Adequate boiler recommendation required - house move imminent

yee_har

Hi.

For the life of me I can't find the post I saw a few months ago (by "gas4you"?) recommending a suitable boiler at around the £400/£500 mark for a forum member in a similar position to us.

Our previously fantastic Powermax 135 is apparently "pin-holed" and out of parts support. It leaks slightly; I reckon only when it's off.

As we are 99% certain to be moving in 12 months time we are looking for a recommendation for a suitable budget option.
Understand we are likely to lose the instant high pressure shower/bath fill but can live with that.

House is a 16 y.o. 80m2 bungalow with 9 radiators (6 being "doubles").

Many thanks

gas4you

You will either need a combi or a conventional boiler plus a hot water cylinder to replace this.

I think you may be refering to a post where I suggested a cheap and cheerful boiler was the Plumb Center Optia range (Re-badged Ideal Classic HE)

I have fitted a few in situations such as yours, but only as a replacement for an existing conventional boiler.

You will probably be better off with a 28/30 Kw combi as this should cost the least to install. Good quality. but reasonable cost, is the Broag Avanta Plus 28C or perhaps a Worcester Greenstar Junior 28.

PTS have an amazing offer on at present for account holders as part of their energysmart scheme affiliation. Don't know if web addresses are allowed, so search for energysmart.

yee_har

Thanks again gas4you.
Sorry for the delay - managed to tag "Thank" you but work has now been done and just getting round to the verbals.

Went with the Worcester Junior 28 from an independent at an all-in price about 55% of what British Gas had quoted (for same boiler).

Very happy. Doesn't have the "knock you off your feet" pressure of the old one but is much closer to it than we had feared so all's good.

loulou41

yee_har wrote: »

Thanks again gas4you.
Sorry for the delay - managed to tag "Thank" you but work has now been done and just getting round to the verbals.

Went with the Worcester Junior 28 from an independent at an all-in price about 55% of what British Gas had quoted (for same boiler).

Very happy. Doesn't have the "knock you off your feet" pressure of the old one but is much closer to it than we had feared so all's good.

How much did you pay? Parents are going their done through BG at 3.2k, expensive but they prefer to have it done through them as they trust the compay. They are having thermostat valve replace and magna clean install. I still think it is expensive. Their boiler still works & is 14 yrs old,and just had the annual service yesterday but they thought it is better to have it replaced now with a combi due to vat increase. I guess, they were taken by the promise of 1/3%.

skfowler

gas4you wrote: »

You will either need a combi or a conventional boiler plus a hot water cylinder to replace this.

I think you may be refering to a post where I suggested a cheap and cheerful boiler was the Plumb Center Optia range (Re-badged Ideal Classic HE)

I have fitted a few in situations such as yours, but only as a replacement for an existing conventional boiler.

You will probably be better off with a 28/30 Kw combi as this should cost the least to install. Good quality. but reasonable cost, is the Broag Avanta Plus 28C or perhaps a Worcester Greenstar Junior 28.

PTS have an amazing offer on at present for account holders as part of their energysmart scheme affiliation. Don't know if web addresses are allowed, so search for energysmart.

Hi, how do you go about using this site? I am looking to get a new boiler for my 2 bed maisonette but it says you need to be an account holder, is there anyway round this?

Also, what would you recommend for me?

Thanks

ziggyman99

loulou41 wrote: »

How much did you pay? Parents are going their done through BG at 3.2k, expensive but they prefer to have it done through them as they trust the compay. They are having thermostat valve replace and magna clean install. I still think it is expensive. Their boiler still works & is 14 yrs old,and just had the annual service yesterday but they thought it is better to have it replaced now with a combi due to vat increase. I guess, they were taken by the promise of 1/3%.

Ouch! That does sound a lot. At a wild guess i'd probably charge about £2k. For that you would get a top of the range boiler too, not a BG badged jobbie. TRV's have to be fitted if they change the boiler and TRV's aren't already fitted. How much do they charge for a magnaclean? I've heard horror stories on how much they charge. Someone once told me £600. If i'm doing it as part of a boiler change I charge only for the parts plus a bit on top - £100. Fitting takes minutes. Alledgedly BG get their magnacleans for about £10.
Why are they going for a combi?

gas4you

If you haven't an account, PTS state they will open one for you to take advantage of the offer, if you click through a couple of pages.

caveman1

Im a contractor for BG and do a couple of installs a week. Id reccomend not using them. They are hugely overpriced and I genuinly feel embarrased for the standard of the job. Time is money for BG and if it means an ugly job they really dont mind. A reccomendation from a friend is the best way to find a trused plumber.

gas4you

caveman1 wrote: »

Im a contractor for BG and do a couple of installs a week. Id reccomend not using them. They are hugely overpriced and I genuinly feel embarrased for the standard of the job. Time is money for BG and if it means an ugly job they really dont mind. A reccomendation from a friend is the best way to find a trused plumber.

Thankyou!

At last a genuine and honest BG employee:T

skfowler

gas4you wrote: »

If you haven't an account, PTS state they will open one for you to take advantage of the offer, if you click through a couple of pages.

Thanks for your help. If I were to buy one from them myself what is the likely hood of getting a decent installer to do that at a resaonable price considering that they did not source the boiler?

Also, I currently have a Potterton Combi, am I able to just change the boiler and run it on the same rads or does the whole system need to be changed?

I've looked at the list on the website you recommended but how do I go about choosing the best one to suit my flat?

Many thanks

yee_har

loulou41 wrote: »

How much did you pay? Parents are going their done through BG at 3.2k, expensive but they prefer to have it done through them as they trust the compay. They are having thermostat valve replace and magna clean install. I still think it is expensive. Their boiler still works & is 14 yrs old,and just had the annual service yesterday but they thought it is better to have it replaced now with a combi due to vat increase. I guess, they were taken by the promise of 1/3%.

Hi.

£2150.

It turns out that the missus had actually got BG down to £3400 "special price" (ahem) so disregard my percentage figure in original post.

Only thing that I'm aware of that our installer didn't do that BG had quoted for was the Sooper Dooper "House will fall down if we don't do it" flush - although they did flush the system, use inhibitor and are coming back within the fortnight to completely check everything.
They also replaced a (isolated!) burst pipe in the garage, replaced the sodden woodchip floor caused and hidden by the old boiler and freed up a stuck TRV.