The old Ri had done 17 years and its main heat exchanger had failed, which is the one repair that rarely adds up on a boiler that age. A new Greenstar Ri went into the same kitchen cupboard, with a Worcester magnetic filter on the return and the guarantee registered for ten years.
A Worcester Greenstar Ri 18kW heat-only boiler in a Solihull kitchen cupboard had reached 17 years old and its main heat exchanger had failed. That is the most expensive part in the boiler, and on an appliance of that age a repair rarely makes sense against a new one with a ten-year guarantee, so the customer chose to replace it. We removed the old boiler and flue, fitted a new Worcester Greenstar Ri ErP 18kW into the same cupboard, fitted a new Worcester magnetic filter on the return by the hot water cylinder, cleaned and dosed the system, commissioned the boiler and registered it with Worcester Bosch for a 10-year manufacturer guarantee.
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This was a Greenstar Ri, Worcester's heat-only boiler, working with a hot water cylinder, and it had done 17 years in a kitchen cupboard. The main heat exchanger had failed. On a boiler of that age it is the one fault where we will almost always say replace rather than repair: the part is the most expensive in the boiler, fitting it is a full strip-down, and you are left with a 17-year-old appliance around a new heart. Against that, a new Greenstar Ri comes with a ten-year manufacturer guarantee. We put both prices in front of the customer and they chose the new boiler.
That is not the answer for every Worcester. Two of the jobs on our Worcester repair page were boilers other engineers had condemned that needed a gasket, an electrode or a pair of hinge clips. The difference here was the part that had failed and the age of everything around it.
Like for like: heat-only boiler out, heat-only boiler in, same cupboard, same cylinder, so no conversion work and no disruption beyond the day. Dust sheets down, the old boiler and flue removed, the new Greenstar Ri ErP 18kW fitted and connected with a new flue, and the system cleaned and dosed with inhibitor, which is a condition of the guarantee and is included in every installation we do.
We also fitted a new Worcester magnetic filter on the return pipe by the hot water cylinder, the fifth photo. On a system that has run for 17 years there is sludge in the pipework whatever you do on the day, and the filter is what stops it reaching the new heat exchanger. It gets emptied at each annual service.
Gas rate and combustion checked on the analyser, the system pressure set, the heating and hot water run and tested, and the customer shown the controls. The boiler was then registered with Worcester Bosch for its 10-year manufacturer guarantee, in the customer's name, on the day. Registration is the step that gets skipped most often and the one that matters most years later.
Boiler replacements are quoted from a survey, and the price covers the boiler, flue, magnetic filter, system clean and chemicals, commissioning and guarantee registration. Our published starting prices are on the boiler installation page, and our new boiler cost guide explains what moves the price up or down.
NoneWhen the failed part is a major one, the boiler is old, and the repair price is a large share of a replacement with a long guarantee. A failed main heat exchanger on a 17-year-old boiler is the clearest case. A gasket, an electrode or a clip on a ten-year-old Worcester is the opposite case, and we have written up several of those. We always show both prices.
Worcester's heat-only boiler, also called a regular or conventional boiler. It heats the radiators and a separate hot water cylinder rather than heating tap water on demand like a combi. Replacing one like for like keeps the cylinder and the existing pipework, which makes it a one-day job.
An old system carries magnetite sludge in its pipework and radiators, and a new heat exchanger has narrow waterways that sludge will block. The filter sits on the return pipe and catches it before it reaches the boiler. Most manufacturers, Worcester included, expect one to be fitted for the guarantee to stand.
No. It has to be registered with the manufacturer after installation, and it depends on the system having been cleaned and dosed with inhibitor and on the boiler being serviced every year. We register it for you on the day and give you the details.
Job attended and photographed by our engineers, September 2026. Written up by Saeed Iqbal, the engineer who leads Synergy Gas & Plumbing (Gas Safe registered 594385). More recent jobs in the area are on our Solihull page, and every job we write up is on the case studies index.
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Read the case studyWe put the repair price and the replacement price side by side. New boilers from £1,999 fitted, with the guarantee registered on the day.
