The Southwick Winter vs. The Baxi 800: Why the Ice Doesn't Stand a Chance.

The Baxi 800 Combi 2: More Power than a Southwick Tide, and Fewer Breakdowns than a 1970s Alfa

By Andrew Tyler, Prime Boiler Care (The Horsham Powerhouse)

HELLOOO! And welcome to the world of domestic heating, which—let’s face it—is usually about as exciting as a lecture on the structural integrity of a digestive biscuit. But today is different. Today, we’re talking about the Baxi 800 Combi 2.

Now, you might be sitting in your lovely home in Southwick, looking out at the Shoreham Power Station and thinking, "Andrew, it’s just a white box that lives in the cupboard under the stairs. Why should I care?"

Well, you should care because the original Baxi 800 was already a bit of a hero. It was the "Old Reliable" of the boiler world. But Baxi has gone back to the drawing board, presumably with a hammer and a very large pot of tea, and they’ve produced the Mark 2. And it is, quite simply, astonishing.

The Power

In the world of boilers, power is everything. You want hot water, and you want it now. You don't want to be standing in the shower in Southwick, shivering like a wet whippet because someone in the kitchen has dared to rinse a teaspoon.

The 800 Combi 2 comes in three sizes: 24kW, 30kW, and the 36kW. If you opt for the 36kW version, it’ll pump out 15 litres of hot water a minute. That’s not a shower; that’s a tropical rainstorm in your own bathroom. It’s got so much poke, it could probably heat the Southwick Lake if you left the taps running long enough.

The Engineering (The "Nerdy" Bit)

Under the hood—which, by the way, is light enough that even a man who spends his weekends eating nothing but kale could lift it—it’s all brass hydraulics and stainless steel. None of that plastic rubbish you find in the "budget" brands that have the structural integrity of a wet paper bag.

But the real genius? The Easy-Fill permanent filling link.

In the old days, if your boiler lost pressure, you had to perform a ritual involving a braided hose, two valves, and a high probability of flooding your kitchen. Now? You just flick a spring-loaded switch. It’s so easy, a reasonably intelligent dog could do it.

The "Southwick Winter" Proofing

We all know what happens when the frost hits West Sussex. The condensate pipes freeze, the boiler throws a tantrum, and suddenly you’re wearing three jumpers and hugging a candle for warmth.

Baxi has fitted this with a pre-heated siphonic condensate trap. It’s basically a little heated jacket for the boiler’s "exhaust" fluid, meaning when the temperature drops, this thing keeps on humming while your neighbour's boiler is currently an ice cube.

The Verdict

Is it the cheapest boiler? No. Is it the most complex? Certainly not. But it comes with a 10-year warranty, an Adey magnetic filter (to stop the sludge from your 1950s radiators killing it), and it’s Hydrogen-Ready.

It’s the boiler for the person who wants to buy it, have us at Prime Boiler Care bolt it to the wall, and then never think about it again for a decade. It’s reliable, it’s British-built, and it’s faster at heating water than a kettle on a campfire.

The Prime Boiler Care Score: It’s a 9 out of 10. It loses one point because it doesn’t come with a "Power" sticker on the front, which I think is a missed opportunity.

Live in Southwick or Shoreham and want the "King of Boilers" in your kitchen? Give me a shout at Prime Boiler Care. We’ll drive down from Horsham, rip out your old, wheezing clunker, and install this masterpiece before you can say "Great News!"

Would you like me to give you a quote for an 800 Combi 2 installation?