Should I update my old gas boiler/central heating system?

tinygillespie

Hi. I'm looking for some advice about my gas boiler/central heating system. I bought my property in Islington, North London, last year and it has an old Glow Worm Space Saver Mark 2 gas boiler. It appears it hasn't been serviced since 1995 (at least it hasn't been recorded on the boiler if it has!) and I've got someone coming round to do that on Wednesday (npower £29.99).

It has a basic timer switch, but this controls the heating and the hot water simultaneously. There is no thermostat, there is a thermostatic radiator valve (I think this is what it is, it's the same thing that's connected to some of my radiators and has setttings from 'off' to 5 on it) that appears to be connected to the hot water tank by some copper wire.

I'd like to have a thermostat connected to the boiler and also be able to control the hot water and the central heating separately.

I live in a 3-bed maisonette - the 3 bedrooms and the lounge have thermostatic radiator valves (off, 1-5), the hall, landing, kitchen and bathroom have radiator valves to control the heat but no 'settings'.

I had a couple of CORGI gas fitters come and look at it earlier in the year. One was recommending that I have it replaced with a combi-boiler but never actually gave me a quote. The other said that I should be able to connect a thermostat and separate timers to my current system. He said I was looking at hundreds rather than thousands of pounds, although his quote when it arrived was for £2000 - mainly labour charges as he thought it would take a couple of days:

To upgrade your heating system to achieve a fully automatic system would require the following
Thermostat on your hot water cylinder
Room thermostat (wireless so you can place it anywhere without damage to decoration)
By pass valve to alter the flow from the pump when the trv on radiators have shut down
Motor valves x 2 to control the system
New Programmer to achieve the requirements
Alterations to pipe work to accommodate the above

Materials £885

Labour £1200

Total estimated amount £2085.00

This seemed excessive to me and not worth pursuing for that cost.

I also have a gas cooker and my gas bill is currently £37 per month with npower. I wondered if it was (a) worth replacing the boiler with a combi or (b) trying to get a thermostat and timer fitted. Option (b) seems more sensible to me but I would have thought it would be possible to do it for less than £2000?

Any advice offered would be greatly appreciated!

David

mech_2

£2000 seems a lot to me too (though I'm not used to London pricing). For comparison, I had a new boiler installed 3 years ago which cost £1600 all in, including re-siting the boiler, plus removal of my old hot water tank (as the replacement boiler is a combi). Upgrading your controls certainly should cost less than a new boiler!

I wouldn't replace the boiler. You are a very low user, assuming £37 is representative of your annual usage rather than simply your direct debit. A new boiler will cut your usage by around 25%, so might reduce your yearly bill by £111. At that rate you will never recoup the cost of a new boiler.

space_rider

I have friends who have changed their boiler and the amount of units compared to winter 07 has not made a significant difference. I do realise that winter 08 may have been colder. I would leave it for now and change when the boiler packs up! I think person who has quoted over 2,000 for upgrade is having a laugh...though I have just read it`s London. How many hours laboue is that for?

tinygillespie

Thanks mech and space rider for your responses.

When the guy came round to quote he said it would take two days, so I assume the labour is for two days, which would work out to be roughly £100 an hour.

£37 is my direct debit but it's fairly representative of my usage as I submit regular readings and npower frequently update my monthy payment amount.

Think I'll definitely be sticking with my current system unless I can find someone to upgrade it for considerably less!

amcluesent

IMHO, at trade prices there's at most £250 of material in that job. A rip-off even before you add in the labour!

tinygillespie

That's very disappointing if that's the case, as the guy is Corgi registered and was recommended to me by someone at work.

DELBOY69_3

I AM A CORGI INSTALLER AND U LOT MAKE ME LAUGH. EVERYBODY THINKS WE ARE MAKING A FORTUNE AND THIS IS NOT THE CASE AS PEOPLE LIKE YOU DO NOT WANT TO SPEND MONEY ON A TOP OF THE RANGE HEATING SYSTEM. THE AMOUNT OF HOUSES THAT I GO ROUND THAT HAVE BEEN RE-DECORATED, NEW EXTENSIONS AND BIG PLASMA TVS YET A RUSTY TATTY OLD RADIATOR LEFT IN THAT DOESNT EVEN WARM UP BECAUSE THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS 30 YEARS OLD. GET THE LOT RIPPED OUT AND IF YOU PAY 4 GRAND AND IT LASTS EVEN 20 YEARS IT WILL HAVE COST U LESS THAN 4 POUND A WEEK TO HAVE A RED HOT HOUSE WITH ALL THE LATEST ENERGY EFFICIENT CONTROLS ON.
US ENGINEERS HAVE VERY HIGH RUNNING COSTS IE; GAS EXAMS EVERY 5 YEARS, CORGI EVERY 12 MONTHS, PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE, RUNNING AND MAINTAINIG A VAN, POWER-FLUSHER, POWER-TOOLS, HEALTH AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND THE MIDER OR EVERY1 TELLING US WERE MAKIN A FORTUNE . PLEASE GIV US PLUMBERS A BREAK

jd87

What is it with people replying to old threads at this time of night? And please, no CAPS.