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“Not the quality product I'd expected. ”

written by Peggyworldtraveller on 09/08/2016

I had a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30kw SI compact combi boiler put in last summer. It's all right, but not as quiet as I had been told it would be. The first time it fired up I thought there was a plane going overhead.

One thing I wanted was to be able to switch off the pre-heat function as there is no point in having it fire up to keep the water hot if I'm away - I work in another country. But when the pre-heat is switched off for a while and then back on, it takes forever and a massive waste of water for it to warm up! This rather eliminates the advantage of having pre-heated water, or indeed a button to switch it on and off.

I called the installer who hadn't heard about this before, and he advised me to call WB. Their Customer Service people said that it would only take about five seconds for the pre-heat to warm up the water if it had been switched off, but that's not true. It takes much, much longer than that. In spite of turning the pre-heat back on the moment I come through the door and giving it several hours before I need it, the tap still has to run for several minutes before I have hot water. What's the point of water pre-heat, then?

The pre-heat is all right at other times, but I can't switch it off because any savings I make by not having it fire up all the time are swallowed by the amount of water wasted to get it hot again.

My old Baxi boiler was quiet, and after switching the pre-heat back on, given a few minutes to fire up the pre-heat, it would deliver hot water almost immediately the tap was turned on. I really wish I'd treated my Baxi better and had it serviced - serves me right, I suppose.

Worcester Bosch have a reputation built on clever marketing and a lot of hype. I fell for it. Make sure you don't.