Can anyone recommend a decent external oil fired combi boiler?

A question about : Can anyone recommend a decent external oil fired combi boiler?

Hi all,

I moved into this house less than 3 years ago. It was refurbished and with new boiler/tank (external, oil fired) Great! I thought but i have been plagued with problems. Current problem is the Worcester
Greenstar Heatslave. It appears to have always had leaks judging from the inside. I have had it service 3 times whilst living here, most recently less than 4 weeks ago. Today it wouldn't fire up. Checking it out found the fuse had shut it off and would not reset. Called engineer who serviced it. It was FULL of water and the condensation had migrated up and into the control panel, shorting the system.
Now I suspect, this boiler has been leaking since said engineer serviced it but I cannot prove. But the insides are a mess (corrosion/muck, insulation not holding up), it still has a small leak but everything is corroded, so hard to remove nuts, etc. During the very cold winter 2 years ago, it could not keep the house even nearly warm. Should I just consider this a lost cause and replace it with something better? Can anyone recommend something better and not a Heatslave (haha). Needs to be externa and oill. What costs am I looking at??? Thank you dears!

Best answers:

• I would suggest a Grant.
  Can u not change over to an unvented cylinder though as that would most likely be a better long term option
• Thank you Mark for replying.......and recommending a boiler.
  The property was refurbished completely and the new boiler installed outside. Without re-doing the kitchen (which is already v. small) there is really no place for a boiler so I think I'm stuck with the situation. I shall mark down your recommendation. Cheers
• As a company we always recommend Grant or Worcester as the best oil boilers on the market.
  From what you have said it's seams as though the installation is at fault , not the boiler itself - you should not be getting moisture from the condensate back into the boiler, this denotes not enough fall on the pipe. Also if the boiler is not keeping you warm enough it sounds like it's undersized for your property.
  It should still be under warranty with Worcester - if an accredited installer installed it - try giving them a ring and see what they say? They have very good customer service.
  You should not be having these problems with a three year old boiler and I am sure Worcester would want to know about it.
• Also you have not said if you have had to represurise the boiler or not. If the water was coming from the boiler you would have to be re-pressurising otherwise the boiler would not fire.
  If you have not had to do this the water is obviously coming from else where, which leads back to an installation problem.
• It would seem the boiler has not been installed properly. Have you asked Worcester to come and look at it?
  Worcester oil boilers are the amongst the best in the market see Which report.
• You could try ringing round some local firms and see what quotes they're prepared to offer. I don't know anyone who does oil boilers - but I'm sure they are some out there that can help you out.
• If your off grid and considering a new boiler you need to look at renewable alternatives, it could be a very expensive mistake to miss out on the current rhi payments.
• Another vote for a Grant boiler! We've only had ours 4 years but no had any trouble to date.
  As another poster said I suspect your original installation was perhaps at fault but I'd still chose a Grant over a Worcester ...
  As for going down the renewables path we looked at this when we switched from LPG to oil but both the economics (even with a higher RHI then) and practicalities just didn't stack up.
• Ok you own two eco dans so are knowledgable on all aspects of renewables. And heating..... Ooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.......that's like saying some one that owns a car is an expert on cars, some one that owns a house in a property expert etc etc etc.
  Internet 'experts' are the funniest!
• Ahhh so it turns out that captainhindsight in fact sells renewable solutions - what a surprise therefore that his view on them is so balanced!!!
• I sell a lot of things, it doesn't mean I can't have a balanced view on things
  .
  I also sell milk, does that mean I have an unbalanced view on different dairy products??lol.
  I think every one on here can see how bitter you are about being wrong and your opinions have no relevance