Worst Boilers Found On The Boiler Grant / Boiler Scrappage Scheme
The Boiler Grant / Scrappage Scheme
As you will all know, the Free/ Discounted Boiler Grant Scheme has been live since April 2013 and this fantastic scheme was set up to help Low Income Households to renew their old boilers cheaply or even free .
There have been probably hundreds of thousands of old boilers exchanged on this scheme and in many cases , they would have been replaced at no cost to the customer.
This incentive was necessary otherwise many people in fuel poverty would have to struggle on with old and costly boilers as they would not have the funds to replace.
At time of writing ( Jan 2021) all applicants for mains gas properties need to pay a contribution starting from around £499 to receive a new boiler replacement.
LPG and Mains gas are still free but rumours are that this will be coming to an end also in the near future.
Dreadful Boilers
I have been working on this scheme for nearly 8 years and have found that there have been some truly awful boiler models in existence which do need putting out of their misery.
The only saving grace is that they have kept both the lead generators and installers very busy over this period and do deserve some recognition ( and perhaps undying gratitude) for continuously putting bread on the table for a lot of people in the industry.
Star Player – Ideal Isar
This boiler deserves a special mention in particular. I do think the Ideal Isar was designed especially to keep thousands in the boiler repair industry in continuous employment.
This has certainly helped to keep engineers busy with continual repairs to the circuit boards as well as leaking from the casing and being generally unreliable.
Over 90% of Ideal Isar owners have been very unhappy with this model and are glad to see the back of it.
Rogues Gallery
Lets see if anyone is surprised! 🙂
All the following boilers are repeat offenders when it comes to being faulty and they seem to crop up time after time. They are all bottom of the market boilers with the expected performance of a budget boiler.
- Ideal Isar – As previously mentioned, this model is by far the winner of worst boiler encountered with nearly every one being faulty.
A square box of S***E Please note – I did have one client say that his had never given him a problem in 10 years!
- Heatline – Another £400 boiler that is favourite of landlords who have not heard of the saying “Buy cheap , Buy twice! “.
I have not heard anything good about this one from anyone.
- Halstead – A B & Q favourite that is now deleted I believe. I wonder why!
- Biasi – Cheap as chips and nearly always faulty.
- Ferrolli Optimax –Nearly everyone I have seen has been leaking from the right hand side. Aged from 4 years old too.
· The Ideal Logic.-The new Ideal Logics are also very over rated IMHO.
I have seen a few 5 yr old leaking too.
They do come with a 7 year warranty and although they look nice, I would be very wary.
The stigma of its predecessor is still very much attached.
If I was an installer I would not be fitting those even with the lure of a high rebate.
Summary
Reading the above comments does make you wonder how these particular models passed quality control! lol
To sum up, this excellent scheme has helped to remove a lot of these boilers from operation and so ensuring that Low Income Households have adequate stress free heating and hot water. If you have any sense you will keep away from buying any of the above if they are still available.
I’m sure my readers will all know of others who deserve a mention. Please leave a comment if you would like to add your choice.