MERGED: Boilers - New / Repairs

wackojackouk · 7 February 2005 at 11:09AM

Hi chaps

We have an old gas boiler which has been causing us some problems on and off. We had a guy come over and have a look at it before Xmas and he said that it was really, really old and wouldn't be worth getting parts for it (It's by a company called Bristol or Main).

In fact he mentioned that technically it was not illegal as the flue goes into our lean-to and not directly outside but he checked for carbon monoxide and said he "hadn't seen" this

(we have also bought a carbon monoxide detector for safety reasons) and then he fiddled around with it and got it working again and for the past 8 weeks it's been fine UNTIL now - the pilot just goes out all the time.

Anyway he suggested the best thing would be to replace this boiler which heats just the water in our house (we have a back boiler for the central heating) with a combi one and he would then tap off the one in the front room.

He suggested a Baxi 105 HE (I think) - is this a good boiler?

Also how much do you guys think it would cost us for this to be done bearing in mind all he will do is replace the boiler with a combi, connected it to the central heating system, cap off the existing back boiler, and make the flue go through the conservatory roof (for legal purposes) - the roof is kinda perspex material btw.

Please let me know how much etc you think as I need to get an idea how much this is going to cost me :mad:

Cheers

ps - Price wise I live in Middlesex/Surrey area.

Tom_Jones · 8 February 2005 at 8:39PM

Firstly Baxi are a well recognised name in the Boiler market, but are expensive, try asking for a Valiant boiler which will be around £100 - £150 cheaper

Why doesn't the plumber use your new boiler to do both the heating and hot water ? surely this would save you the cost of fuel for your back boiler ?

Around this area plumbers are offering a change over to a combi boiler including new radiators and thermo valves for around £1200.

Make sure he's Corgi registered and ask to view some of his previous work or have a telephone number of some of his previous clients so you can call them.

budgetflyer · 8 February 2005 at 11:16PM

what you have is an old multipoint for heating your mains water. This could be replaced with a new fan flued multi point water heater so you could leave your heating alone as it is probably better than most of the cheap junk that is sold nowadays.However if you are going to upgrade the heating also,
Baxi are a lot cheaper than Valiant but IMO Valiant are a far better product as are Bosch. If moneys tight I would rec. Ariston at the budget end.
If you can get it for £1200 with the rads ,the heating guy must be a charity.
Try £1400-£1800 without the rads ,£2000 -£3000 with them is a more realistic price properly fitted

Darryl · 8 February 2005 at 11:40PM

We recently had a new Ideal Isar 30 HE combi boiler installed. The boiler itself was purchaed via the Big Green Boiler Scheme http://www.green-boilers.co.uk/

We made a big saving this way, and it was easy to buy it from our local PlumbCentre.
Here are the prices from our local Green Boiler scheme: http://www.epplus.org/energysaveprices.htm
Yours may be slightly different.

Check it out.

Sorry, can't say how much the labour charge was.

Darryl.

anskills · 9 February 2005 at 12:17AM

your flue terminates in your lean-to?????!!!!!!!!

if you have a fairly small hot water useage a combi is definately the way to go. the initial extra outlay is worth it as it as you will save in the long run. if you really want to go for long term savings look into condensing combi boilers.

baxi is a very long established and reliable brand, as are ideal. i have little experience of vailant

p.s. i think £1200 sounds far too cheap i would expect £500 minimum on top of that fully fitted

wackojackouk · 9 February 2005 at 10:33AM

Hi guys

Thanks for your advice. One of my footballing pals does Gas and stuff for a living. He popped over and said he would prepare a quote for me (this weekend). I told him I got quoted £2k and he said that's not being ripped off (the joys of living near London eh?)

Regarding the Boiler it will be a combi regardless, maybe a condensing one (I have asked for details of the green boiler scheme) so will wait for the quote.

Will probably ask someone else as well as even though it's a friend he works for a company so can't give me a massive discount.

Will keep you all updated, but any more tips etc would be appreciated.

WJUK

the_sheepman · 9 February 2005 at 11:05AM

Another thing to remember is the law changes on April 1st and you will not be able to install a traditional boiler after that date. It's all to do with higher emissions from the old type.

I have just had my boiler changed for a Gloworm Micron and it cost £1,500. I needed to get in before the law changed as I have a small space to fit the boiler in and there wasn't a combi or condensing boiler on the market that would fit the space.

Despite the fact that a combi or condenser would have been more economical, by the time I'd added on the cost of moving the boiler to another part of the house or redesigning the kitchen to accommodate it more or less where it was, it was cheaper to go with the traditional Gloworm.

scattycat_3 · 9 February 2005 at 11:54AM

the_sheepman wrote:

I have just had my boiler changed for a Gloworm Micron and it cost £1,500. I needed to get in before the law changed as I have a small space to fit the boiler in and there wasn't a combi or condensing boiler on the market that would fit the space. .

I think you will find the Keston would have fitted.
http://www.keston.co.uk/products/celsius25.htm

loon_2 · 9 February 2005 at 11:56AM

Bosch combi boilers are good value for money and do not lose pressure (so i have been told)

the_sheepman · 9 February 2005 at 12:49PM

scattycat wrote:

I think you will find the Keston would have fitted.
http://www.keston.co.uk/products/celsius25.htm

It wouldn't have - I had to get mine into a gap about 380mm wide. The Micron in only 360mm wide (the Keston is 475mm wide). The Micron is designed to fit inside a 400mm kitchen cupboard.

God, I sound like a Gloworm salesman - I'm not!

dougk_2 · 9 February 2005 at 2:09PM

the_sheepman wrote:

Another thing to remember is the law changes on April 1st and you will not be able to install a traditional boiler after that date. It's all to do with higher emissions from the old type.

I have just had my boiler changed for a Gloworm Micron and it cost £1,500. I needed to get in before the law changed as I have a small space to fit the boiler in and there wasn't a combi or condensing boiler on the market that would fit the space.

Despite the fact that a combi or condenser would have been more economical, by the time I'd added on the cost of moving the boiler to another part of the house or redesigning the kitchen to accommodate it more or less where it was, it was cheaper to go with the traditional Gloworm.

From my understanding of the regulations - back boilers can still be replaced with backboilers - however back boilers cannot be fitted as a "new" installation.

MERGED: Boilers - New / Repairs

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