The Best Boiler Brands, according to Which? Survey
Worcester Bosch Boilers
For the sixth year in a row, the Worcester Bosch boilers have been awarded with the Which? Best Buy award by receiving higher scores than all the other boilers included in the survey.
Heating engineers and customers both seem to agree that Worcester Bosch boilers are consistently reliable and have an excellent build quality. According to heating engineers, it is also very easy to source spare parts for Worcester Bosch boilers. 29% of the engineers also considered this brand to be the one that has improved the most over the years.
Those who decide to opt for a Worcester Bosch boiler can go for a manufacturer warranty of two or five years. With specific models you can even extend the warranty to as long as ten years. The Worcester Bosch brand produces a range of models to suit the needs of their wide range of customers, including regular, system and combination boilers.
Vaillant Boilers
Vaillant boilers also received a high customer score, with many of those surveyed remarking upon their reliability. However, the survey did find that they weren’t generally considered as reliable as the Worcester Bosch models.
According to the heating engineers surveyed, it is easier to repair Vaillant boilers than it is to fix Worcester Bosch boilers. They noted that Vaillant boiler spare parts are very easy to source. The build quality of Vaillant boilers also met with the approval of heating engineers, who stated that they would be happy to recommend the brand to customers.
For those of you considering a Vaillant boiler, you’ll find a variety of regular, system and combination models available from this brand. However, they do tend to be a slightly more expensive brand in relation to others. Manufacturer warranties are available for a two, three or five-year period.
Glow-worm Boilers
Overall, the customer score for Glow-worm boilers was favourable. However, the brand didn’t score as well when it came reliability. According to the heating engineers surveyed, Glow-worm boilers have an average build quality and they wouldn’t recommend these to customers. However, they did note that it is fairly easy to repair the most common faults found in Glow-worm boilers.
Glow-worm boilers are priced lower than most other boiler brands out there, and are available to purchase with either a two year or five year warranty.
Ideal Boilers
Most customers who have an Ideal boiler stated that overall, they were satisfied with them. However, they did score them below average when it came to reliability.
On a positive note, heating engineers scored them high when it came to improvement, making Ideal Boilers second only to Worcester Bosch boilers when it came to most improved boiler brand over the last two years. Engineers generally regarded the build quality of Ideal Boilers as average
Ideal Boilers have a range of combination, regular and system boilers on offer, with warranties of two, seven or ten years available.
Main Boilers
Since enough of the survey respondents didn’t own a Main boiler, there weren’t enough scores to form an accurate reliability score. However, those few respondents who did own a Main boiler did seem pleased with it overall, giving it a good customer score.
Heating engineers weren’t as happy with this brand. Most of them wouldn’t recommend a Main brand boiler to customers as they felt the build quality is poor compared to other boiler brands on the market. With regards to repairs, engineers did say that it is easy to source spare parts and fix the most common faults that occur in a Main boiler. Main boilers are available to purchase with a two-year warranty, and are produced in combination, system or regular models.
Potterton Boilers
The reliability score of Potterton boilers was average, although the owners of this brand were generally satisfied with their boilers. Heating engineers weren’t impressed with the build quality and most stated that they were unlikely to recommend the brand to customers. Again though, they did say that spare parts for this brand are easily found.
All Potterton combination, system and regular boilers come with a warranty of two years.
Alpha Boilers
This boiler brand received an average customer score, and a poor reliability score overall. Engineers found the build quality to be poor in relation to the rest of the market, and wouldn’t recommend them to customers.
Alpha boilers are available to purchase with a two, three, five or seven-year warranty, and are produced in combination, system or regular variants.
Baxi Boilers
The lowest scoring boiler brand on the Which? Survey, Baxi boilers scored low when it came to both reliability and customer satisfaction. Though heating engineers did state that Baxi boiler spare parts were easy to source and the boilers themselves were easy to fix, they wouldn’t recommend the brand to customers because of the build quality.
The range of regular, system and combination Baxi Boilers comes with either a two, five or ten-year warranty.
For those customers shopping around for a new boiler, we’d recommend investing in a Worcester Bosch or Vaillant boiler. Based off the results of the Which? Survey, you’d be going for the most reliable and well-regarded boiler brands on the market according to both customers and professional heating engineers.
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