Heatline vs. Keston

Unfortunately, I need to go through the palaver that comes with getting a brand new boiler, but after unleashing myself on the search engines, I have settled on 2 reputable boiler manufacturers.

The first is Heatline Boilers, who hold an extremely high reputation for making boilers that are both reliable and affordable – two boxes ticked already! I fancy a Combi boiler so that I will have more room in my kitchen, and Heatline provide Combi boilers that are extremely efficient and user friendly - perfect for an engineering-phobe like me! Their boilers also tend to be small and compact and claim that they are easy to install, which is fantastic because – though I am not the one installing the boiler myself, I like to live in a fuss and stress free environment. Another thing that attracted me to Heatline’s is that they come with a year’s warranty. With the night’s drawing in and the air getting chillier, this is more than enough time to sort something out if anything goes wrong.

Keston Boilers do offer Combi boilers, but with only one available – the Keston C36 I believe – I would be limited in choice, unlike with the Heatline Boilers. These too are compact, and Keston coming have an amazing feature that means that their boilers are less likely to shut down if left off for a period of time: the pump and fan are exercised via their control system. Because of this, I would be less likely to need their impressive 5 year warranty – far longer than Heatline, you’ll notice.

It didn’t take me very long to decide that the Keston was better for me, and I look forward to having a new, fancy little boiler.

The Perks of the Gas Fired Combi Boiler

You may think me a trifle bias in this area, but I absolutely love my gas fired Combi boiler!  To be honest, I didn’t even know the difference between a Combi boiler, system boiler or otherwise until I moved into a tiny flat and discovered a hefty great water tank where – in my humble opinion – my walk in shower should have been!  Not only was this taking up a huge chunk of my bathroom but it was also rather ugly and not very eco-friendly, my little hippy friend informed me.  The major drawback of a big water tank though was as simple as I wanted a bigger bathroom, so a Combi Boiler was suggested to me, and seeing as they work by taking cold water straight from the mains and heating as I needed it, there would be no need for a separate hot water tank.  I was sold!

The most adventitious part of this whole thing was that there was space enough in my kitchen for a little Combi boiler, and so the whole system was moved.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as easy as just taking it out and popping it somewhere else and involved some kerfuffle, but it was so worth it!  I now have my walk-in shower – extremely self-indulgent, I know! – and an up to date, extremely useful gas fired Combi boiler!  Win-win!

Alpha Boilers vs. Biasi Boilers: A Close Call!

When I came to get a brand new boiler, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted a Combi, but when I got round to having a look online for what I thought would be an easy task, a whole host of different boiler companies presented themselves to me, and I managed to weed them down to two: Alpha and Biasi.

The plant that makes Alpha boilers are the biggest boiler making plant in Europe, which counted for Alpha as I assumed that must make them the best.  They also come at a very reasonable price – not exactly the cheapest but not the dearest either - and most of them come with a generous warranty that can even be extended, and I was led to believe that they have excellent warranty services that will send out an engineer at least the next day!  Their reliability reputation preceded them, and it was all of this combined that made Alpha stand out in my head.

Saying that, Biasi boilers have a fantastic reputation spanning 75 years and they are one of Europes leading manufacturers of boilers!  They can boast everything Alpha held and were also hailed as one of the cheapest on the market.  This being said, I found and overwhelming opinion that Biasi were perhaps a little too cheap, and decided that, on this occasion and with something as important as boilers (which you really don’t want to be ripping out more than once) I would pick the more expensive option and hope that this would ensure me quality.

The Perks of the Combi Instantaneous Boiler

Although perhaps not the most exciting subject to have a chat about, your choice of boiler is going to affect your daily life more than you may realise.  From the Combi Instantaneous Boiler to a System Boiler, you need to make the right decision.  Take my own boiler for instance – when I first moved into my current flat and stepped into the shower for the first time, I thought I’d hit the jackpot: the water pressure was amazing, the temperatures where spot-on and I could – and did – stand under it for far longer than necessary.  The heating was perfect, too – heating my radiators extremely quickly with just one touch of a button.  Mine is a Combination boiler, which means that it generates hot water instantly for both your taps and central heating simultaneously whenever you need it, so no space-invading water tank to cut your kitchen or bathrooms size in half!  Not only does it push all the necessary buttons to make me as comfortable as possible, it is much more energy efficient – I learned, after a quick search engine session – than a system boiler (the water tank type) because system boilers generate a lot of heat loss and Combi’s don’t, thanks to their instantaneous hot water that doesn’t require a massive copper tank.  This appealed to the little hippy within me, making me feel secure in my carbon footstep karma! 

If I had to point out one disadvantage, it would be the flow rate reduction I experience if I – for example – try to run a bath while the washing machine is on.  This can be a slight annoyance, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s far overshadowed by the pros of the little Combi boiler number!

It’s a Tough one: System Boilers vs. Ariston Boilers

If you’re shopping around for a new boiler – something you hopefully won’t have to do more than once in your lifetime – it’s a good idea to get to grips with the different choices available to you out there.  If you’re anything like me, you won’t have the first clue of the pros and cons of boilers, and it wasn’t until I needed to replace my own that I did a bit of research on the subject.  It was then that I started to take a look at System Boilers vs. Ariston Boilers.

The boiler I needed to replace was a System boiler – AKA. ‘closed’ or ‘sealed system’ boiler – which basically stores hot water, meaning you need an airing cupboard for the tank.  Now, whilst this is a fantastic choice for those of you with lovely big houses, it’s not so good in a one bedroom flat (as it was in my case) so if you ever get the chance to replace your system boiler, it’s a good idea to have a look at the other options available to you.  Because of my lack of knowledge on the subject, I hit the search engines, and came up with what looked like a good little deal – an Ariston Boiler.  Ariston make gas boilers in the form of the aforementioned system boilers, but they also provide Combination Boilers, which are perfect for smaller homes and provide hot water for your taps and baths as and when they’re needed – hence the name and the fact that they don’t require a stored hot water facility.  Perfect for my little flat, which now has a slightly bigger bathroom!  

Worcester Bosch Boilers top class!

When I moved into my new house, the last thing I was checking was to see if I had a Worcester Bosch Boiler.  But, after a few weeks living in my new flat, I noticed that my boiler was far more efficient than the one at my old flat.  My hot water was lasting longer, the heating somehow made the house a lot warmer.  It was much better, so one day I wondered why my heating service had improved so dramatically.  When I checked, it turns out I had a different brand and size of boiler and I now had a Worcester Bosch.  Well now I could run a bath and then my flat mate could run one straight after me.  This was something we were not able to do previously!

So the main point is, if you are able to pick a replacement boiler, try and pick a Worcester Bosch.  They have a huge range of different boilers to suit most household sizes and shapes.  They are top of the range and really concentrate on getting the most out of your hot water.  Some boilers tend to waste the heat in the surrounding air, but these boilers make the most out of the heat and leave your house warm and cosey.  The boilers are top of the range and provide you, the user with a lot of control and flexibility.

So if you have a busy household, get your heat from a Worchester Bosch boiler!

Saunier Boilers vs. Condensing Boilers

As I lived in my last flat, I noticed that my Gas and Electricity bills were a lot more reasonable than when I had been a student and paying ridiculous amounts.  One day there was a problem with the boiler and someone came out to fix it.  It was at this point the worker told me I was lucky to have a Condensing Boiler which was much more energy efficient and better for the environment.  I was quite happy that my boiler was helping me do my bit for global warming.  I looked into it and realized that my Condensed Boiler was reaching  90% levels of efficiency which in comparison to years gone by where boilers would struggle to get 50 %, is fantastic.

I recently bought my first property and was hoping that it would be a condensed boiler I’d be met with, but instead it was a Combination boiler made by Saunier.  The boiler is good in terms of keeping the heat for when I need to use it and keeping my monthly cost relatively low, but I had grown to the idea of using an energy efficient boiler.  I checked online and Saunier don’t do Condensing boilers.  In the end, I made the choice to replace my boiler for a Condensing one.  These boilers are dominating modern-day boiler manufacturing and I want to continue to be a part of it.  So, unfortunately until Saunier produce condensing boilers, I won’t be using their brand.