Well I've finally got heat again after two weeks of being half frozen through having no central heating. Oil filled rads and small fan heaters can only do so much
I didn't bother shopping around with regard price in the end as a bit of research told me that the price wasn't too bad at £2,900 as £483.33 of the estimate was VAT and the gas engineer who installed the boiler had excellent reviews plus it's hard to get hold of someone to fit a boiler at this time of year due to everyone switching on their heating after the summer months which is when many break downs occur so a nine day wait was pretty good I thought.
I rang him on Monday morning and he came out the same afternoon, inspected everything and gave me the price there are then and told me his availability.
When I rang him to accept the price the following day, he and his secretary were again very professional in that she rang me to confirm personal details plus the booking time and date.
She also sent text and email confirmation about the booking including approximate arrival time.
Yesterday they sent a text reminding me that they would be here to fit the boiler.
He arrived at 8.30am prompt and from then on he was thoroughly professional and installed the new boiler, bricked up the old flue and installed the new 'Hive' control system. All went without a hitch after bleeding and checking the system and then he spent plenty of time explaining how the new system worked and how to control it by the Hive app on my phone or what to do if the wifi is ever down.
What a thoroughly pleasant experience from start to finish and I must admit I love the idea that I can switch on or adjust the heating or hot water from anywhere I choose in the house including while laid in bed on a cold winter's morning. All I have to do is reach over to my bedside table, pick up my phone and turn on/boost/turn down the heating/hot water without having to go downstairs to adjust the thermostat etc.
I opted to place the new new wireless thermostat in the same position as the old one but as the new one is wireless so it can be unclipped from the wall and placed in any room should I choose to do so.
Hopefully the new boiler will be more efficient than the old one so the annual savings should compensate for our beloved government's removal of the winter fuel allowance for my age group!