Arghh dead boiler!

Kelinik

I need help making a money decision. As you can gather by the fact I'm on this board money is a bit of an issue just now. We are saving every penny to get a debt the the IR paid of asap...and the boiler has died. It is an ancient looking monster of a thing and what we can't decide is whether we should be trying to repair it or get it replaced, which will def need doing soonish anyway. The new boiler fitted etc will be about £1500 which we don't have but my fear is that the several hundred we've been quoted for someone to come look at what's wrong with the old one will be money on top of that if it still has to be replaced anyway.

We are lucky in that the weather has thus far held out and we have an electric shower so have been managing for washing but obviously how long we can get by without any hot water is limited. Any advice anyone?

Tallymanjohn

Are there any local heating engineers offering free estimates? OK, you may need to take what they say with a pinch of salt, but if you can get a couple you can start comparing what the fault/cost is likely to be.

wigginsmum

We inherited an old boiler 6 years ago, had it repaired once then replaced it. We were told you should expect to replace a boiler after 10 years. Unfortunately our new boiler has gone wrong every year since then. We find if we leave it switched off completely for a few days, often it just sorts itself out and fires up again when we switch it on, but obviously that's not an exact science and not treating the underlying fault, whatever it is.

Getting quotes is a good idea - whatever you decide, you don't want to try and go through winter without heating.

rog2

You could find that there are grants available for switching to a more energy saving boiler. Worth checking with local council/British Gas.

tightbarsteward

My girlfriend had a similar problem with an ancient boiler & it just kept breaking down again & again. In my experience, get a new one. A few of my mates are plumbers so I managed to get a new boiler bought & fitted for just under £600.

tirednurse_2

Kelinik - I have sent you a pm.

CLAPTON

phone around and find someone who will give you quote either free or a fixed price (£40 is more than enough ) and that will be offset against any work agreed.


if it is a really old boiler, you may wish to take into account that a modern boiler is much more efficient in its use of gas and so will save you money which give the price of gas would be a worthwhile saving.

Callanish

Hi Kelinik

I'm in the same position - my boiler is a fairly ancient-looking combi which died back in March, after a long, slow decline and a couple of failed repair attempts by a local engineer.

Rather than wasting more money on repairs, I decided to save up and get it replaced. So far I've saved £800 which I'm really pleased with, considering I don't have much cash left after my bills, mortgage and debt repayments are accounted for.

Now I'm a hardy northerner, but I'm still a long way off the cheapest quote I've had and winter is approaching fast...

I've had several quotes, the cheapest was £1400 and the most expesnsive (British Gas) was £2500:eek: just to replace the combi with a condensing boiler, and only the boiler - the rest of the system is fine (i think).

Does that sound expensive? This is only to heat a 2-bed flat. I have no idea of what is normal, but I've seen boilers on sale for about £600 in Wickes catalogue. Has anyone got any experience of buying the boiler themselves, and persuading a heating engineer to install it? I'm tempted to try this approach, but have visions of being left with an unsuitable boiler that no one will install!!

Any ideas folks? I'm just hoping the warm spell will hold out a bit longer while I procrastinate further!

Callie