rise. After some advice from an engineer that i should have more radiators installed i had an additional 3 radiators fitted. Everything was fine for a few days and then the pressure started dropping. For last few months i have had to repressurise boiler manually and bleed radiators everytime pressure drops. This helps for a couple of days, radiators feel hot to touch, but then pressure drops again and i have to repeat cycle of repressurising and bleeding...

Any suggestions as to why this is happening would be greatly appreciated as nobody can seem to put their finger on it.

thanks

 

[black 31]

there is no obvious signs of damp ? salt crystals on walls i assume ?try attatching aplastic bag over relief valve pipe work outside to see if loosing any there iknow you said have new but will def elininate . then try some fernox leak stopper to help plug any small leaks! is the boiler making strange noises ( like boiling or banging )when you run a bath

 

[SafeGasInstall]

Does your cold water tap give you a bit of warm water ??

 

[black 31]

we thinking same

 

[JR EWING]

Does your cold water tap give you a bit of warm water ??

The cold water tap doesn't really give any warm water, maybe a little bit...any ideas as to what is causing the prob?

 

[JR EWING]

there is no obvious signs of damp ? salt crystals on walls i assume ?try attatching aplastic bag over relief valve pipe work outside to see if loosing any there iknow you said have new but will def elininate . then try some fernox leak stopper to help plug any small leaks! is the boiler making strange noises ( like boiling or banging )when you run a bath

no, boiler doesnt make any strange noises. When i only has the one radiator it seemed to fire up quickly and then back down again, would do this repeatedly. This has stopped since i got additional rads though.

 

[black 31]

any odd noises when running bath

 

[JR EWING]

no, boiler doesnt make any strange noises. When i only has the one radiator it seemed to fire up quickly and then back down again, would do this repeatedly. This has stopped since i got additional rads though.

forgot to add that the boiler is in cellar and it is damp in there...

 

[black 31]

ist it steadly droping what pressuer it running at when been on for a hour

 

[black 31]

ok would not make the noises if in cellar as most pipework is above

 

[black 31]

would get some fernox leak stopper in first needs a couple of days to work tho

 

[JR EWING]

ist it steadly droping what pressuer it running at when been on for a hour

if i repressurise it to 1.5 bar it stays at that level, however over next few days pressure always drops and i have to bleed rads and repressurise, been doing this on and off for months now. Used to be that the rad in lounge stayed hot and would just need to bleed rads in bedrooms, however now even lounge rad losing heat.

 

[black 31]

try repressurisng and switch to hot water only then run hot bath full or two or a hot tap for a good while and see if it drops quicker than normal, this only a guess at this stage but i think it could be a faulty divertor(three way valve)mechanism insides. i agree with gas man would not throw towel in yet

 

[Alpha man]

Unless the divertor is leaking it will not cause the pressure to drop!!, Im not familar with your boiler but, Its not leaking from the PRV pipe outside is it? put a balloon over the pipe for a day or 2, and check for water! When was the expansion vessel checked, could be empty,any new water marks on the carpets below rads on on the ceiling etc? could be something simple like rad valve / TRV weaping overnight when the CH is off and when the CH is on it dryes out!

Pull the rad caps off and have a look for moisture in the caps etc and failing that try a leak sealer if nothing is obvious!