New Boiler/ heating

Radiantsoul

We have no heating upstairs and so far two plumbers have failed to come up with much of solution. They both seemed to suggest running pipes down from the ceiling...

BG have come up with the following
install a new Potterton Promax Boiler SL15
replace the flume
perform a powerflush
install magnetic system filter
add new thermostat
reconfigure all the pipework

The cost for all this is £3,300 after all discounts. In total there are five radiators.

The advantage of this is they will get it sorted, whereas the other plumbers seemed less certain that it would actually work.

Is this reasonable?

Canucklehead

Radiantsoul wrote: »

We have no heating upstairs and so far two plumbers have failed to come up with much of solution. They both seemed to suggest running pipes down from the ceiling...

BG have come up with the following
install a new Potterton Promax Boiler SL15
replace the flume
perform a powerflush
install magnetic system filter
add new thermostat
reconfigure all the pipework

The cost for all this is £3,300 after all discounts. In total there are five radiators.

The advantage of this is they will get it sorted, whereas the other plumbers seemed less certain that it would actually work.

Is this reasonable?

Good evening: you need to get in independent RGIs who are also plumbers to quote. What is BG's solution? Btw...their boiler offering isn't one I would recommend and the price is OTT for the spec.

Canucklehead

Radiantsoul

Thanks
The radiators only have one pipe going both in and out. They are going to change this so there is a pipe going in and another pipe going out.

Nebacaneza

its quite a high quote baring in mind that a normal boiler replacement with a high flow rate combi 19 ltrs a min including evreything would only cost you 2800.00 including 5 year guarantee from the new boiler company

Radiantsoul

Thanks, I think I was hoping for something under £3k. BG have thrown in two years of their homecare which is worth about £385.
I am happy to pay a couple of hundred quid for a company I know, but BG seems to have a bad reputation on here!

gas4you

If you are saying that you have a one-pipe system at present and they are converting it to a 2 pipe system, then this entails a lot of extra work in comparison to a standard boiler change, so for once i do not think BG are being that far out.

Radiantsoul

My current setup looks like this, with nothing on the other side. It seems this might be the root cause of the problems...

Nebacaneza

You have whats called in the trade a twin entry system. This type of system cannot be powerflushed and the pipework will at some stage of its life been working on an old gravity system. the inside of the pipework will be coated with ferite or iron oxide deposits that will have hardened with time. converting this system is not an option. it is not a single pipe system it works on a flow and return system. Dont listen to anyone that suggests adding onto this type of system. I have been a gas installer since 1987. Have been corgi registered and are gas safety registered. i run the new boiler company you can find it on google im not bidding for work you are in fact the opposite end of the country to where i work. but rest assured the only consideration you should be making is replacing the entire system. The homecare that you were offered would not be needed if you had a new system as the system should come with a five year manufacturers guarantee. its not the pipe and radiators that go wrong its normally the boiler. If you just added on to the system i could almost guarantee you that BG would be coming back to quote you for even more work. Just make sure that you get a magna clean or a fernox TF-1 filter installed when you have the work done / it will extend guarantees and help with the life of your boiler. the reason you cannot powerflush a twin entry system is because inside the radiator there is a small bar that runs from one side of the rad to the other from the twin entry valve. when it is powerflushed they pop off inside the radiator and destroy the operation of that radiator. have a look at twin entry rad valves. Im shocked that people in the ttrade are suggesting powerflushing this type of system. you could be charged your quote and when they pop off they could increase the quote for futher work to replace your system. you could end up with a hefty bill. i wish you well

good luck

nigel

Radiantsoul

Thanks Nigel for your detailed answer.
So it seems like I need a new boiler, radiator and pipes.

gas4you

Depending on how neat you want the pipes to look, you could have a normal valve fitted each end of the rads, then one of the pipes extended to the other end of the radiator.

This works well, but not if you cannot stand seeing pipes.

Nebacaneza

you could just change the rads into valve onto either end but that would still mean that you are using a very old dirty system on a new boiler and despite a powerflush after the rad valve changes you will still have some problems with the system in the near future, you will need to throw more money at it in the medium term. seriously if the remit is to save on gas usage and try to cut down bills and add extra hot water whilst still wanting piece of mind check out flowsmart if your budget cant stretch that far then consider a CD35C combi with a flow rate of 19.2 ltrs a min max with a gas saver. i have many happy customers who have used this array and they have had no problems at all and its satisfied their needs. david from rossington in doncaster used to have a £90 monthly gas bill and that was slashed to £34.00 p month by his gas supplier when they were updated with his info. he has cancelled his bg service contract. he now saves the difference from the two gas bills per month+the price of his bg contract and he has piece of mind because his radiators are stelred softline elites (10 Year GTEE) boiler has five year guarantee controls have three year and the pipework well thats got a five year installation gtee so he doesnt have to worry about anything for 5 years and if anything goes wrong they are manufacturers guarantees so he has the gtees backed up by established companies. you may wonder if its worth it . All the receipts are copied and given to the customer so if he choses to get someone else in the future then he can get any failure rectified without the need for the original plumber atending. i think that rules out the worry if they think about anyone going out of business. now if memory serves me correctly a gas contract for 5 years with bg is about 700.00. five years of saving gas that was reduced for the type of system installed without inflation is 3,360 pounds. just on that basis do you see the potential saving for investing around 3.3 now and remember the life expectancy is around 10-15 years so emagine the savings over a ten year period.

id say thats efficient wouldnt you?