Replacing Ideal Sprint boiler

maryhillgirl

Hi there. My son has been quoted around £1900 to replace an Ideal Sprint boiler with new combi boiler, a Valliant 30kw, 2 bedroomed Victorian terrace.

Is this reasonable - I've browsed some of the combi-boiler threads and opinions and prices seem to vary so much. As far as I know, the old Ideal is a combi boiler, as there is no hot water cylinder in the house.
This is his first house, money is tight but we think a new boiler would pay for itself in lower heating bills. Any comment on the efficiency of the Ideal Sprint also appreciated - it's an ugly looking brown metal thing, but appears to work ok.
Many thanks

EliteHeat

If it is working then do not replace it. The savings in gas do not justify a needless replacement.

sparkiedave

As above, unless the house has fantastic insulation, there are probably better ways to spend £1900, not familiar with ideal boilers, have a look to see if the existing boiler has a plastic pipe which runs to either a drain or a waste pipe, if so you have a condensing combi, in which case you won't save anything by replacing it,

sparkiedave

As a general rule, a condensing combi should be around 20% more efficient than a non condensing type

maryhillgirl

Thanks for the replies. The only thing I know is that the boiler dates from the 80s, according to Ideal's website. I'll wait until we've had more quotes and take advice from the "experts" who are quoting. Just trying not to get it all wrong as £1900 is a lot of money for a youngster in their first home.