Is It Expensive To Move A Boiler?

ksh123

Hi
I am about to get some quotes for a new boiler as mine needs a costly repair which I have been told by 2 engineers may not be worth doing as the boiler itself is pretty old.
When we bought this house 3 years ago the boiler was already installed - in the back bedroom! As this is a 2 bedroom house and I have a daughter its a real inconvenience as she finds it very noisy and I can't use the heating or hot water if she is in bed (which she often is, lol).
So, given that getting a new boiler is expensive enough I wondered if having it moved down to the kitchen would send the price of the job into the stratosphere?

I do have room in the kitchen, its beyond me to know why it was put upstairs in the first place, and would love to have it re-sited.

Hope someone has some advice.
thanks.

illmonkey

depends if the kitchen is the other side of the house, so more piping and time is required.

They'll charge you by the hour for it, something silly! If its just going in the (roughly) same place but downstairs, i can imagine its not too hard (pipes will properly come up from the floor of the 1st floor, so all they'd have to do is point them down.

My parents new boiler cost £2100 on its own, i'd expect to be paying at least £3000 with the move. It will take them a good half day!

Ken68

It's usual, Ksh. to have the boiler and hot water cylinder adjacent.
This saves losing heat on the way. No EXTRA work would be needed,as it would be a new project , tho if you mention it, they might charge more.
Just sold a scrap HWC for £30, so your old system is worth something. Get quotes for a new installation. They might take out and take away the old system for nowt.
Also grants may be available even for those in work.

Aoife's_mum

Hello

I was quoted £500 to move mine, but this was moving it back to a position it had been before, so probably was a bit less work.

hth

wehavethepower

Hi there, can't tell you how much it will be but just wanted to say YOU SHOULD DEFINATELY MOVE IT REGARDLESS OF THE COST!!!
I once rented a flat where the boiler was in my bedroom. By pure chance because the landlord had to do the annual gas safety certificate check, the engineer discovered that there was a fault with the boiler and that it could have blown up at any time. It was about 1/2 a metre from my bed. They had to shut it off immediately and it had to be repaired before it could be used again.

Also there is always the possibility of CARBON MONOXIDE POISINING with the boiler and you would never know it was there until it was too late. So get the cheapest quote you can and move it ASAP as no price is surely worth your daughter's life. For more info - http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/

Make sure that your boiler gets it's annual safety check, and buy a carbon monixide detector no matter where your boiler is -- the cheapest one I have found is here...(don't buy it on the carbonmonoxidekills site as it's more expensive)!

https://vault2.secured-url.com/gtiedf/default.asp

TAG

I lived in a rented house with the boiler upstairs on the landing in the airing cupboard.

One night we heard this almighty bang. It was as if someone had dropped a large TV upstairs. Went to investigate but found nothing. This happened on two more occasions but we still couldn't find the cause.

Anyway to cut a long story short. When BG came to do the yearly inspection on the boiler it turns out that when it had fired up flames were coming out of the front of the bolier, going up the back of it and was on the verge of setting the whole thing on fire. Hence the strange bangs we'd heard.

The house we live in now has the same type of boiler. I don't trust it an inch even though it's regularly serviced. I would love to have it moved or better still replaced and moved downstairs. However hubby is a little slack when it comes to organising things in order of saftey or importance and my protesets fall on deaf ears.

So I agree with wehavethepower if you can move it, move it.

Avoriaz

wehavethepower wrote:

…YOU SHOULD DEFINATELY MOVE IT REGARDLESS OF THE COST!!!..

I agree.

Personally I would hate to have a boiler in my bedroom. The kitchen is the ideal place for it. Preferably tucked away inside a cupboard which helps reduce any noise.

It could cost quite a lot more to move but this depends on the availability of a gas supply and how much extra pipe work will be required. Get a few quotes and make sure the charges are reasonable. Can you DIY any of it? Basic plumbing is actually quite simple and maybe you can do some of that and have a Corgi registered professional do the final completion and gas work.

Even if it costs you £1,000 or more to relocate it, that will be money well spent. Your daughter will have a much more pleasant and safer room and, if you ever sell the house, you will recover the money spent.

A boiler in a bedroom could knock £1,000s off the value of a property.

If raising the extra money is difficult, try increasing your mortgage.

robv_3

If all goes well it takes a day to hang a boiler and maybe another to remove the old boiler and moving the pipe work. Don't forget stuff goes wrong so need a contingency eg, another days pay.

I would expect to play a min £800 inc parts and another 1000 for a new boiler in expensive areas.

Alfrescodave

We've just had a new boiler installed and looking around it would seem that approx £2000 is typical for a fitted condensing boiler. Obviously some areas may be cheaper and major companies like BG, expensive.
Ask around for recommendations and get 3 quotes, though this time of year boiler installers are probably busy.

ksh123

Thanks to you all for your good advice.
I can't quote everyone here as it would take a page! so I'll just answer some points if that's ok.

1. Its a combi boiler so there is no HWC to remove and my plan is to have it removed to a cupboard directly below. Of course I will lose a kitchen cupboard but that's fine by me.
2. Sadly I can't DIY any of it as we are just women in this house and know as much about plumbing as most of you probably do about errr something I do know a lot about.
3. I am on incapicity benefit and disabled living allowance and looked into getting a grant. While I do qualify I was told that a) I could only have the grant if my boiler actually stopped working which it hasn't (yet) and b) that it could take between 6 & 8 months to have the work completed because of the demand! (Feel sorrry for any old folk who have to shiver whilst waiting for something to happen.)

4. I am aware of the dangers and it has troubled me since we moved in. At first I had regular servicing but that hasn't been possible for the last 2 years because of my disability and shortage of money.
5. Anyway, I am very lucky now, because I have received a small inheritance which will, hopefully, pay for the work. By rights the money should be going towards my debts but I reckon our safety comes first so have had to prioritise.

The first engineer is coming round tomorrow to give me a quote. Just hope I don't have to wait too long as I am now totally paranoid about the safety aspect.

thanks again everybody. xx

Avoriaz

ksh123 wrote:

…. looked into getting a grant. While I do qualify I was told that a) I could only have the grant if my boiler actually stopped working which it hasn't (yet) and b) that it could take between 6 & 8 months to have the work completed because of the demand! ….

If the existing boiler needs expensive repairs, you could be a bit creative about how well it is working when applying for your grant. If the cost of repair is a large sum and buying a new boiler makes more sense, maybe you could get a grant. Apply for one and see what happens.

Good luck.