Advice needed for Combi boiler replacement

seaweed5254

Hi All,

Firstly, I apologize if this question has been asked before but I do not know anybody where I can ask for advice.

I have a ravenheat combi boiler and has broken down early this year. I have asked for an engineer to check this out before and had cost me around £60 just to check what was wrong with it and told me that valves needed to be replaced. It would cost around £400 so he said that it would be better just to replace the boiler.

This week, I've asked for a quotation from EDF energy, and given me an estimate of around £2350 incl. VAT, disposal of old boiler, 2 yr warranty and free servicing after one yr. They do a 12 month interest free credit.

I also got a quotation from a local plumber(only seen on yell.com website), and he is now giving me a rough estimate of £1500. THis includes disposal of boiler, installation/reinstallation of pipes (as he needs to change them from 15 mm to 22 mm) as he said as of April, by law they are required for put in a Combi Condesing boiler. He also said that it's required to install a building stat, so he would install a wireless one. He is goin to install a Worcester brand. He said the boiler itself would cost around £900. But he would give me a proper estimate next week.

Does anybody think this is a good estimate ? I am planning to ask for another opinion. Does anybody know a CORGI registered plumber in the Stockport area ? I live in a 2 story ex-council flat.

Thanks very much!

seaweed

plumb1_2

£1500 is a fair price for the installation of a Worcester boiler,upgrade pipes and fit a wireless stat.

the_gasman_2

I would charge around £2k for this work, but i am an acredited worcester installer. You should get a standard 2 yr guarantee with this combi boiler. If he is a worcester acredited installer you may get an extra yr free.
I do know that there is currently a worcester promotion on for the CDi range combi's. They are offering 5yr guarantee for these boilers fitted before end of august.
Make sure that when it is installed that your Benchmark log is completed and the appliance is registered with corgi. After Jan 1st 2007 you will need this info for the homebuyers pack should you wish to sell your house.
All new gas appliances should now be registered to the address they are fitted.

For an installer near you click here:- http://www.corgi-gas-safety.com/

Dandirt

Yes, £1500 is a fair price for a Worcester Combi inc. pipework and controls. He is advising you correctly that as of April '05 replacement boilers must be condensing type (with one or two exceptions which probably don't apply to you).
Most important I think is to make sure that whoever is doing the job is going to do it right - it's generally best to get somebody who is recommended by a friend or colleague. I am a CORGI reg. heating engineer and I get 99.99% of my jobs from recommendation, in fact I don't think I advertised at all last year and still couldn't keep up with the workload.

Good luck

Dan

m4rky

seaweed5254:

Thats does sound a good quote.

I too live in Stockport and I am looking to have our boiler replaced soon.

Can you give me your local plumbers details?
As I might be putting some more business his way!!

You should be able to send me a Private Message by clicking on my Name 'M4rky' on the left.

Thanks.

aughty

this guy about spot on with the worcester boiler they are one of the best and the price he has quoted is not bad,i have this system in my house and it verygood,

seaweed5254 wrote:

Hi All,

Firstly, I apologize if this question has been asked before but I do not know anybody where I can ask for advice.

I have a ravenheat combi boiler and has broken down early this year. I have asked for an engineer to check this out before and had cost me around £60 just to check what was wrong with it and told me that valves needed to be replaced. It would cost around £400 so he said that it would be better just to replace the boiler.

This week, I've asked for a quotation from EDF energy, and given me an estimate of around £2350 incl. VAT, disposal of old boiler, 2 yr warranty and free servicing after one yr. They do a 12 month interest free credit.

I also got a quotation from a local plumber(only seen on yell.com website), and he is now giving me a rough estimate of £1500. THis includes disposal of boiler, installation/reinstallation of pipes (as he needs to change them from 15 mm to 22 mm) as he said as of April, by law they are required for put in a Combi Condesing boiler. He also said that it's required to install a building stat, so he would install a wireless one. He is goin to install a Worcester brand. He said the boiler itself would cost around £900. But he would give me a proper estimate next week.

Does anybody think this is a good estimate ? I am planning to ask for another opinion. Does anybody know a CORGI registered plumber in the Stockport area ? I live in a 2 story ex-council flat.

Thanks very much!

seaweed

seaweed5254

i know it's been 4 months, but it's only now that i'm ready to pay for a new boiler replacement.

the final quote for me 4 months ago was £1480. now i foned my plumber again and he made a new quote - £1550. he said that prices have increased over the last months. he said if i pay in cash, i can pay £1480. it's the same worcester boiler...

he was suggesting, since i dont intend to stay long in my flat, to get a vokera brand. it's not as good as a worcester one. with that brand, he charged me £1350. And that was what i went for. Did i make the right decision ?

by the way M4rky, i apologize as i haven't seen your message until now. are you still interested to get the details ?? i can PM you.

moneytree123

Hello we live in stockport and had our boiler replaced about a month ago
the company we used are called d crossley and son. they seemed very good although we went for a glow worm boiler as opposed to the worcester one thats been mentioned. anyway we found them really good they did a excellent job etc..

w w w . dcrossleyandson . co . uk

senthilni

Hi moneytree123,
I live in newcastle, and thinking of installing combi boiler, Can you let me know how much you spent on that, does it comes with any warrenty?

Thanks

noodlepie

we live in stockport and had our boiler fitted by Direct Line Maitenance Services Ltd and it was cheap. It also had a 5 year warranty.
www dlmservices co uk

yummymummyofthree

My boiler was fitted around 2 months ago. The company, based in the west midlands charged £795 including parts and labour for the whole job.

The reason I am posting a reply to this message is that I am sick of tired of PEOPLE GETTING RIPPED OFF BY PLUMBERS.

We originally got 4 quotes for this job. The gas supply pipe also needed to be re-run as it was in 15mm and this is appaerently, while other companies were charging £250 for this alone, this company charged just £50 (it was only 2 meters and we actually supplied the copper pipe for this.

We paid just £750 for the whole work.

The quote was broken down like this:

Glowworm Betacom 24 HE Combi Boiler £395
Labour- boiler £290
Chemicals for hot and cold flush £20
Copper pipe 15mm and fittings £40
Labour- copper run from meter to boiler £50
Other- certificate, building control, balancing system, commissioning, all work to best practice.

Total £795.


This was around half of what other companies were charging.

When I quizzed the engineer who had been working with that company for around 8 years he told me that it was simple. They buy big and sell cheap. He said they got that particular boiler for around £320 including flue, timer and clock. It would be available to the average person for over £500 inc VAT. They also buy fittings cheaper than most companies and pass the savings on. He said most weeks they fitted between 40 and 70 boilers per week.

The cost some companies supposedly claim and actually have must differ greatly. This company said it relied soley on customer referals and word of mouth. Please be aware of companies that charge more than double what other companies charge and ask for a complete breakdown of costs.

A combi boiler swap should typically not cost you over £900 and thats if you want it re-sited!

If you are in the birmingham and surrounding area its possible to get a boiler swap for under £900 and thats with additional work included (including changing a washer on a shower head and tightening two taps and replacing one- although I did pay for the tap)


Quote 1 (accepted) £795
www.newboiler.co.uk new boiler

Quote 2 (declined) £1790
heat247.co.uk

Quote 3 (declined) £1627
combidocheatingandgas.co.uk

Quote 4 (declined) £2400
British Gas


It just makes me so angry that plumbers can abuse the good nature or the vulnerability of customers, especially in the midlands. A friend of mine recently had her boiler serviced at a cost of £110 +VAT. I know its a good idea to do these kind of things but to pay that much?

Get as many quotes as you can and dont pay ANY money up front. If its a good, decent and reliable company that you get to work for you they wont ask for any money up front.

Always ask for an ID card and make sure you dont get someone illegal working in your house!

I know this website is about saving money so good luck to everyone.

RANT OVER.

Merry Christmas everybody and a Happy New Year.

Byeeeeeeeee!