Slim redhead who suffers no fools, takes no prisoners! Read my homepage for the dirt.
Slim redhead who suffers no fools, takes no prisoners! Read my homepage for the dirt.
Member since:14.01.2003
Reviews:53
Members who trust:4
We've had our Baxi Bahama for almost 3 years. It supplies 6-7 radiators with ease and due to our very high pressure water, can supply our thermostatic shower during a washing machine fill without much compromise. Our gas bill with this machine dropped by 33% when we ditched our old cast iron hulk, and the paint's peeled off the radiators, 'cos they've never been so HOT! The dust on the pipes under the floors smelled EVER SO cooked for the first week or so. The bathroom grew by 4 feet due to the absence of the hot water tank, and the header tanks were pulled out of the loft (we have direct supply water, this may not be the case for you, especially in the South of England)
Then the gas men cut through the water main in the street, and I was the only person drawing water the day they reconnected the supply. So all the dirt went through my taps, boiler and all. Cue failure of cold water inlet flow switch. Then it blocked the hot water flow switch. Then the dirt in the 20 year old radiators blocked the central heating flow switch, not once, but twice.
On a new rad & pipes system and without the input of Laurel & Hardy in the street outside we wouldn't have had a problem, but we don't live in a perfect world, and the best we could do was get breakdown insurance. Now the radiator & pipe system have had a 4 week, £160 scrub, and since then, touch wood, no more problems. (Update: The wood didn't work (and neither does the boiler). No hot water & rads for 4 days, almost 1 year less 2 weeks since the last breakdown. Flow switches again. That's four times in three years we've been without hot water & heating for more than 2 days. See revised verdict)
The boiler unit itself is a little noisy, and I don't think you would want it in your kitchen or bathroom. Ours is in the utility. It's reasonably compact compared to the old cast iron boiler we had. The cover comes off easily, and the instruction booklet gives more information than the average householder will ever need. It's fully sealed, with a vent to the outside, so you can close the door on it. You just can't keep your 48 pints of wort on it, and of course you lose the airing cupboard, so the demijohns of elderflower will need a heating mat.
I would certainly recommend appliance insurance for owners of this appliance. Expect to pay around £90 per year for this. My plumber informed my that apart from less-sensitive flow switches (which still got blocked, in my case) product development on the Bahama has stopped, as they have superceded it.
This boiler provides hotter water and radiators than most people need. It seems efficient and is easy to use. If you're moving into a house in which this boiler is already installed, get insurance & don't worry too much. Don't think you could buy one new now, Thank goodness! My repair plumber recommended some other brand when he came. Of course.
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as a baxi engineer i know these boilers very well and unfortunately the flw switches were designed for air and not water so all the muck in the water attacks them and causes them to break down the best thing to do is to fit a filter on the return pipe to the boiler !! also i can assure you that the new baxi combis made after 2001 are very reliable and hardly ever go wrong !!
ampuk2000 08.01.2004 14:31
I have got a Baxi Combi boiler and thankfully it hasn't broken down yet.
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