Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30i vs Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30Si Compact Combi Boiler – Review

07th July 2022

07th July 2022

Controls

As both boilers are built in a very similar fashion, each of their control panels has the same layout and controls. For a combi boiler, the standard controls you can expect are a switch to turn the boiler on or off, the ability to increase/decrease output, as well as a display, which will show you an error code should the boiler encounter an issue.

To have more control of your boiler, it’s important to have heating controls installed in your home, whether they’re mechanical or digital. Mechanical controls are your most basic form of boiler control, which is usually a small dial installed on a wall which can be turned to control your temperature settings. Digital controls will allow you to create heating schedules across 7 days and control your boiler.

To take full advantage of your combination boiler, Boiler Plus was introduced in 2018 to ensure that all homes have time and temperature controls installed at the minimum for their boiler. The aim of Boiler Plus is to improve the energy efficiency of homes nationwide by installing high energy-efficiency rated boilers with the appropriate controls.

For combination boilers, there are four additional requirements that will need to be met by the homeowner to be compliant with Boiler Plus. The requirements are as follows:

• Weather compensation – Water temperature is altered from the boiler based on the outdoor temperature.
• Load compensation – Water temperature is altered from the boiler based on the current room temperature.
• Smart control – A type of control that provides automation and optimisation for your boiler
• PFGHRD (Passive Flue Gas Heat Recovery Device)

If you’d like an upgrade over the conventional mechanical or digital thermostat, you could also look into smart thermostat options. Worcester Bosch offers a smart thermostat called the Worcester Wave, which is their entry into the smart thermostat marketing. With the Wave, you can control and monitor your central heating system from your smartphone, tablet or laptop, whether you’re at home or away. If you’d like to venture away from the Wave and take a look at other smart thermostat options, the Nest Learning Thermostat offers an abundance of additional features, including self-learning from your heating routine and the times you’re home or away.

Each Hometree boiler installation comes with a Honeywell T6 Lyric smart thermostat at no additional cost

In this category, it’s almost impossible to compare each of the boiler’s control panels due to their simple and easy-to-use layouts, as well as how similar they are to each other. Since both boilers are so similar, each boiler gets a point – making it a draw at 1-1.

07th July 2022

Size

When comparing the two boilers, the Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30Si is the smaller and more compact version of the 30i boiler. The 30i measures 710mm x 400mm x 330mm, and the 30Si comes in at 690mm x 390mm x 280mm. If space is an issue, the 30Si is easily the best choice since it can fit into any standard-size kitchen cupboard. The 30i, however, isn’t suitable for kitchen cupboards and is probably better off in a utility cupboard or on the wall if you can find a space in your kitchen. It’s a point to the 30Si, 2-1.

Energy Efficiency

Due to advances in technology and innovation around energy products, the efficiency of products such as boilers has dramatically improved. The energy efficiency rating of the Worcester 30i is a whopping 93%, while the 30Si has the leg up at 94%. Both of these boilers offer an A-grade for energy efficiency, which means you can expect to not only reduce your carbon footprint but also make a saving on your energy bills.

Who’s behind the boiler energy ratings? The ErP (Energy-related Product) directive, which tests and improves new energy products before they’d sold and installed by engineers. The ErP directive was introduced in 2015 and has the power to stop the sale of certain products if they do not pass specific criteria. The ErP’s primary goal is to reduce the amount of carbon emissions produced by homes and to help you save money on energy.

Seeing as both boilers have been rated an A-grade overall, and the difference between the boilers’ energy efficiency is 1%, it’s an incredibly close contest. The Worcester 30Si gains a point and remains in the lead due to its slightly higher energy efficiency. Will the Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30i catch up? Let’s find out in the next round. 3 – 1 to the 30Si.

Warranty

The standard warranty for each Worcester Bosch Greenstar boiler is 5 years. If you’d like to extend your warranty, you can extend your warranty by a further 5 years by having your boiler installed by a Worcester Accredited Installer. At Hometree, we offer extended 5-year warranties, for free, with each of our boilers, including our range of Worcester Bosch products. We also offer 10-year warranties for an extra charge.

Since both boilers offer the same warranty, it’s a point to each boiler. The 30Si remains in the lead and it looks like we already have a winner! Let’s see how the 30i performs in the next round. It’s 4-2 to the 30Si.

07th July 2022