Boiler brands compared

The main boiler brands fitted in UK homes are Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal, Baxi and Viessmann, and they sell several ranges each at different prices. The range you choose matters more to the price and the warranty than the badge on the front. We price four of these makes today, and each has its own page below, so you can see what a model costs fitted before you ask for a quote.

How to choose between boiler brands

Start with the home, not the brand. A combi suits one or two bathrooms, and a system boiler suits a busy household with more. Once you know the type, the choice is between ranges: entry ranges cost the least and carry shorter warranties, mid-range ranges are the usual pick, and the top ranges carry the longest warranties and the highest prices.

Three things separate one of the boiler brands from another in practice.

• The warranty. Every big manufacturer offers a long warranty on its better ranges, but it usually depends on registering the boiler, using an approved installer and having it serviced every year.
• The installer. A boiler is only as good as its fitting, and many makers train and approve installers. A local Gas Safe engineer who fits a make every week will know its quirks.
• Parts and support. The biggest names have the widest network of engineers who can repair them, which counts when a boiler fails in January.

Price is the fourth factor, and it is where our combi boiler prices page helps: every model we cover is shown fitted, including VAT.

Questions to ask about any boiler brand

A brand name tells you less than the answers to a few plain questions. Put them to every installer, whatever the make:

1. Which range and which output are you quoting, and why that one for my home?
2. How long is the warranty, and what do I have to do to keep it, such as registering the boiler and servicing it every year?
3. Is the warranty from the manufacturer, or from your own company?
4. Which engineers will fit it, and are they approved by the manufacturer?
5. What happens if the boiler fails in the first winter?

The answers show how much support sits behind the price. A cheaper quote with a thin warranty can cost more over ten years than a dearer one with a long warranty and a servicing plan.

Boiler brands and their warranties

The table shows the standard and extended warranty lengths published for the ranges we cover, as reported by Which? and collected by greatbritishenergy.com. The extended figure normally needs the boiler to be registered and serviced, so ask your installer what applies to your quote.

Make	Range	Standard / extended warranty, years
Worcester Bosch	Greenstar 1000	5 / 5
Worcester Bosch	Greenstar 4000	7 / 10
Worcester Bosch	Greenstar 8000	8 / 12
Vaillant	ecoFIT pure	2 / 10
Vaillant	ecoTEC pro	5 / 10
Vaillant	ecoTEC plus	5 / 10
Ideal	i2	5 / 5
Ideal	Logic	7 / 7
Ideal	Logic Max	10 / 10
Ideal	Vogue Max	12 / 12
Viessmann	Vitodens 050-W	7 / 10
Viessmann	Vitodens 100-W	7 / 12

Worcester Bosch also sells a range between the 1000 and the 4000, and it carries a standard and extended warranty of the same length. The pattern is that a higher range buys a longer warranty. It also shows why comparing makes by badge alone misleads: an Ideal range can carry a longer standard warranty than a Vaillant one, while a Vaillant boiler can match it once extended.

Worcester Bosch

Worcester Bosch’s Greenstar ranges run from the entry 1000 to the top 8000. The Greenstar 4000 is the middle of the range and the one Boxt labels its most popular. Our Worcester Bosch boilers guide goes through the ranges, and our Worcester Bosch Greenstar 4000 page shows what that model costs fitted.

Vaillant

Vaillant sells the ecoFIT pure, ecoTEC pro and ecoTEC plus, and its boilers cost more than the equivalent Worcester Bosch or Ideal range on the figures we have. Our guide to Vaillant boilers goes through the ranges, and our Vaillant ecoTEC Plus page shows the price fitted. If your boiler shows a code, see Vaillant F22 and Vaillant F28.

Ideal

Ideal’s ranges climb from the i2 and Logic to the Logic Max and Vogue Max, and the top ranges carry some of the longest warranties in the table. Our Ideal boilers guide covers the ranges, our Ideal Logic Max page shows its price fitted, and our guides to Ideal F1 and Ideal L2 cover its commonest fault codes.

Viessmann

Viessmann is less common than the other three, and it is known for its stainless steel heat exchanger. Our Viessmann boilers guide covers the ranges, and our Viessmann Vitodens 100-W page shows what the model costs fitted.

How long boiler brands last

Boxt’s Worcester Bosch page says its boilers typically last between ten and fifteen years, and that is a fair guide for the other big makes too, provided the boiler is fitted well and serviced. A longer warranty doesn’t make a boiler last longer. It reduces what you pay if something goes wrong in the early years, which is why the conditions matter.

What an online installer offers

Retailers that fit boilers to a fixed price usually offer a short list of boiler brands. Boxt, for example, installs Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal and Navien, and says Baxi may appear among its instant matches. A local installer will often fit more makes than that, and they can quote you on a make an online service doesn’t list.

Boiler brands we haven’t priced yet

Baxi, Glow-worm, Potterton, Vokera and others are popular, and we are adding them. We have not published a price for them yet, because we don’t want to quote a figure we can’t source. When we do, they will appear on the combi boiler models page.

How to compare quotes across makes

Ask each installer for the same thing across the boiler brands you are weighing up: the make, the range, the output, the warranty length with its conditions, and what the fitting price includes. Put the quotes side by side with our compare tool, and use the quote checker to see what each one leaves out. When you are ready, get free quotes from local Gas Safe installers.

Sources: Which? warranty and price data via greatbritishenergy.com, and the installer pages of Boxt, read on 3 November. Check warranty terms with the installer before you agree.