Glow-worm Ultimate 3 Boiler Review

Below, we have a detailed review of the Glow-worm Ultimate 3 combi boiler. It’s a 10-minute read, so if you’re looking for a quick overview, simply read the section below and bookmark this page for later. 

Alternatively, you can go ahead and get fixed prices for the most suitable combi boiler for your property, by using our boiler installation configuration tool here. 

Should You Buy The Glow-worm Ultimate Combi Boiler?

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The Glow-worm Ultimate₃ is a mid-range boiler, yet it’s exceptionally well-priced. Expect to pay £50-£300 less in comparison to other boilers. 

Its high efficiency partly thanks to its Grundfos modulating pump, means you’ll be able to save in excess of £160 per year, effectively meaning it’s going to pay for itself in the long term.

With both 30kW and 35kW units available, there’s a Glow-worm ultimate on offer for most mid-range properties. Once fitted, you’ll be able to control it via a range of heating controls available directly from Glow-worm. 

And because the brand is owned by Vaillant (a leader in the UK heating industry), many of the components used are similar in quality, or in fact, the same. 

Get prices for your Glow-worm Ultimate combi boiler here; you’ll be able to compare prices directly with other leading brands such as Worcester Bosch and Vaillant.

Our Glow-worm Ultimate₃ Boiler Review

Glow-worm Ultimate Boiler Prices

First, let’s start with how Glow-worm boiler prices stack up against other leading brands in the UK. 

Boiler Cost

Alongside Glow-worm, other top combi boiler brands include:

• Alpha
• Ideal
• Vaillant
• Viessmann
• Worcester Bosch

To get an accurate price comparison, you’ll want to check the cost of comparable boilers. In this case we’ll look at 30kW units, suitable for most average sized properties in the UK, such as a 3-bedroom semi-detached house. 

For the Glow-worm Ultimate, you’d expect to pay around £950 for the boiler only, including VAT. This doesn’t include copper fittings, a flue, or installation costs. 

If we browse a couple of online plumbing and heating merchants, we see typical prices for other leading combi boilers are as follows: 

• Alpa E-Tec: £1,000
• Ideal Logic Plus: £1,000
• Vaillant EcoTec: £1,100
• Viessmann Vitodens: £1,250
• Worcester Bosch Life: £1,200

Put simply, by buying a Glow-worm Ultimate₃, you’d be looking at savings of £50-£300 on your overall installation cost.

The Cost of Glow-worm Boiler Installation

The cost of fitting the average combi boiler sits in the £2,250-£3,000 range. That said, we fit boilers starting from £1,995. 

Typically, the Glow-worm Ultimate₃ will be at the lower end of that range. 

However, there are two things that affect the installation cost: 

• What size Glow-worm Ultimate₃ boiler you need
• The complexity of your installation

The Ultimate₃ comes in 2 different sizes; 30kW and 35kW. Expect to pay at least £100 more for the installation of a 35kW in comparison to a 30kW. 

And in terms of job complexity, dozens of variables affect the price, including but not limited to: 

• If you want your boiler fitted in a new location
• Whether or not your flue location and copper piping is up to Gas Safe standards (they’ll need to be upgraded if they’re not)
• The type of heating controls / thermostat you plan on using
• The list goes on…!

In summary, expect prices for your Glow-worm boiler installation to sit in the £2,250-£2,500 range. This is going to be a lot cheaper than the average combi boiler installation.

If you want to determine everything that affects the cost of installing a Glow-worm combi boiler, jump over to our guide covering the cost of boiler installation here. 

Alternatively, use our clickable boiler tool. You’ll get fixed prices on-screen for a range of different boilers that are suited to your property. 

Why Buy A Glow-worm Ultimate 3?

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Now we know Glow-worm boiler prices are much cheaper than the average brand, what features make them worth buying?‍

1. Efficiency

Any boiler from a leading manufacturer (Glow-worm, Vaillant, Worcester Bosch etc), is going to offer superior efficiency to an older unit, even in comparison to a boiler that’s a couple of years old. 

The Glow-worm Ultimate₃ is A-rated, operating at 89.4% efficiency. For every 1kWh of gas it consumes, it’s able to produce 0.864kWh of heat for your property. 

But how does that compare to older boilers? 

The graphic below is produced by the Energy Saving Trust. And as you can see, you’d expect even a G-rated boiler to operate at as low as 80% efficiency (0.8kWh of heat produced for every 1kWh of gas consumed). 

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That’s a big difference in gas consumption, making A-rated combi boilers like this extremely environmentally friendly. 

Realistically, it’s the energy bill savings that people are more interested in…

In the example above, the owner of an average sized bungalow would see their gas bill drop by £160-£290 per year by switching to an A-rated boiler like the Glow-worm Ultimate. With finance packages available, the energy bill savings obtained by installing a new boiler, could cover the monthly repayments!

Another consideration here is the estimated gas bill savings mentioned above are based on current gas prices. Unfortunately for us, gas prices seem to go one way, and that’s up…

This graphic from Statista is a couple of years old, but it does show the general trend, and what to expect in the future…

The energy price cap isn’t necessarily what we pay on average, but it indicates the maximum price we could pay. And as you can see, it doesn’t look good. 

By buying an energy efficient unit such as the Glow-worm Ultimate₃, you’re helping protect your household from rising energy costs.

Our clickable boiler installation tool gives both fixed prices on-screen, but also estimates how much money you could save on your energy bills. 

2. Warranty

If you've read any of our other boiler reviews, you'll know we emphasise the importance of warranty. 

Typical boiler repair costs sit in the £200-£400 range. And as soon as your boiler is out of warranty, you'll be footing the bill for all of these repairs. 

So, how much warranty do you need? You want the biggest manufacturer's warranty possible; we recommend a minimum of 5-years. 

The Glow-worm Ultimate combi boiler comes with a base warranty of 5-years. 

However, this can be extended. You'll need to use a Gas Safe registered engineer that's also registered with Glow-worm's Club Reward program, as well as fitting a Glow-worm Power Filter. 

Use our clickable form here to get quotes on combi boilers with up to 10-years warranty. 

3. Glow-worm Company Reviews

Not sure if Glow-worm is a good brand? 

Like checking out any brand you’re looking at buying a product from, having a quick browse on Trustpilot is something that’s worth doing. 

Glow-worm is one of the highest rated combi boiler manufacturers on Trustpilot with over 7,000 reviews averaging 4.4 stars. Better still? 80% of these reviews rate Glow-worm as 5-star. 

As you’ll see from the reviews, a lot reference the quality of the after-sales care Glow-worm offers. 

Why is this important? Because the after-sales care team is who you’ll be dealing with if you ever have a problem with your Glow-worm Ultimate₃ and need to exercise your warranty!

We offer a huge range of boilers at competitive prices, with a long warranty and excellent after-sales care. Use our clickable tool here to get your fixed price. 

4. Modulating Pump

One of the contributing factors to the Glow-worm Ultimate’s A-rating for efficiency, is the fact it uses a modulating pump. 

A pump that can modulate will adjust its speed to suit current hot water and heating demand. This differs from older mechanical pumps that will work at full power at all times. Put simply, a modulating pump is much more efficient!

And as an added bonus, the Glow-worm Ultimate uses a top-tier brand for their pumps; Grundfos. 

Typically, when a boiler pump is replaced by an engineer, they’ll upgrade it to a leading brand (if one isn’t already fitted); Grundfos is one of those brands!‍

5. Property Suitability

The Glow-worm Ultimate 3 is available as a 30kW or 35kW unit. 

The 30kW is most suited to medium sized properties that have 10-15 radiators, but only one shower. A typical property suited to the 30kW unit would be a 3-bedroom semi detached house. 

So, why upgrade to a 35kW? Typically, this would still be suited to a medium sized property. However, a 35kW combi boiler would be able to power up to 2 showers at once. 

Boiler sizing isn’t a one size fits all approach. If you’re unsure what size boiler you need, you can jump over to our boiler configuration tool here. ‍

6. Flexible Heating Controls

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Glow-worm produces a range of heating controls, which can be used alongside the Ultimate. 

Here are a couple of the most popular heating controls on offer: 

• MiSet: A touch screen boiler control allowing for timed programming as well as the ability to optimise your heating for higher efficiency
• MiGo Select: A smart control that's wireless with a clear display and allows for boiler modulation to reduce energy consumption
• MiGo Link Gateway: Allows for remote access via the MiGo Link app and works alongside the MiSet and MiGo Select
• Climapro RF: A basic room thermostat, perfect for those that want a cheap no-frills heating control

Get Glow-worm boiler prices on-screen inclusive of boiler controls, using our clickable boiler page here. 

7. In-built Filling Loop

The Glow-worm Ultimate₃ comes with an in-built filling loop. 

If your boiler drops in pressure, you’ll be able to easily top it up using this filling loop. That’s going to remove the need for a costly boiler engineer site visit and fix. 

Whilst this is useful, it’s worth noting that if boiler pressure drops, there is either air in the system, or a leak. It’s worth contacting an engineer if you have to regularly top up your boiler’s pressure.

And that’s it for our Glow-worm combi boiler review!Jump over to our quote form to get prices on Glow-worm boilers.