If you are agonising over which boiler brand you should choose, this is the guide for you. We will compare and contrast all the top brands to help you choose the right boiler brand to suit your property and your budget. You will learn all about the best boiler brands, how they compare, and which offer the best value for money.
Buying a new boiler is one of the most expensive household costs you will incur. A standard combi boiler will cost you in the region of £2,000 – £3,000 and there are a lot of options out there to choose from. If you need an oil boiler, the costs will likely be even higher.
If you are spending this much money, you want to spend it wisely and it is important that you choose the right boiler brand that offers the best value for money. But how can you be sure?
In this guide, we will outline the best boiler brands for you comparing all the top brands and even making recommendations if you need an oil-powered boiler. Once you have finished reading our guide, you should be well placed to choose the right boiler for you.
Best Boiler Brands: How this Guide Works
Most boiler manufacturers make a range of combi, regular and system boilers that are powered by either gas or LPG. Not all brands make oil-powered boilers.
That’s why in the main section of this article, we will focus on comparing the best brands that make gas and LPG boilers.
If you need an oil-powered boiler, scroll down towards the bottom of the article where you will find a list of the top three recommended oil-powered boiler brands.
RELATED READING: The best new boiler deals you can get now
What are the best boilers brands to buy?
We have been researching the best boiler brands and talking with a range of heating and gas engineers who know more about boilers than you could possibly imagine. We have taken their feedback on all the top brands and combined it with user feedback to create a definitive list of the top boiler brands on the market in the UK right now.
Here is the rundown of the top 8 gas and LPG boiler manufacturers this research has created:
1. Worcester Bosch
Our number one recommendation is probably the best-known boiler brand on our list. Worcester Bosch are considered by a lot of experts to be the best boiler brand available and this is a viewpoint that our experts would concur with.
Worcester Bosch offer a wide range of boilers including:
- Combi
- System
- Regular
- Oil
Models such as the CDI and a Greenstar 25I/30I have proved to be a big success for Worcester Bosch and can found in many homes large and small all over the UK.
A typical Worcester Bosch warranty ranges in duration from 5-10 years depending on which model you buy.This is an extremely competitive warranty length and shows the confidence Worcester Bosch has in the quality of their products.
It is also possible to extend your Worcester Bosch warranty if you buy certain other Worcester branded products to use with your new boiler. For example, if you add a Worcester Bosch system filter, the companywill add on a further year’s warranty to whatever the standard offer is.
How does it compare on price?
If you have heard of Worcester Bosch before, the chances are you know it had a reputation for being at the more expensive end of the market, especially in comparison to the likes of Baxi and Vaillant.
But this is emphatically no longer the case. An example of this is the Worcester Bosch Greenstar I range which starts from as little as £1,770.
RELATED READING: Worcester Greenstar RI Boiler Review + Buying Guide
You can save even more too if you buy your new boiler though an online boiler installer like Heatable. They will offer you a quote in moments. All you have to do is fill out a form. They offer competitive installation prices too which means you can get a high-quality new Worcester Bosch boiler installed at rock-bottom prices.
You can check out their prices, by using their online boiler price calculator. It takes around 90 seconds, and no personal details are needed to get your price.
2. Viessmann Boilers
The reputation for German engineering is well-known and Viessmann brings this high-quality and reliability to the boiler market. They are also the biggest boiler manufacturer in Europe which tell you everything you need to know about their reputation on the continent.
Viessmann boilers are unbelievably efficient and have a proven reputation for lasting longer than their rivals that our expert advisors agreed with. Indeed, Viessmann boilers have won a Which Best Buy boilers award for exactly that.
If you want an entry-level Viessmann boiler, look no further than the Vitodens 050-W, an outstanding boiler available at an unbelievable price. Another great option is the Vitodens 100-W which experts agree is one of the best combi boilers on the market.
How does it compare on price?
A Viessmann Vitodens 050-W boiler starts at around £1,670 with HEATABLE. The Vitodens higher-end 100-W is an even better bargain. On Heatable, they have just reduced the price and this boiler is now available for just £2,295.
Both of these superb boilers come with a huge 10-year warranty, which shows how much confidence Viessmann and Heatable have in their quality. Heatable will also guarantee to have your new Viessmann boiler installed the very next day if you buy it through them.
For those interested in boilers on finance, Heatable also offers 2 years 0% APR on the 100-W model.
3. Ideal Boilers
Ideal Boilers are a British boiler manufacturer that have grown from the ground up over the past ten years and now sell more than 10,000 boilers a year. Despite their relative youth, Ideal Boilers have a great reputation for quality engineering and long-lives.
They have a very simple warranty programme that lets any customer choose how long they want to cover their boiler for. Plans include:
- Ideal Logic – 2 years cover
- Ideal Logic Plus – 2 years cover
- Ideal Vogue – 10 years cover if fitted with an Ideal system filter too.
How does it compare on price?
Ideal Boilers are a great choice if you are looking for value for money because, despite their reputation as a premium brand, they are generally more mid-range on price.
If you get a local gas engineer to install your independently-installed Ideal boiler, you will find it comes in around 10-15% cheaper than a Worcester Bosch model.
If you use an online installation company like Heatable, it will work out about the same because they have Worcester Bosch boilers available at such competitive prices. But an Ideal boiler is still worth considering.
4. Vaillant
Vaillant is another German boiler manufacturer that sells in large numbers on the continent and has a reputation for both reliability and customer service.
The Vaillant EcoTec range has been its most successful range here in the UK selling is sizable numbers. If you choose a Vaillant boiler, your purchase is backed up with a great service team and as long as your boiler is under warranty, getting it fixed by a qualified engineer is rarely a problem.
Vaillant offer impressive warranties too with all their products coming with either a 2, 3 or 5-year warranty as standard.
How does it compare on price?
Typically, you can expect a Vaillant Boiler to be priced on a par with the likes of Worcester Bosch, Ideal Boilers and Baxi’s equivalent products. They are not out of price in that bracket, but for all-round performance, a Worcester Bosch boiler definitely offers more.
5. Baxi
Baxi is part of the BDR Thermea Group which is one of Europe’s largest boiler manufacturers. It manufacturers many of its products at its four UK bases and offers a wide range of boilers including combi, regular, and system boilers.
In terms of the quality of its products, Baxi sits in the same area as the likes of Worcester Bosch, Ideal, and Valliant. It deserves its place at that level although the majority of our experts felt that their products didn’t offer as much quality as those rivals.
How does it compare on price?
This perception is perhaps recognized in the pricing level for Baxi boilers. Typically, it will slightly undercut equivalent boilers in the Worcester Bosch if you get them installed locally.
But the savings you can make on a Worcester Bosch boiler through Heatable definitely means they offer better value for money.
6. Alpha Boilers
Alpha boilers are a great budget boiler option and very popular with landlords. Their boilers are well made and rooted in Italian design. They employ a stainless steel heat exchanger as standard and offer impressive warranties that cover all parts and labour costs.
Our experts recommend them for landlords largely thanks to their reliability and impressive after-sales service.
The only downside to Alpha boilers is the price. While they appear like a low-cost option, they tend to need special installation support and that can push the price up.
Fortunately, Heatable is able to install Alpha Boilers are prices that are comparable with other brands. They can even offer next-day installation too.
How does it compare on price?
The most popular Alpha boiler model is the Alpha E-Tec which is priced at a ridiculously low price. If you buy it through Heatable you will get an exclusive 10-year warranty included too, which landlords will love.
To get a quote, simply fill out the online form on the Heatable website. No personal information is needed and you will be able to see how much an Alpha boiler and other manufacturers will cost in moments.
7. Potterton
Potterton is a brand which doesn’t have the recognition or reputation of many of the others on this list. But talk to a heating engineer, as we have, and you find their boilers are very highly rated.
The reason for this simple. A Potterton boiler is a well-built bit of kit that has been designed to last. And for the most part, they do.
But in the past few years, Potterton have begun to manufacturer cheaper boilers and the quality of these can be more mixed. Indeed, the company’s decision to reduce its standard warranties to just 2 years sends out a very worrying message.
This is one of the reasons why these days engineers are more reluctant to install Potterton boilers and will tend to opt for brands higher up this list that typically offer better value for money.
How does it compare on price?
These days, Potterton boilers tend to be priced just below the likes of Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal and Baxi. But because all of these brands have a stronger current reputation and generally offer better value for money, it is these brands rather than Potterton that experts tend to recommend. And we would agree with this at the moment.
8. Glow Worm
Glow-Worm are an unashamedly cheap and cheerful boiler brand that are popular with those renovating a property before selling it on or doing somewhere up on a budget.
A Glow-Worm boiler will not offer you’re the reliability or high build quality of the likes of Worcester Bosch. They are a short-term affordable boiler and this is reflected in their warranties which are typically 2 years long and never more than five years.
If that’s what you need and the price is your main determining factor, Glow-Worm will do a job for you. But if you want a quality boiler that will last, there is much better value for money out there.
How does it compare on price?
A Glow-Worm boiler is the cheapest of any manufacturer you will find on this list and are frequently reduced still further with “special offers” at local plumbing merchants. You can definitely keep your up-front costs to a minimum with a Glow-Worm boiler.
The Best Oil-powered Boiler Brands
Choosing an oil-powered boiler is a different change to a conventional one. This is because not every gas boiler manufacturer offers oil-powered boilers in their range.
The brands that our boiler experts recommend you explore if you need a new oil-powered boiler are:
- Grant – A UK-based manufacturer that specialises in oil-powered boilers.
- Worcester Bosch – High-quality and reliable oil-powered boilers.
- Vaillant – Bringing quality German manufacturing to oil-powered boilers.
Which New Boiler Should You Choose?
In this guide, we have outlined the top eight manufacturers of gas and LPG-powered boilers and compared the quality and prices of each. We have also provided a list of the top 3 oil-powered boiler manufacturers too.
So, how do you choose the right boiler for you?
Our expert heating engineers were unanimous that this had to be an individual decision based on your own personal circumstances, budget, and the property you are living in.
The main factors that they recommend you consider are:
- Price
- Reliability
- Support
- Warranty
Their consensus was that Worcester Bosch offered the best value for money overall on the basis of the quality of build, reliability, and warranty. They also recommend buying a Worcester Bosch boiler though Heatable where you can save even more money.
If you need an oil boiler, you will need to use a local fitter. You can compare up to 3 quotes for Worcester oil boilers here or look into Grant which manufacturer specialist oil-powered boilers to suit every home.