Discuss oil combi boilers in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

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Can anyone rec what they think to be the best oil fired combi on the market at the moment,and why they rate it as one of the best,
I have no experience of oil fired,but a relative has just bought a property in Yorkshire with no NG.
Many thanks for any replies.
 
Preferance would be cylinder and boiler, but if no other choice imho best of the combis are the Grants
 
Grants every time, Trianco or WB as less preferable 2nd choice. Wouldn't touch Firebird, Warmflow or Grandee with the proverbial end of the stick.
 
Is that Pref for cylinder and boiler just for oil Roger? is there a prob with oil combis in general in your oppinion.?
 
Thanks for your input WHPS can I ask why such a pref for Grants,I take it the Grandee and Warmflow are the heatline of oil boilers.
 
They are a lot better build quality (yes I know they still can have one or two minor problems, but they are rare). Firebirds are leaky horrible things and the company is really unhelpful with problems. Warmflow are flimsy and I have had problems with them. Triancos are ok. WB not as well made as they used to be and can be awkward to work on. Grandee are terrible to work on and install.

Combis are suitable for some properties and not others and I wouldn't make a sweeping statement advising boiler and cylinder instead.

Suitability depends on water requirements and property sizes. For a small to medium sized property 1 bathroom they are great. For anything larger you need to be looking at an unvented cylinder and system boiler.
 
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Is that Pref for cylinder and boiler just for oil Roger? is there a prob with oil combis in general in your oppinion.?

Just in general, Oil combi's actually perfom better than gas, due to the thermal stores built into them 15 l min is average.

Personal preferance for cylinders is that its a simpler soloution, and likely to last a lot longer, by having a simpler boiler (just thermostat, heat exchanger and burner) and a unvented cylinder most of which are warentied for 25yrs or so. That said if space is very limited then combi's do give a alternative.
 
Grants every time, Trianco or WB as less preferable 2nd choice. Wouldn't touch Firebird, Warmflow or Grandee with the proverbial end of the stick.

I agree with WHPES re. grant and Roger re. cylinder.

Personally I never liked oil combi's they fly in the face of everything we were thought about efficiency and boiler cycling.
 
Everyone has their own preference based on their experiences. All combis have their own particular problems, I wouldnt have one in my house because they will all leak it doesnt matter what make you get. The best system you can have is a unvented cylinder and a system boiler whether it is gas or oil. If the boiler breaks down you can still get hot water, parts to repair will be cheaper and very often off the shelf, and they will last longer than any combi. As for make as said Grants would be most peoples choice, I have a lot of firebirds on my patch and they are proving no more troublesome than any other make.
 
I would also say I'd prefer a heat only boiler rather than system, then fit correctly sized external expansion kit and pump.
 
Like anything there are always compromises to be made, just seem to find internal vessels on oil boilers seem to fail quite frequently, I put it down to the heat, plus a lot of them are marginally sized bearing in mind the volume of water in the jacket (combi's in particular)
 
I've had a few internal vessel failures too, including on Grant machines .... replaced them with external vessels and touch wood no problems. I think you are correct about the internal heat causing the problem.... one Grant combi I replaced the internal vessel twice in 3 years before moving to an external vessel.
 
The problem with combis I think is due to the heat. Most of the components have plastic in them or rubber or nylon, the heat makes it brittle over a period of time and then it leaks or breaks or just gives up prematurely.
 
You will get the problem with internal vessels on all makes of boilers as they are all pretty much the same. The square shaped ones seem to be the worst.

Always best to have an oversized external expansion vessel if you can fit it somewhere.
 
I've fitted a couple of WB's recently on larger sized properties. On each occasion, due the system volume, I have fitted an additional external vessel; it takes the 'pressure' off of the standard fitted one and hopefully will ensure they last longer!
 
and when the internal one fails, which it will the other one will allow the boiler to continue to function.
 
The cheap external ones last a lot longer than the internal ones that come with the boiler.
 
We are supposed to size the vessel to match the volume of water in the heating system, I haven't seen any problems with two vessels.

Is that one waiting for me lame plumber?
 
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