Rough Estimate/Quote for a New Boiler in a small, East London flat..

vivvov

Hello There

I own a small, double glazed, warm, one bed, ex council flat in East London.
I’ve lived there 10 years and never used the Gas..it’s capped a the Meter.
If it’s cold, I’m Northern so I put a jumper on… and get out the “luxury”fan heater for 5 min if I have guests from the South.
I switch the immersion on for a bath.
I have an old (really old, some might say vintage) indirect feed boiler and tanks located in a very large cupboard/small room behind a door in my bathroom. I have simply ignored these lumps of metal in there. I do not venture in too far..Narnia may well lurk behind those tanks.

Bit of a Luddite but even us Luddite’s need qualifications so I’m off to study and live on my narrowboat and rent my flat out.
Obviously the “put a jumper on” routine won’t cut the mustard with regards to renting, so I’m looking or quotes for a new combi boiler.

4 Gas Safety Engineers so far.
2 just looked so I’m expecting lookstimates from them soon.
2 did thorough survey, flow and pressure tests, and took a good, long look at the doglegged bodge of a Meter relocation involving 15 mill copper from Meter to wide bore steel pipe that then leads to old Boiler.
They were thorough…I like thorough.

However, before even receiving a quote, I seemed to have entered the strange phenomenon of the “London Price Triangle”.
All 4 recommended Vaillant Ecotex 24…right size, simple layout, stainless steel, easy to maintain…installed right, good boiler.
One engineer then said Vaillant Ecotex 24 price is £1000. Even Luddites have google..Ecotex 24 and there it is, £630 exclusive of VAT (plus inline descaler thrown in for free RRP £25) and I didn’t even look hard…. London VAT equals £1000?!
I do not think so.
He also said 2, maybe 3 days, work by 2 people. It’s a small flat, 2 people working hard will run out of air before the day’s out.
Plus he said he would remove the tanks and pipe work. I don’t need him to do that. The tanks are out of he way, Narnia is hidden. If I wanted to, I’d remove the tanks and get £100 plus for the scrap copper as opposed to have someone charge me for the work and cash in the scrap themselves.

I am expecting a stupid quote.
He was thorough though.

Now the million dollar question I was hoping to receive an answer for.
Can someone tell me what is a reasonable, rough estimate for replacing the boiler in a small East London flat….including powerflush, magnaclean, in line descaler, thermostat valves on 4 rads?

All answers greatly appreciated as they’ll be useful in further conversation with Gas Safety Engineers of my choosing in the hope of getting a thorough and reasonably priced job done.

..and if you know of a Gas Safety Engineer..working East London.

Thanks

Vivvov

Now the tricky job of trying to post this…I’ve tried 2 times so far and have no idea where they went..3rd time lucky

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: how much would you expect to pay?

Canucklehead

vivvov

Hello Canucklehead

Seen many of your posts whilst trying to find info.
You reply quick!

Was hoping for an idea of what to be expected.
But you suggest around £2k?
..is that with VAT(...ordinary VAT)?

The thing is it's all in the detail and I work in Social Care so I don't know much..new wide bore pipe from meter to original steel, plus all the flushes, descaler, Magnaclean, inhibitor etc..would this be included in the reasonable estimate or would they all be extra.
So I'm just trying to get a handle on a spade being called a spade as opposed to getting confused by stuff

I'm hoping the 2rd thorough guy comes through with a reasonable price.
He asked about dials etc..I said simplist and cheapest..and he laughed, nodded and said he'd just come from an expensive boiler job where he'd taken 2 hours trying to describe how the controls worked...he also said he'd clear the tanks for free because he could get £100 plus for the scrap...a certain honesty that I hope extends to price.

Vivvov

vivvov

Thanks for you time and knowledge Canucklehead.
Will post as I receive..and discuss further.

vivvov

I've seen that your OH fits Viesmann as a preferrable first option...and other folk have been critical of Vailant...the 5 year guarantee on the Viesmann beats the 2 years I've been offered...but non of the Gas Safety guys so far have mentioned Viesmann...and I guess are unfamiliar with fitting them so possibly fitting an unfamiliar product is not a good starting point for them?
Saying that, if they're good and I can get a competent installer...What small Viesmann model, in your opinion, might be appropriate for my flat?

Vivvov

Canucklehead

vivvov wrote: »

I've seen that your OH fits Viesmann as a preferrable first option...and other folk have been critical of Vailant...the 5 year guarantee on the Viesmann beats the 2 years I've been offered...but non of the Gas Safety guys so far have mentioned Viesmann...and I guess are unfamiliar with fitting them so possibly fitting an unfamiliar product is not a good starting point for them?
Saying that, if they're good and I can get a competent installer...What small Viesmann model, in your opinion, might be appropriate for my flat?

Vivvov

Hi..they are excellent boilers. Viessmann does a 26 kW version of the Vitodens 100...more here.

Btw...the Vaillant EcoTEC Plus series is also an excellent product but slightly more expensive. As a budget option, the OH installs Remeha.

HTH

Canucklehead

vivvov

Remeha Avanta 24c?
That is a low cost option..and the installer forums seem to say install and forget..but also 5 year guarantee.plus if parts needed then they're easy to obtain..
I'm typing out loud and sounding like an advert for them!
Thanks again.

vivvov

Plus it works on really low water pressure ..0.5 bar..which is an issue with me being 3 storeys up.

Canucklehead

vivvov wrote: »

Remeha Avanta 24c?
That is a low cost option..and the installer forums seem to say install and forget..but also 5 year guarantee.plus if parts needed then they're easy to obtain..
I'm typing out loud and sounding like an advert for them!
Thanks again.

Good morning: just curious...installer forums? Tbh..lots of armchair 'heating experts' surfing the internet forums.

Keep in mind...a boiler is only as good as its installation and annual servicing.

Canucklehead

Pincher

0.5 bar and a combi?

Good luck hunting for low pressure fittings.

vivvov

Hello Pincher...Oh!..Low pressure fittings..I thought it would be the other way round..!