Gas Work Required

Smick100

We recently had a gas engineer come in to our flat we have just bought in order to do a service. He has told us that our whole system is in need of modernisation.

The boiler is about ten years old. There is a fairly grubby timer with it although it works fine in turning it on and off. It has pins for off and pins for on. There is no ability to heat water or the radiators separately.

The radiators do not get very hot. They give out decent heat but not as warm as I have experienced in other properties.

The hot water is good and warm with good pressure in the shower and the bathroom tap although very low pressure in the kitchen tap. The cold water supply in the kitchen which comes through the fitting is a good pressure.

I have bled the radiators and all the water which comes out is surprisingly clean when compared to other radiators I have bled in the past.

The gas engineer has advised we do / install / buy the following:

Two Port System Pack - £169
Expansion Vessel with filling loop - £84
22mm magna clean - £101
Thermostatic radiator valves - £90.50
Copper tube and sundries - £126.08
Electrical cable - £16.50
Powerflush of existing system with X800 - £275
Labour - £250.

Bringing us to £1,112.08.

He has also suggested that we buy a Valiant boiler and flue for £1,059.54 and he will install that as part of the same labour.

This gives us a grand total of £2,171.62. £2.2k that we don't have.

He seems like a very decent guy and I have no doubt he will do a good job but I just wonder if all of the above is necessary and if there is anything could be done DIY or sourced any cheaper.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Smick

gas4you

My immediate reaction is stick with what you've got, but then I haven't seen your system. There is nothing to make you have to 'modernise' your system and the savings you will make will takes many years to give a pay back.

You could drain your system and add x400 and leave in for up to a month, then flush it all out yourself and see if this improves the radiators temperatures and efficiency.