help my parents buy a new boiler...

msw_2

they have had tons of problems with their current boiler which is a combi [bahama] boiler. I sat down to write a complaint letter to the company as my dad told me they'd had it less than 5 years....:turns out to be almost 8 yrs. I think my chances of getting anything from the company who sold them it are slim. They might be best to just buy a new boiler. My problem is that I have never owned a house and know nothing about boilers or where to start/what to look for in a good deal etc. My parents are pensioners and a bit on the niaive side (just got the chimney 'fixed' by a passing tradesdmen who told them it was broken?!). :eek: I'd appreciate any help/guidance anyone could offer.

tawnyowls

My last combi boiler was a Potterton, and I thought it was excellent - took less than a minute to heat water and ran all the radiators in our 3 bdrm house. Had it for over 8 years (till we sold the house), and in all that time, it only had one breakdown, and they sent their own chap out to fix it. The callout fee of ~£250 covered all the parts and labour needed - as it happened, it was a pretty easy thing to fix, and he showed us how to fix it in the future, but had it not been the fee would have paid for everything to get it going again.

nomoneytoday

Take a walk to a plumbers merchant, they should have the number of decent local corgi engineers who can fix it, and if the worst scenario (broken) they can offer advise on a new one and the grants that may be available

msw_2

thanks for your advice. They pay £140 per yr to cover breakdowns from the company they bought it from. They do fix it but it breaks every few months. It is not working just now (5 days so far) and they are waiting on a part. In the meantime I have been up visiting with a 6 month old baby and my dad's elderly sister is over on a 'once in a lifetime visit' from Canada. They are all sitting there freezing - putting the kettle on for a heat!!

AMO

msw wrote:

I'd appreciate any help/guidance anyone could offer.

The best way to get a normal boiler is to ask British Gas to quote you on one. Then ask them for the make and model.

British Gas do not like to get called out and they tend to play it safe going for fairly good reliable boilers. Normally, a company would go for the cheapest, but as British Gas sell services for maintenance, they don't go shooting themselves in the foot by installing dodgy boilers!

Britist Gas are slightly more expensive to install, so then get someone local to install that brand of boiler for you if they can significantly undercut British Gas.

I had a chap that was going to install a GlowWorm. But I asked him to install the same one that British Gas would have. The chap admitted that the British Gas one was better. Haven't had a problem with it since it was installed and its been a loooooooong time since it was installed.

AMO

Coupon-mad

I think your parents would be eligible for a Warmfront grant if they are in receipt of any qualifying benefits. I believe this would more or less pay for a new boiler, my Mum got hers last year.

Why not phone up their local Council's Housing section and ask for details of the Warmfront scheme? Or look at their local Council's website, there may be an online application form.

It may take some time to process the grant but it does not have to be paid back and can also be used for insulation and/or central heating where the home does does have this.

In the meantime, make sure that, as soon as the repair has been done this time, you diarise to make sure that your parents stop the DD/payment for the next £140 in good time, don't let them renew for this cover if they get a new boiler - a new one is very unlikely to go wrong in my experience and any repair 4 or 5 years down the line is likely to be a darn sight less than 5 times £140!!

HTH