MSE News: Npower to launch boiler scrappage scheme 10 December 2009 at 2:12PM in Energy 28 replies 12.9K views

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Npower's scheme starts on Monday. It will offer £400 off a new boiler when you replace ..."

Read the full story:
Npower to launch boiler scrappage scheme

Cardew

The devil will be in the detail!!

Have you got to have a Npower approved installer?

Bear in mind that when BG install a new boiler their price is usually 50% to 100% more than other quotes.

Are 'warm front' involved?

Are you tied to Npower for gas and electricity? If so for how long?

Do you have to be on benefits?

etc etc

cons

can someone explain how this works?

do i need to be Npower customer?
can i source my own boiler etc or does it have to be from one of there specified installers? i.e one who will charge me £800 more than it would usually cost

cons

lol same as Cardew

arctic_chimp

Deals from these utilities companies are a sham. British Gas and others will charge you significantly more for a boiler than it should cost. Typically you could end up paying £3500 or more for a top of the range boiler. The scrappage scheme will get you back only a small fraction of the vast excess that you are already paying. Want to know how to do it properly?

Either get yourself a gas safe engineer you know and trust, or put an advert in for a boiler replacement (labour only) job on the rated people website ratedpeople.com . Put your max budget at £450 for a full boiler replacement and do not pay more than this. Next get yourself logged on the Mr central heating website (mrcentralheating.com) and choose the boiler you want. You can buy this as a boiler change pack (with the bits and pieces the engineer will need) or as a full central heating pack. I went for the first option.

I would advise that you first do a bit of research like I did and pick a reliable model or the best one to suit your budget. I went for the reliable model tested and recommended by Which magazine ( a Vaillant pro-model) at £1055 but you can also get a top of the range Worcester Bosch for a little bit extra. In the end the entire job cost me only £1500 in total and we are delighted with the new boiler. I'm pretty sure the same job would have cost double with British Gas since a friend of mine paid them almost £4000 for a Worcester Bosch.

Alternatively, if you are too lazy to buy one and to organise getting a quote from rated people, you could go to frasc who will supply and fit although the prices they show on the website do not include timer and flue so you will end up paying more. google for frasc.info and you should find the site.

Expert money saving advice courtesy of Arctic Chimp.

sebandie

A Worcester green star 28 cdi will cost you around £900-£1000 new.
Most gas boiler installers like British Gas-N power charge around £3500-£4000 for replacing boiler so you can see they are making a huge profit especially when big companies get huge discounts from manufacturers.
I'd like to buy my own boiler with a £400 discount voucher to give to the installer of my choice but there's a cat in hells chance thats going to happen.
Its a gimmick, nothing more nothing less

Premier_2

I hear Trotters Independent Trading Co. are offering £1000 scrappage on new gas boilers.

No fancy eligibility requirements - everyone qualifies!

Ask nicely and they might have one of those special scratch cards left that could entitle the lucky holder up to an additional monkey off the price.

jonnyb1978

Agreed it all depends how this will turn out. My boiler has been on the brink for quite some time. Although that fault has been fixed its still not to the standards it should be. No thermostat, TRV'S amongst a few other things. We had quotes and were extortionate from the main energy companies.
Likewise i can purchase one myself for little over £800 of a good quality. Why would i want to use a scrappage scheme saving £400 off £400.

And i dont believe the energy companies like BG are anymore professional. It took 4 engineers to look at my faulty boiler. Fix a new part that even i told them was not the problem and they still could not identify the problem and then alot of trouble explaing i should not pay again as it was an existing fault.

So claimed on my current account benefit of home emergancy cover. One engineer and problem identifies and another to fix the part and problem fixed.

It will be just a gimmick for you to go to approved companies who will overcharge for the service so in theory you will save hardly anything.

peter_the_piper

My boiler is over 10 yrs old but not a G rate, does this still apply?

oldsam

Npower did mine but managed to keep me cold the winter 2008/2009 use a local firm look under check-a-trade -sheds full of problems if the contractor is over 200 miles away ! Ask them !

The_Jester

peter_the_piper wrote: »

My boiler is over 10 yrs old but not a G rate, does this still apply?

Probably not mate. It looks good on paper but imo it's just a paper exercise. My boiler is about 15 years old but only rated an 'E' rating according to the sedbuk website. I read about this incentive a few weeks back as the energy saving trust has a scheme offering interest free loans for boilers and full new systems. After spending half an hour of my life on the phone I discovered I wasn't elegible because of my boiler (why didn't they ask me straight away grrrrr:mad::mad::mad:)

There's very few boilers rated 'G' so it's all smoke and mirrors. I've written to someone up here from the Scottish parliment but surprise surprise havent heard back.