What is the going cost for boiler replacement these days

[devonwoody]

Yeah Yeah Yeah, I 'll let you know the worst.

 

[finneyb]

If it helps I paid £400 to have a boiler fitted as a 'foreigner' 18 months ago
Boiler was extra.

Brian

 

[whiskywill]

BG are world class scam artists.
No self repecting plumber would work for them, their training centre is not far from where I work and you can see them leaving ,dragging their knuckles along the ground to their vans.

I have a boiler service contract with BG. During the annual service last December I asked the "engineer" to fix a leak from a rather inaccessible compression joint. His report said that he did, but the leak returned in January. On Monday of this week I measured the flow of the leak as nearly a litre in 22 hours. I arranged a call out for another repair and was told that my annual service was due, just 4 months after the last. I refused to accept this as, to me, annual means at yearly intervals.
Yesterday, the engineer spent around an hour sorting out the leak, filled in his report, and left. This morning there was a pool of water beneath the boiler, smaller than before, but still there.

 

[Andrewf]

Last year had a new, ordinary boiler installed. Not sure of the price as part of a large building work. However one thing I did discover is that some plumbers maybe good at their jobs, but not up to speed on the latest equipment or very imaginative in ideas. It seemed to be oh that's the way and what I always install. There are a lot of options available. Get plenty of options and investigate plenty of options.

 

[garethharvey]

Had a Worcester 42Kw boiler fitter 5 years ago. Had quite a few prices, it was pretty much 3 days work. Boiler was £1200, tank was £600

Had priced from £4,000 to £6,000, plumbers totally taking the p*ss

Finally had a plumber around, did not tell him what I wanted, asked what is daily rate was, he said £200, I asked how long would it take you to take out my old boiler and tank and fit a new one, he said 3 days. We agreed on £600 to fit. Don't think he was too happy though

Some people really do take the p*ss

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

do you guys live in 15bedroom mansions that you have to pay 4k or you just allow the guys to take total pi$$ and fleece you so bad?
I got my gas baxi done for around 1.1k total in a couple of days.
Just search around and have some basic knowledge of how much things cost...

 

[tomatwark]

You also need to make sure your plumber has the correct bits of paper.

Someone who has a Gas Safe sticker on his van may not be passed to install a boiler.

A customer of mine found this out recently when they bought a house with a new boiler in it, which did not work properly.

The plumber he asked to look at it found the incoming gas pipe was not big enough, when he looked up the plumber who installed it for the previous owners on the Gas Safe register, the guy was not passed to install boilers.

This could mean the warranty or your house insurance may not be valid.

The previous owners went for the cheapest quote.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

You also need to make sure your plumber has the correct bits of paper.

Someone who has a Gas Safe sticker on his van may not be passed to install a boiler.

A customer of mine found this out recently when they bought a house with a new boiler in it, which did not work properly.

The plumber he asked to look at it found the incoming gas pipe was not big enough, when he looked up the plumber who installed it for the previous owners on the Gas Safe register, the guy was not passed to install boilers.

This could mean the warranty or your house insurance may not be valid.

The previous owners went for the cheapest quote.

yeah I'm not buying in all that...just goes to show you have to do your research , that's all
If you are at least aware of how much things cost you should figure out what is reasonable quote and what is not...
If they are charging 4k to fit 800 boiler and it takes them 2days to do that and if you still think 4k is reasonable than go ahead by all means, they just need to get few suckers like that to laugh all the way to bank.

 

[tomatwark]

I wasn't even talking about peoples stupidity in spending £4k for a £800 boiler.

The point I was making is ask to see the installers card, it will tell you what they can or can't do legally

If in doubt go onto the Gas Safe registers site and enter the installers gas safe number.

 

[the_g_ster]

There are a lot of ranges of prices on here, and some that clearly cite that some HE's are way over priced, and i am sure there are some that are too.

But overall, if you don't wanna get your fingers dirty, and you don't wanna go crawling the net for a cheap boiler then you are gonna pay

- 700 upwards (with markup for heating engineer on the boiler)
- At least 100-150 for flue
- At least 50 for faffing on other bits

Then time in moving old boiler, sorting new gas connections etc etc

Radiators soon add up, and ripping up floors, carpets, chasing stuff out for pipe work soon adds up too.

For those of us that wanna get their fingers dirty, ripping up floors and pre preparing power etc etc and water inputs all helps, doing rads as well.

Overall, a lean install is gonna be 1200-1500, then once it comes to new other stuff then 2k is easily done.

Btw, we have a relatively new hot water tank system, and compared to a good combination boiler (had a vokera and then a worcester in old house) its crap.....as baths soon empty it, then takes time to refill, heating needs to override the lower temp of the hot water tank, and if you are variable with demand etc (away on business, want a sunday lay in etc etc) then you need to have it coming on a few times day (not long) to keep hot.

New combi's are great, and in the summer you don't have a roasting area in the house where the hot water tank is situated.

I am guessing a combi with multi bathroom places is trickier though...

 

[lurker]

You can go to gas safe website and enter a person's name and what he is certified to do will pop up.
Saves the embarrassment of asking on the day he arrives.

Alternatively you can see the certified folks close to your postcode.

 

[devonwoody]

OK, I have had three quotes in and they all want 3K.

New boiler but they want to put at three different locations, cannot use existing site, (it is just too wide for existing kitchen cabinet)

The neatest solution would be in the old airing cupboard and a combi. (lose hot tank)

However he wants to vent the condensing pipe down ON TO the OUTSIDE layer of the roof tiles (we are a bungalow) kind of free flow into the rainwater gutter. I dont like the sound of that, surely tiles will be dampened each time a boiler is operating and in extreme weather that could also have ice problems.

Your views would not be displayed to the plumber so what do you think of the idea?

(There are drainage locations problems I know.)

 

[Myfordman]

This will at best stain the roof, at worst could damage the tiles.
However long external runs of condensate piping should be avoided as they can freeze up
I would insist on an internal pipe all the way to your waste drain to there is no chance of freezing.

 

[devonwoody]

This will at best stain the roof, at worst could damage the tiles.
However long external runs of condensate piping should be avoided as they can freeze up
I would insist on an internal pipe all the way to your waste drain to there is no chance of freezing.

Thanks, my thoughts as well.

 

[Ring]

Have you got an Intergas installer near you they get a great write up about efficiency and reliability I am looking to fit one of their boilers later this year maybe worth a look.
Jim

 

[Gerry]

I have an Intergas boiler and its been brilliant over the winter, plenty of heat and a constant copious supply of hot water. Even over the winter we can run the hot tap at full to fill a bath and the water is still really hot. Chalk and cheese when compared to the old Baxi I had previously.
It's only been in since last July so time will tell what it's like for reliability.

Gerry

 

[Myfordman]

There are at least two types of condensate traps used on boilers.
The worst sort are ones that drip drip drip the condensate down the pipe as it is produced. This type are more prone to freezing if there is a section of pipe outdoors as the drips carry minimal heat energy and so dont thaw any existing ice simply allow it you build up.

Another sort contain a small reservoir with a self starting syphon (or rarely a pump). Here the condensate builds up and then when full it all empties all at once. The resulting quantity of slightly warm water (relative to any ice), help melt any existing ice and flush through the pipe.

The latter type should be used if there is any portion of the pipe run that could go below freezing point.

Any fitter claiming to be able to insulate external pipes should be regarded with suspicion as this will not reduce the formation of ice at all.
Remember that insulation only changes the RATE of heat transfer and eventually the external pipe will reach outside temperatures.

 

[devonwoody]

The condensing pipe for this type of boiler is a problem for my proposed set up. There is only one choice of drain and it is not conveniently placed.
So thinking I will let sleeping dogs lie, one plumber could not believe our existing New Mexico Ideal boiler was in such good condition at 20 years.

So I have three quotes in and I will let them chase me now.

 

[finneyb]

If size is a problem I've got a Worcester Bosch Greenstar CDi Compact - it wasn't the cheapest boiler but it fits and is small compared to others. Works well as I suspect most other boilers do.

I found that they only wanted to fit one type of boiler - which of course may not suit your needs.
The alternative way forward is to find a boiler that suits you eg above, and then find the installer.

Brian





3

 

[Myfordman]

The condensing pipe for this type of boiler is a problem for my proposed set up. There is only one choice of drain and it is not conveniently placed.
So thinking I will let sleeping dogs lie, one plumber could not believe our existing New Mexico Ideal boiler was in such good condition at 20 years.

So I have three quotes in and I will let them chase me now.

In your position, I'd stick the £3k in one of the loss leader bank accounts to earn more than inflation and then using freecycle or similar acquire a few electric heaters for nothing and stick them in the loft ready as insurance against a heating system failure during the winter so you can keep warm whilst the boiler is repaired/replaced.

Good Luck