Avoiding the most expensive, and the unreliable low-end products, the best overall cheap combi boilers are likely to cost in the region of £700-£1,000.
Including installation, expect (for a small property), something in the £2,000 range.
Which Cheap Combi Boiler Should You Choose
With several brands to choose from, and with each offering a handful of different ranges, it’s not exactly easy choosing a new boiler.
Some of the most popular boilers in the UK include the:
Vaillant EcoTec Baxi 600
Worcester Greenstar I
Worcester CDI Compact
Ideal Logic Plus
Potterton Titanium And, the list keeps on going…
But, with cash in hand, there are products that stand out from the crowd.
They rival boilers that cost 10-25% more, include an excellent warranty, and are from some of the most popular boiler brands in the UK.
Worcester offer one of the best.
The Best Cheap Combi Boilers
We’ve highlighted two recommendations below;
the Baxi 600 and the Ideal Logic Plus.
In terms of overall value for money thanks to a high warranty, efficiency and reliability, we think they’re the best cheap combi boilers available.
Baxi 600 In a recent article, we covered the launch of the Baxi 600, it’s one of the best compact boilers on the market.
For such a small and compact boiler, the output is impressive.
It’s available in both 24kw and 30kw models.
Here are a few highlights of our recent review.
Size Compact boilers are the in-thing right now.
House prices are increasing, and our wages aren’t; space comes at a premium.
And, even if you have plenty of space in your home, chances are you don’t want to stare at an ugly boiler on your day off.
The Baxi 600 is a cheap combi boiler that’s designed to fit into small spaces, such as a kitchen cupboard.
That’s similar in a way to the Worcester Bosch CDI Compact (but you’ll see why we’ve picked the Baxi 600 instead, in just a second).
The dimensions of the Baxi 600? Width = 390mm Height = 700mm Depth = 285mm
Warranty As we mention in most posts, including this one, you shouldn’t be buying a boiler with less than 2-years warranty.
In fact, we’d be aiming for 5-years as a minimum.
And, the Baxi 600 smashes our warranty minimum, with a huge 7-years.
That’s more than enough piece of mind. But, whilst good, it’s not as good as the 10-years you can get here with a Worcester Bosch.
Price And, here’s where it’s leaps and bounds above the equivalent Worcester Bosch; price.
Boiler prices for 24kw-30kw boilers are in the region of £800-£1,300.
But, at the lower end, there tends to be a lot of low quality brands, and unreliable boilers. That’s why we were shocked to find a brand like Baxi, selling their 24kw for around £750, and the 30kw for around £850; an absolute bargain!
Ideal Logic Plus Ideal Boilers are a UK brand, knocking out 10,000 quality units per year.
And, that popularity has snowballed, partly thanks to their hugely popular Ideal Logic Plus.
If someone’s asking for a boiler recommendation, assuming the Plus is suitable, there’s a good chance we’re going to recommend it.
And, here’s why…
Size In terms of actual KW size, and therefore output, you’re going to get more choice with the Ideal Logic Plus than the Baxi 600; 24kw, 30kw and 35kw.
And, they do have the Vogue, with a longer warranty, and 40kw output.
Physical size is comparable to the Baxi 600, making this a compact combi boiler. Dimensions are: Width = 395mm Height = 700mm Depth = 278mm So, slightly larger in terms of width.
But, slightly smaller in terms of depth.
Warranty There’s no doubt, the main target for Baxi, is Ideal and their Logic Plus.
It’s similar in size, and the warranty is identical; 7-years.
That said, Ideal Boilers do offer a 10-year warranty on their heat exchangers, and that’s one of the most expensive parts to repair.
Pricing is similar to the Baxi 600 too, with the Ideal Logic Plus 24kw costing around £750.
You should expect to pay £100-150 extra for the 30kw model.
Baxi 600 Or Ideal Logic Plus?
We trust both brands, and we’re impressed on all fronts (warranty, price, size and output).
Realistically, we’d be happy to have either installed.
What we’d do, is get multiple quotes from local installers.
But, we’d then be checking prices against Worcesters here, because in general they’re cheaper, better, and come with a longer warranty.
Typical Combi Boiler Prices [From Leading Brands]
We’d not advise heading for the cheapest combi boiler that you can find.
Why?
They’re usually very low quality, and that’s backed up by the length of the warranty; ridiculously short.
Don’t like our two recommendations above?
Let’s quickly run through what you want from your boiler, and the prices you should expect to pay.
Warranty First up, is warranty.
We’d NEVER advise installing a boiler with less than 2-years warranty.
We believe that manufacturers are telling us exactly what they think of their products, when they offer their warranty.
And, whilst 2-years is better than none, we’d advise heading for a 5-year plus warranty.
Boiler repairs aren’t cheap, and a long warranty is all that stands between you and footing the bill for these expensive repairs.
There are plenty of boilers from leading brands, with warranties in the region of 5-10 years.
The additional cost in comparison to a lower quality boiler with a short warranty, isn’t worth the saving, given warranty loss.
Brand has a huge bearing on price.
Worcester Bosch tend to be amongst the most expensive, but they’ve earnt a solid reputation.
Regardless of the type of cheap combi boiler you’re looking for, here’s the brands we’d be sticking too.
LPG & Gas For LPG & Gas combi boilers,
we’d be heading for: Baxi Ideal Boilers Vaillant Potterton Worcester Bosch Oil.
If you need a cheap oil boiler with a long warranty, high efficiency, and from a well-known brand, you’ll want to head for: Grant Worcester Bosch Warmflow Combi Boiler Installation:
What’s Cheap?
OK, so you’ve chosen your boiler.
Now what? Let’s discuss combi boiler installation prices, and what we’d consider cheap.
Well, we say cheap.
New boilers aren’t cheap, but getting a combination of the right installer, and the best value for money on your boiler purchase, can save you plenty of pound notes.
If you’d prefer the long version, we’ve created a guide to combi boiler replacement costs here, there’s even a section detailing what to expect in terms of price, when getting a new boiler from British Gas, and other national installers.
LPG & Gas Combi Boilers
A typical combi boiler will be in the 24kw-30kw range.
That’s going to power central heating and hot water for a 1-3 bedroom property.
LPG & Gas Boiler Installation Prices Expect a cheap combi boiler installation to sit in the £1,700-£2,000.
There’s a tonne of factors that affect the price including boiler size, brand, complexity of the installation, and so on.
You can get quotes from up to 3 installers here.
You’ll be able to get a straight up comparison to find the cheapest boiler deal possible.
Oil Combi Boilers Guestimating installation costs for LPG and gas boilers is relatively straight forward, even though prices can vary from boiler-to-boiler and installer-to-installer.
However, oil boiler prices vary even more.
Oil Boiler Installation Prices
A cheap combi oil boiler could be as little as £1,200.
An expensive one? Upwards of £2,000.
To help you figure out what you should expect in terms of cost, we’ve created an oil boiler cost guide here.
Where To Buy Cheap Combi Boiler Packs
You’ll be able to buy most cheap combi boilers from leading national stores offering plumbing and heating supplies.
That includes the likes of:
Screwfix
B&Q
Plumbase
Plumb Center
Grahams
However, we personally wouldn’t bother.
Your boiler installation company will get much better deals than any DIY or plumbing store offers to the average retail customer.
But, that’s not the only reason to get your installer to grab your boiler on your behalf.
If there’s a fault with a boiler that you’ve purchased outside of the installation contract, there’s a good chance they’re not going to go out their way to sort out the problem.
Their job is to install it, not to fix it. So, if the boiler is installed and there’s a problem, it’s on you to get a replacement, not them.
Alternatively, you can leave it in their hands.
There’s a good chance they have the relationship with a local plumbing merchant which means they can simply walk in and swap it for a replacement, if there are any problems.
Paying For Your Boiler
There’s probably a good reason your looking for cheap combi boilers, because you’ve had a sudden breakdown, and the replacement is an unexpected cost.
But, you don’t have to scrimp, fitting a sub-standard boiler to save £100 or so now, only for it to cost you £100s more in the long run.
More and more companies are offering combi boiler installations on finance.
So, if you don’t have the cash up front, you can compare quotes and pay for your boiler monthly.
