MSE News: 70,000 can save with boiler scrappage scheme

Former_MSE_Guy

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

"The Government says 70,000 households in England can still ditch their old boiler and get up to £400 towards a new appliance under its boiler scrappage scheme ..."

Read the full story:
70,000 can save with boiler scrappage scheme

Pincher

I got the voucher in January.

The boiler is already delivered, but it's too cold to start work.
It's going into an outside boiler room, which needs some brick and mortar work. It was relatively mild a week ago, so we scheduled for Thursday 11th, and it snowed, so couldn't start work. This week is looking unlikely too.

By the time the weather turns good, all the plumbers will be too busy to come, and the boiler you choose after weeks of research will be out of stock. For the most of the old installations, you will need to upgrade the pipes as well, to comply with the regulations,. which involves turning your house inside out if you are unlucky.

I am still waiting for the smart wiring centre, without which the installation cannot be finished, any way. If I get the plumber to issue the invoice early, and we get spot checked, then he will lose his Gas Safe Registration.

12 weeks is just not enough time. What moron expects people to rip out their boiler and, change their pipes in the middle of the coldest winter for decades? We need an extension, so people have time to upgrade when it's warmer.

Mrs_Thrify

£2500 is a lot of cash to find even with the grant of £400. That still leaves £2100. People living on low incomes( min. wage) without any benifits will not find it easy even if the boiler is older than 10 years.
The saving of £200 per year will be up against " the boiler is old but working so leave well alone".

SurfBowlSC

Had our boiler replaced 2 weeks ago..... We needed it doing anyway as the old one was constantly playing up and was "X" rated according to the British Gas website (worse than "G" rating!).
Whether or not we got the £400 voucher was irrelevant, though obviously it helped out - or will do when the money is refunded.
Cost us £3100 to get everything done, which was more than just the boiler, so taking it down to £2700 is handy.

Only mistake we made was forgetting to put a copy of the invoice in with the voucher when we returned it. Simple mistake though - case of wife giving me envelope to post but leaving invoice on table. Fortunately we were able to speak to someone who said a lot of people are doing the same, and as long as invoice sent as soon as possible it won't cause any issue with getting money back.

footboy

julie_d wrote: »

£2500 is a lot of cash to find even with the grant of £400. That still leaves £2100. People living on low incomes( min. wage) without any benifits will not find it easy even if the boiler is older than 10 years.
The saving of £200 per year will be up against " the boiler is old but working so leave well alone".

My boiler and labour certainly didn't cost this... could have done but I chose a Ferroli Boiler from Wickes (get the 4% cashback from TCB) and collect your mywickes card points (1 for every £1 you spend). The boiler, flu and digital timer will cost me £663 for 31Kw 5yr guarantee. You can get it cheaper elsewhere without all the cashback but the delivery terms could leave you high and dry. Wickes 30 day returns policy is much better.

I got quotes for the labour on mybuilder.com - people leave testimonials of work and tradesmen will quote responding to your advert. Be sure to say you want the system flushed, treated and wired in your job description to comply with Ferroli's guarantee. Quotes ranged from £250 up £800. I was going to take a £350 quote based on feedback and expertise but instead got my regular plumber (who had quoted more) to match it. He offered £400 plus vat so I took that.

Upshot: Waiting for my voucher to come in next few days for £400. That pays for the labour so essentially I've got my new A rated condensing boiler fitted for £663 and fitted for free except for the vat element and it will repay itself in 3 years - even before the guarantee runs out.

British Gas tend to install Worcester boilers which are more expensive but they inflate their original quotes. They will ring back to see how the quote is at which point you can knock them down. Can't see it being under a grand though!

Steve

albyota

"The Government says 70,000 households in England can still ditch their old boiler and get up to £400 towards a new appliance under its boiler scrappage scheme ..."


OR....consider Air to Water Source Heat Pump if your boiler is G rated you would qualify for £1,300 grant.....

over 300% efficient

http://heating.mitsubishielectric.co...p?ECOnewsID=31

samba

footboy wrote: »

My boiler and labour certainly didn't cost this... could have done but I chose a Ferroli Boiler from Wickes (get the 4% cashback from TCB) and collect your mywickes card points (1 for every £1 you spend). The boiler, flu and digital timer will cost me £663 for 31Kw 5yr guarantee. You can get it cheaper elsewhere without all the cashback but the delivery terms could leave you high and dry. Wickes 30 day returns policy is much better.

I got quotes for the labour on mybuilder.com - people leave testimonials of work and tradesmen will quote responding to your advert. Be sure to say you want the system flushed, treated and wired in your job description to comply with Ferroli's guarantee. Quotes ranged from £250 up £800. I was going to take a £350 quote based on feedback and expertise but instead got my regular plumber (who had quoted more) to match it. He offered £400 plus vat so I took that.

Upshot: Waiting for my voucher to come in next few days for £400. That pays for the labour so essentially I've got my new A rated condensing boiler fitted for £663 and fitted for free except for the vat element and it will repay itself in 3 years - even before the guarantee runs out.

British Gas tend to install Worcester boilers which are more expensive but they inflate their original quotes. They will ring back to see how the quote is at which point you can knock them down. Can't see it being under a grand though!

Steve

I've been planning on doing it this way myself - didn't realise you could still get the £400 off if you bought the boiler yourself. Let me know how it goes.

As regards BG, we got a quote off them a few years back and they quoted around £2000 for a boiler and flue kit that I could buy myself for less than £1000. With labour charges the cost was up around £4500 if I remember correctly. What a bunch of ripoff merchants.

footboy

albyota wrote: »

OR....consider Air to Water Source Heat Pump if your boiler is G rated you would qualify for £1,300 grant.....

Not sure I can afford the current £5-6k outlay.

I'll be installing a wood burning stove to supplement the condensing boiler... not sure yet whether I'm going to plumb it into the heating yet or not.. working in the countryside is a help though as I have access to a good supply of wood!

footboy

samba wrote: »

I've been planning on doing it this way myself - didn't realise you could still get the £400 off if you bought the boiler yourself. Let me know how it goes.

I'll let you know! I've just bought it via TopCashBack (3% cashback), used MyWickes card (1point per £1) used 10% off voucher code (also listed on CB) and paid using my Argos cashback (1% in argos vouchers)! Savings approximately £102 off the list prices! Add on the rebate and my boiler has cost me £202.84.

Meaning all in with labour, flu kit, digital timer and 31Kw boilder with 5yr guarantee I will pay £672.84

The discount voucher code was an unexpected bonus that effectively pays the installers vat!

I can't see anything that stops you buying the boiler yourself. I'll be asking my installer to specify the boiler that is going out and the boiler that is going in specifically. Then I'll just send his invoice and the Wickes receipt with the rebate voucher. Afterall, I did pay for it - I didn't build it!

Pincher

I'm buying my own boiler, too.

My plumber usually gets his stuff from Plumb Center, whose list price is
£1,219.06 inc VAT. plumbnation.co.uk is £655.75. Even with his trade discount, the difference is miles out. Same goes for the flue kit.

The funny thing is, the delivery note, headed Wolseley UK, says:

Queries to Plumb Center
Customer is Plumb Nation
My address is only the DELIVERY address!

duncansby

Does anyone know if the £400 offer is coming to scotland yet?