Neil Mattock, Marketing Director at Vokèra, takes us on a deep dive into the company’s Pinnacle boiler range.
When we set out to design the Pinnacle range, the brief wasn’t just to “build an efficient boiler.” Efficiency is no longer a point of differentiation in its own right; every manufacturer in this market can point to strong ErP data.
What we wanted to know was where installers lose time, and where do potential callbacks come from? The Pinnacle was engineered around the answers to those two questions, and it’s worth discussing what that looks like in practice.
Matching output to demand
Every Pinnacle model runs a 1:13 modulation ratio, enabling the boiler to match its output to demand. This reduces cycling, lowers energy consumption, and maintains more consistent indoor temperatures than a boiler that repeatedly fires at full power and cycles off.
This is paired with soft-start ramping logic. Rather than restarting at full bore, the Pinnacle begins at a reduced output of 60% of the range-rated capacity for the first 15 minutes, only stepping up if demand continues.
It’s a small thing on paper, but with typical UK heating patterns calling for short bursts of heat rather than prolonged operation, less frequent restarts reduce strain on components, minimises unnecessary energy consumption and cycling losses.
Active Combustion Control (ACC) uses adaptive electronic combustion technology to ensure consistent, efficient operation, automatically adjusting the air-to-gas ratio even where gas quality varies.
The boiler is supplied ready for natural gas, and the same ACC system allows conversion to LPG without any conversion kit.
Like-for-like
A lot of installer time on replacement jobs is lost to pipework that doesn’t line up. The Pinnacle’s hydraulic connections use a universal DIN layout, specifically to support straightforward like-for-like replacement and consistent first-fix alignment even in the restricted spaces so many UK boilers end up living in, helped along by a compact chassis.
A built-in filling loop is standard across the Pinnacle combi models too, simplifying system pressurisation both at commissioning and for homeowners topping up afterwards.
A built-in seven-day screed drying programme is also included as standard, supporting safe, controlled drying of newly laid floors during commissioning.
Flow rates
Since launch, the Pinnacle range has established itself as a cost-effective solution, combining high efficiency with components designed for longevity and reliability, such as the advanced stainless steel heat exchanger.
It is backed by a newly engineered DHW plate heat exchanger on the combi models, which deliver strong flow rates at a 35°C rise (10.2, 12.3 or 14.3 litres per minute depending on model), for consistent hot water performance even across multiple outlets.
For added safety, every Pinnacle includes CO monitoring with automatic shutdown, alongside a DHW temperature lock which reduces the risk of scalding and prevents accidental adjustment.
Smarter servicing
There is an option for the installer to set a ‘Call for Service’ alarm, which alerts the customer at 48 weeks that a service is imminent, while the boiler continues to operate as normal. Alternatively, setting the ‘Stop for Service’ feature causes the boiler to cease operation at 52 weeks, until a full service has been carried out.
The Pinnacle retains a condensate record, another useful diagnostic feature for the installer. The boiler’s software logs periods of condensing in the main heat exchanger that exceed 30 seconds and calculates a running total, accessed via the touchscreen menu, to guide the engineer on whether a full or interim service is required. At 2,500 hours, the boiler displays an alarm to indicate a full service is required, while continuing to operate normally.
Simple commissioning
The Pinnacle’s full-colour touchscreen interface uses icon-led navigation, and it’s designed to achieve two things: it makes commissioning faster to work through, and it gives installers a genuinely useful handover tool, with an on-screen guided tour of the boiler’s features that homeowners can be walked through directly.
Preheat settings, date and time, choice of metric or imperial units and a choice of twelve on-screen languages can all be configured during installation.
To support all of this in the field, we worked with our technical trainer, David Iszchak, to put together a series of fifteen video tutorials, available on Vokèra’s YouTube channel. Rather than a single generic walkthrough, the series is broken into specific tasks, such as gas type conversion, range rating, pump cycle adjustment and condensate record settings, so an installer on-site can go straight to the two or three minutes that answer the question they have at the time.
The Pinnacle range is backed by a 12-year warranty as standard.
Images: Vokera
