GET A COMPETITIVE QUOTE
Please enter your postcode below to get a free, no obligation, personalised quotation from PlumbProud
Get a competitive quote on the next heat only boiler you choose for your home
A heat only boiler (sometimes called a conventional boiler) is the core of the central heating system in millions of home across the UK.
Designed to meet higher-than-average and simultaneous demand for hot water and heating within larger households, there are two types of heat only boilers – an open vent system and a sealed system.
Open vent heat only boilers
Open vented heat only boilers require two tanks to operate – a feed and expansion tank to be at the highest point of your heating system and a hot water cylinder.
There’s a heat exchanger inside the hot water cylinder which heats up the water present in it. When water heats up, it expands and excess water is sent via the open vent pipe to the feed and expansion tank (sometimes called the cold water tank).
When the water cools down, the feed and expansion tank then distributes the excess water back into the hot water tank. If water levels begin to run low, the float valve and supply pipe draw in the amount of water required from the mains feeding it into the cold water tank.
If you wish to swap your old open vent boiler for a new one and keep your existing hot water tank and feed and expansion tank, that should be absolutely fine. There may be a risk that a newer boiler might not be suitable for very old radiators but your PlumbProud engineer will advice
Sealed heat only boilers
Sealed heating systems don’t require a feed and expansion tank – they use an expansion vessel and this receives the excess water instead.
If there is too much pressure in the hot water tank (sometimes called the hot water storage cylinder), a pressure relief valve lets surplus water out. Sealed systems draw in water from the mains via a filling loop.
Sealed boilers can be connected to system boilers and combi boilers as well as to a heat only boiler. With an open vent system, you must connect to it a heat only boiler. With a sealed boiler, you also don’t require a cold water storage tank which will free up a lot of loft space.
In most cases, replacing your current heat only boiler with a new one (or with a combi boiler or a system boiler) should be absolutely fine. It’s best to get a PlumbProud engineer around however beforehand because switching to a new system may lead to leaking in pipework and older radiator systems and there may be compatibility issues between a new boiler and the rest of your central heating system.
Get a quote on your new heat only boiler with PlumbProud
The reason why so many households still resist the switch to much more popular combi boilers is that heat only boilers supply hot water and heating around larger properties very well and efficiently. They cope exceptionally well with period of high demand for hot water.
We stock and install all leading brands of heat only boilers into customers’ homes. When replacing a heat only boiler with a new one however, extra care must be taken to see that your pipes and radiators can cope with increased water pressure of a proposed replacement. Get a PlumbProud engineer around and they’ll be able to fully advise you.
To get a free quote on a heat only boiler for your home, please call us on 01604 343053 or enter your postcode into one of the response forms on this page and click “SEND”.
Top 10 boilers
1. Vaillant ecoTEC Plus 415
Our score rating: 96.51%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
15 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
320 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,900
2. Vaillant ecoTEC Plus 418
Our score rating: 95.45%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
18 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
316 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £2,000
3. Vaillant ecoFIT Pure 412
Our score rating: 94.82%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
12 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
295 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,800
4. Vaillant ecoTEC Plus 424
Our score rating: 94.77%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
24 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
320 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £2,100
5. Vaillant ecoFIT Pure 415
Our score rating: 94.23%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
15 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
295 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,800
6. Vaillant ecoTEC Plus 430
Our score rating: 94.23%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
30 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
320 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £2,100
7. Worcester Bosch Greenstar Ri 12Ri
Our score rating: 94.18%
Efficiency rating
92%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
12 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
390 mm
Depth
270 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,900
8. Worcester Bosch Greenstar Ri 15Ri
Our score rating: 93.93%
Efficiency rating
92%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
15 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
390 mm
Depth
270 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,900
9. Worcester Bosch Greenstar Ri 18Ri
Our score rating: 93.26%
Efficiency rating
92%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
18 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
390 mm
Depth
270 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,900
10. Vaillant ecoFIT Pure 418
Our score rating: 93.11%
Efficiency rating
94%
Band rating
A
Output in kW
18 kW
Height
600 mm
Width
375 mm
Depth
295 mm
Mounting
Wall
Fuel
Gas
ERP Rating
A
Supply and installation around £1,900
Heat only boiler FAQ
The prices shown next to each heat only boiler are indicative prices for standard, non-complex installations. By standard and non-complex, we mean replacing your current boiler with a new one in the same location. In those cases, the actual price we charge most customers is within 5% either way of the price we show on your website.
For complex installations, we will often need longer to complete the job and we may also need to buy in extra components and piping. In these cases, please consider the price as a base price.
On all installations however, you’ll receive a fixed price quote from an engineer so there are never any hidden nasty surprises with PlumbProud pricing.
There are hundreds of boilers available for homeowners to buy in the UK so where do you start? That was the idea behind the PlumbProud boiler scoring system.
We’ve spoken with 10,000s of homeowners since we launched back in 2013 and, from those conversations, we ranked in order of importance what the British public want from boilers like competitive pricing, generous warranties, how people felt about individual boiler brands, and so on.
We then compared the specs of each boiler against every other boiler and against our clients’ wishlists. That’s how the scores are worked out next to each boiler.
No boiler has ever achieved a 100% score although a few have come close. A good way to think about our ratings is that the closer a boiler is to 100%, the closer it is to being the perfect boiler for Britain.
You may often hear heat only boilers referred to as conventional boilers, regular boilers, or open vent boilers.
Yes. We are a national installer with a local focus and we can install in all areas of mainland Britain.
We’re pleased to be able to offer our customers a range of payment options including paying for their new boiler installation in monthly instalments.
Get a quote on a brand new heat only boiler from PlumbProud
With a combi boiler, water pressure often drops if two or more people want hot water at the same time. Heat only boilers perform much better supplying hot water to multiple taps within multiple bathrooms simultaneously. That’s why many owners of larger properties would never consider switching away from a heat only boiler to combi boilers or system boilers.
We’d appreciate the opportunity to come around to your home to find out what you want and address any questions or concerns you have. Our engineer will share their knowledge and experience with you.
To find out more about our range of heat only boilers and which one would be right for your home, please call us on 01604 343053 or enter your postcode into one of the response forms on this page and click “SEND”.
