Vaillant Boiler Review - ecoFIT Combi, System and Heat Only
The Valliant ecoFIT Pure Combi is a small household unit designed to fit into most standard-sized cupboards in homes and facilities where space is at a premium.
Valliant says this unit has a rear flue option, but with my experience, I think most people who buy this unit are going to opt for that. There are only so many places to put the pipes when your boiler is actually in a cupboard.
Boiler Information
This unit is available in three ranges: 25kW, 30kW, and 35kW. Physically, the units are the same size and share an ErP rating of A for both central heating and hot water. The two weaker models have an 89.0 SEDBUK SAP seasonal efficiency rating, while the top model increases this to 89.4.
In short, the models are identical in every way that matters except for their DHW flow, which is respectively 10.4, 12.2, and 14.1 l/min.
That's a smaller range than many may prefer, but there must be some limits for compact boiler units. The ecoFIT Combi's main selling point is its small size, so it's not fair to compare its flow rate options to larger units that can be placed elsewhere in a home.
Valliant advertises this boiler as suitable for 1-4 people and 1-2 bathrooms. In practice, this really means two adults and two children, without the sort of full-time use you might see from other units.
On the positive side, this unit is extremely quiet, and what little noise it makes will be dampened even further if you keep it inside a cupboard.
It also has an efficiency rating of up to 94%, which is comfortably high for boilers and well within normal ranges.
Community Views
One of the challenges of writing boiler reviews is that I can’t test out each one personally as I simply don’t have the space or need for that many boilers in my home.
What I want to do is test every unit individually for you, so that I can give you a robust, in-depth, personalized experience with each and every unit. Unfortunately, while that works with many other products, it's not practical for systems that can last a decade or more.
Since I can't personally test every unit for extended periods, I decided that the next-best process is to look at what other owners and reviewers say about this product. All reviews discussed below are accurate as of the time I wrote this article, but the sources may change over time if people add new reviews.
HomeTree considers this a solid unit overall but slightly penalized the brand for a few issues with its reliability. This led to an overall score of 80% for the ecoFIT combi system.
This is in line with comments and reviews I've seen for other Valliant products, where roughly 11% of users experience some problem with the unit or its installation. Installation problems are a little more common and can be harder to resolve when a boiler is in a cupboard, so that's worth keeping in mind.
Expert Trades was a little harsher for this unit, giving it 4/5 on build quality, ease of use, and features, but 3/5 on value for the money, for an overall score of 4/5. I found this site to be particularly informative because it had many user reviews for this product.
Reviewers here seemed to agree that the unit was not as good as Valliant's ecoTEC Plus offering, and a few cited issues with rebranding this product. Those reviewers were particularly likely to consider this unit a poor value for the money.
For some context, Valliant UK has over 8000 reviews on Trustpilot, with a composite score of 4.6/5 (about 92%). These reviews consider the company as a whole, including installation processes, customer service, and other relevant factors.
The critical note here is that multiple reviewers have placed the ecoFIT combi boiler more than 10% below the company average. That's a sharp difference for a model line and generally indicates a product that's below average in its category.
Final Thoughts on the ecoFIT Combi
Overall, I think this unit is good but could be better. Its small size is a boon for owners who have limited space to install a boiler, and it's quiet enough that it shouldn't disturb anyone in your house, but a few reliability issues and a comparatively high cost make it difficult to call this the best unit in its range.
Instead, consider some alternative boilers to see if any of them are a better match for your needs. I would look for a slightly larger unit if you two have children over seven years old or so. They'll need more water as they continue getting older, so it's best to plan ahead for that.
If you only have two adults in your home and don't expect that to change, this unit is more likely to meet your needs.
