Replacing your boiler is an expensive undertaking and it’s not hard to find stories of boilers dying in fairly short order.
Like most things in life, you get what you paid for and boilers are no exception. Cheaper brands are likely to use cheaper components that are more prone to malfunctioning and can easily cost you more in the long run.
But if you buy a good quality condensing boiler and it’s installed and maintained well, there’s no fundamental reason why it shouldn’t have a long life of delivering substantial energy savings. But which boiler brand is best?
There aren’t any scientific comparisons, but the excellent consumer magazine Which? ran a survey (sub required but you can get a one month trial for £1) amongst 3,000 of their members who had purchased condensing boilers since 2005, rating customer satisfaction.
The survey found the highest customer satisfaction came from Vaillant and Worcester Bosch customers. Runners up were Vokera, Potterton, Glow-worm and Baxi.
The boiler scrappage scheme is currently underway, offering £400 for the replacement of a G-rated boiler with a new A-rated condensing boiler. You can find out if your boiler qualifies by checking here.