Very old boiler finally packed in

piggles2

My boiler is over 20 years old and has finally packed in and needs replacing asap as i now have no heating.
I have one of the old huge stand up boilers in the airing cupboard and wanted to know a couple of things before replacing it:
1) How is the new boiler installed and what parts of the house will they need access to? (2 of our radiators aren't used but are plumbed in but are blocked of by furniture that can't be moved will they need access to these? and 1 of the rooms is locked and can't be accessed till my room-mate returns from America in over a month so any plumbing in there including a radiator which is off can't be accessed)
2) Will anything else need replacing i.e pipes, water tank etc. again there all 20 years old but i really can't afford to replace them and get a boiler can the boiler be fitted in to our current plumbing?
3) How much should i expect to pay for the work. i am on a limited budget and its very likely im going to have to get a loan to pay for the work and need a guide on how much i need to be thinking.


Thanks for the help as you can probably tell im completely stupid on all things boiler related.

Jem8472

We recently had a new boiler put in.

We are in a two bedroom flat so its a bit different size wise.

We went from an open vented system to a combi.

The plumber drained the system, removed the old water tank and the pipes in the cupboard and just reconnected them as needed.

The old boiler was taken off the wall in the kitchen and the new combi was put in its place.

We had all our rads changed and one removed and capped off. But I am guessing if you don't need them changed then they won't need to touch them.

It depends where the old boiler is and where the new one can go will depend on what work needs to be done.

Our new boiler and rads etc cost us about £2500. It took him about 3 days.

rosie383

That's similar to the quote we just had. As Jem says, it will depend on what you have already and what you need replacing. We have a Baxi back boiler and according to the guy who quoted us, he could put a combi boiler in, keep the existing rads and just cap off the back boiler and gas fire in the living room. Quote was £2350. About 1 1/2 days work, and the labour alone was going to be at least £1000 once we looked at the breakdown of parts versus labour.

greyteam1959

Piggles2.........
Before you rush off & start spending thousands on a new boiler what exactly is wrong with the old one & who told you it was knackered ???
Those old boilers are usually fairly solid simple pieces of kit.

piggles2

mervyn11 wrote: »

Piggles2.........
Before you rush off & start spending thousands on a new boiler what exactly is wrong with the old one & who told you it was knackered ???
Those old boilers are usually fairly solid simple pieces of kit.

The boiler makes a really weird loud kind of pumping noise if you turn the heating on then the radiators don't heat up and we don't get any hot water. The boilers one of the stand up metal ones, its bigger than me and i think it was here when my parents brought the house 28ish years ago, so i'm not sure how available parts will be.

We had a problem with the tank last year and where told then that the boiler and most of the plumbing was on the way out and would need replacing/updating in the next couple of years. I'm hoping it can just be fixed but need a plan in case it can't.

Ideally the boiler can hold on till summer when i can afford to get it fixed and had planned it for.

We haven't had the plumbing updated or any major work done to it in the 20 years i've lived here i guess at some point the plumbing will need updating but i fully admit to knowing nothing about this stuff does plumbing need updating after a while? i know the electrics did.

Gloomendoom

You might be surprised about the parts. Our boiler dates from the 1970's and parts are still available for it. They are cheap too.
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southcoastrgi

make, model & pics ?
just post some pics on one of the free hosting sites then post the links here but take off the http:// & then the forum will just think it's text & one of us will post the pics for you

poppellerant

My 2p worth.

You can either pay what it takes to get the boiler running, so it lasts until next summer as you had planned. Then pay again on a new system.

Or you can pay once for a new system, and save money on the one which is currently in retirement.

Myself, I'd get a new system. Throwing good money after bad isn't always economical.

macman

Make and model of boiler would help.
And yes, the installer will need access to the radiators. What's the point of having them if they are all blocked by furniture?
What you probably have in your airing cupboard is not a 'boiler', it's a hot water tank with an immersion heater.