Advice on Boiler repair - Urgent!!

Parcmean

Hi everyone!

I have just joined this site and have been reading through some of the posts. It looks as if there is some really usefull advice out-there - I hope somebody can help me with this one!

We have recently moved into a new house and as the vendor was utterly useless and couldn't tell us how old the boiler was and whether it had been serviced (dispite living there since 1998!) we thought it was a good idea to get it serviced.

We had someone out three weeks ago and it cost £188 for the service and a new fan (which it did need as it was making a horrible noise which has now stopped). However, my main gripe was that the water temp was not constant enough, and the engineer said that it could just be gunked up and that a flush through coupled with the service may sort it out. He did say if this did not work it could be our heat exchanger.

So after he went my other half (who is fairly good at basic plumbing) put some of that central heating cleaner in the system, and bled a huge amount of air out. But just our luck the next day the hot water packed up altogether. When you put a hot tap on it makes a horrible clunking noise and the water comes out cold. The heating still works though!

He spoke to the engineer again and he said he will come and flush out the heat exchanger and then refit it which will cost about £350 + vat as it is a fidely time consuming job. If it still doesn't work he will put in a new exchanger which will be an extra £100 + vat.

However this still may not fix it in which case we will need a new boiler which will be about £1500 + vat.

So now we are in a total dilemma - do we spend £400-£500 (on top of the £188 we have already spent) and hope that it works, or go the whole hog and just get a new boiler and worry that we may have saved ourselves about £1000. The boiler does not look that old - the only paperwork we have on it is an installation instructions leaflet which is dated 1999 - so that is the oldest it can be. It is a Glowworm Compact 100E.

What worries me is that if it is only a few years old why have two components already failed - if we fix it will it just pack up again in a few years?? And how do we know that this engineer is not just getting us to spend the money for the repair just so he can then sting us for the cost of a new boiler on top. Surely he should be able to tell if it is indeed the exchanger causing problems?

We have a two bed end of terrace with 6 radiators - he is recommending a Worcester Bosch Greenstar i Junior condensing boiler. Is this a good choice and a reasonable price at £1500?

Advice please, he is coming tomorrow morning!!!

Thank you!

Tom_Jones

£1500 to change a boiler sounds expensive to me, the boiler cost to the plumber would be around £7-£800, so a price of £1200 would be more realistic. I would change the boiler if it was my house though

kaya

have you read the paperwork that is with the boiler? it sounds like it is low on pressure, there will be a filling loop on the boiler pipework which requires two valves opening to build up pressure. Boilers can be purchased from about £500+vat. You need to befriend a plumber or gas engineer, or search the manufacturers website and try and get the install/service manual for it

Parcmean

There is no paperwork as such, only a 2 page booklet about the installation of the electo/mechanical Clock/timer kit which goes with the boiler.

covbaldy

Hi,
Its a tricky one - but how much more life will you get out of your old boiler? Especially if its hasn't been serviced regulary.

When I moved into my new house I got a bolier and rad pack from Mr Central Heating I purchase a Glowworm 30CXI and 7 rads + TRV's and 60m of copper piping for £989. This heats a large 3 bed semi, you may find that the 24CXI might be better for you.

Hope this helps...