... After a few carefully crafted questions the plumber devised our family needs and pointed us towards the Wall mounted Ravenheat RSF 820/20 boiler at £1200 including fitting. For someone who had already forked out one third of that figure on radiators that seemed a little steep. I told him ... Read review
Advantages: Safety features and low fuel costs and healthy4U Disadvantages: Messy installation
...us towards the Wall mounted Ravenheat RSF 820/20 boiler at £1200 including fitting. For someone who had already forked out one third of that figure on radiators that seemed a little steep. I told him we would think about it, and suffer the 'evil presence' a little while longer.
Months later the plumber rang back, "ello" he said, "guess what ? Ravenheat have developed a new SUPER combi, and that has resulted in the combi ... ...I rifled, he explained the Ravenheat combi would not need relighting constantly so I would have instant hot water every time, from a bowlful to a bath. He continued that this boiler didn't use the immersion heater because it boiled water in a coil rather than a tank which was more economical and efficient to run on the basis that you only heated up the amount of water you used. In addition, the cost of heating would halve the plumber boasted. I was ... more
Since moving into our house we have endured an evil, cantankerous and mischievous household item, loosely termed as a central heating boiler. We had other names for it !!
After years of deep seated grief and mal intent, it started to play up even more than usual by losing ignition. A work colleague who formerly worked for British Gas maintenance cleaned every tube on the contraption, but warned us if it went again to dump it. We suffered the indignation for another year until in exasperation we called a plumber for a quote.
The plumber was a family friend, who said the old boiler was "knackered" - we didn't disagree- but told us we needed a "combi-boiler" judging from our 3 bed semi and 6 radiators needs. "How much will it cost" said I. After a few carefully crafted questions the plumber devised our family needs and pointed us towards the Wall mounted Ravenheat RSF 820/20 boiler at £1200 including fitting. For someone who had already forked out one third of that figure on radiators that seemed a little steep. I told him we would think about it, and suffer the 'evil presence' a little while longer.
Months later the plumber rang back, "ello" he said, "guess what ? Ravenheat have developed a new SUPER combi, and that has resulted in the combi I quoted for you, being halved. I can now do one for you for £625 including fitting. Was I still interested ?"
I took a knife from the drawer and raided the pennies jar, and as I rifled, he explained the Ravenheat combi would not need relighting constantly so I would have instant hot water every time, from a bowlful to a bath. He continued that this boiler didn't use the immersion heater because it boiled water in a coil rather than a tank which was more economical and efficient to run on the basis that you only heated up the amount of water you used. In addition, the cost of heating would halve the plumber boasted. I was sold and the pennies jar was empty.
The installation process was not clean or painless, but to be fair that was more to do with the structure of my property / central heating layout rather than the boiler itself. The plumber removed the old immersion tank from its housing downstairs, leaving me a rather spacious cupboard spare, before knocking a hole in the kitchen wall to install the flue, which would take away all the noxious gases.
The Control Panel is based on the lower area of the front facia. Simple controls are there, from left to right, such as the On-Off switch and whether you want hot water to tap only or hot water to tap and radiators. Next comes the On-Off timing system with push sensors for instant on-off usage.
After that comes the radiator heating temperature gauge, water heating temperature gauge both of which are useful in pre determining a ceiling on either hot water or radiators safety for example with young children or for economical controls. Finally there is a water pressure gauge which informs you if the water level is dropping. The dials are supported with icons and descriptions where necessary making this element much more sensible.
This product was competitively priced against its peers, came from a manufacturer who design their own products (always a positive in my estimation) and on their website at www.ravenheat.co.uk supply an online version of that ever elusive manual.
From the very first day this product did exactly what the plumber said it would, it has indeed halved my heating costs, never needed re-ignition to the pilot light, never required maintenance of any kind, and has provided heating and hot water literally on demand. In the two years since installation, I estimate this product has paid for itself compared to my previous heating costs from my old boiler, based on the fuel savings made.
The simple to use control panel, supported by icons is extremely useful, and the safety features to heating controls means fewer worries on children or pets scalding or burning themselves accidentally.
I would thoroughly recommend it.
UPDATE *******
Consultations with the Department of Trade and Industry, have led to considerations of re-engineering within the heating systems market http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/consumers/fuel_p. This has allowed Ravenheat to boast;
"Ravenheat lead the industry in design and product development. Our latest innovation is a world class first for atmospheric condensing natural gas and LPG boilers.
The CSI range are the WORLDS MOST EFFICIENT ATMOSPHERIC SEDBUK BAND 'A' BOILERS. This is due to Ravenheat's unique patented heat exchanger, which extracts every last drop of energy and converts it to useable heat." http://www.ravenheat.co.uk/breakingnews.htm
By installing a Scalewatcher-Enigma Electronic Scale Control System at installation, this provides a non-intrusive, chemical and maintenance free method of removing limescale from pipes and equipment. It can filter out harmful minerals for you, such as calcium and magnesium deposits, which is particularly useful if you live in a hard water area. Hot water from this boiler may also lengthen the lives of kitchen utilities such as kettles, by reducing limescale, which is healthier for you as well :) http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/enh/enh100.html
For a review of how harmful tap water can be for you see Andycharger's op at; Andycharger http://www.ciao.co.uk/Evian_Mineral_Water__Review_5343411
This update shows Governmental interest in fuel poverty and how it affects boilers. It also should provide an insight into water effects on your system too. As an independent consumer unlinked to the industry I hope it will provide you with some guidance too. If you have found this of use to you please rate accordingly :)
Sbanshee 22.05.2003 (14.09.2003)
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Review of Ravenheat Condensing Combi Boiler
Value for Money
Quality
Quick review of Ravenheat Condensing Combi Boiler
We have had a ravenheat boiler now for just over three years and all i can say is thank god i've got insurance with scottish gas. The boiler breaks down at least four times a year. I would have spent hundreds getting it fixed by the heating engineer that fitted it. We only had it four months the first time it broke down, that is never a good sign. If i could afford to buy another one i would take the ravenheat boiler and put it too the rubbish tip, best place for it. ...
joolsandleo 01.08.2007
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ravenheat Condensing Combi Boiler
Advantages: Long Warranty, Reliable so far, Low fuel costs, competitively priced, Flow rate, Size Disadvantages: None so far
This Review is from a non technical aspect, but from a my personal point of view.
When my boiler went last year I called a local plumber form the yellow pages and got him to come round and give me a quotation for replacing it.
Me being me I decided not to settle for just one quote but to get a second and third opinion, I was shock to see the variance on prices between boiler manufactures but what suppressed me more and more was the degree of "bitching" ... ...studied what had been said by them all and decided that each plumber was advising me on the boiler that they made the best profit from and not the best boiler for me and my circumstances which is not a good sign for the whole industry in my opinion.
After lots and lots of research I decided to go for the Revenheat CSI 150T Low nox condensing boiler which was very competitively priced with a superb flow rates and seemed to offer me long term savings ...
man4you 28.02.2007
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I bought a CS125 A Ravenheat from plumbase as they recommend them. Had it installed by a corgi bloke. Stopped working after a month phoned the guy who put it in, he was not interested, plumbase said speak to ravenheat. Great unsure what to do but i knew i had a three year warranty. spoke to manufacturer expecting to be charged or ignored. They came out the next day and fixed it, still expected a bill when the guy had finished, still no bill! Brilliant ... ...the tin but the warranty did. Mind you according to the engineer the installer wired it wrong something about pollarity. I don't care it was free, obviously I new this all the time. I Love my new boiler and the 2 years and 10 months left of the warranty, ...
jamie8907 24.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ravenheat Condensing Combi Boiler
Advantages: When it breaks down (as it often does) my gas bill is lower Disadvantages: It doesnt work
I also have a dreaded Ravenheat combi condensing boiler (85T). It was the worst purchase I ever made. Unfortunately my trusty Vaillant broke down after 15 years and we needed a new boiler quickly. At the time they were being sold at B&Q for much less than others and seemed a good deal. The saying "you get what you pay for" must have been made for Ravenheat boilers. This bane of my life has broken down numerous times in the three years I have had ... ...overheat light keeps coming on. I can usually restart it and it might keep going for half an hour and then it cuts out again. The causes might be numerous. Dodgy sensor, sticky valve, fan cutting out, PCB board etc., Who knows? Corgi engineers don't seem to. Whatever you do, do not throw your money away on Ravenheat. You will regret it. ...
Keilyn 02.04.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ravenheat Condensing Combi Boiler
Quick review of Ravenheat Condensing Combi Boiler
I have had a Ravenheat for 12 years come to replace it for condensing one now. I have been told by Bill plumber that the ravenheat energycatcher is most effient boiler you can buy why does nobody else have this magic box saves 10% more than any other boiler. Had the boiler installed still waiting for my first bill but it does what the manual says the steam going out of the pipe outside is room temperature where on the old one it was like a chuffing billy. This means all the heat is being used to warm the house. No opinion on the boiler it does the same as the last one its just a bit smaller. ...
Max1112 01.08.2008
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