Replacing old boilers is going to cost over £6K, help?!

JJ1980_2

Hi,

We have a large house which used to be an old peoples home. The property has two condensing boilers plus a large cylinder which are old and will need replacing soon. We've had two quotes to replace, one for £6,200 and one for £8000 (both installing two condensing and one cylinder). The quotes states that we require 48kW because the house has 4 bathrooms plus a downstairs toilet (and is approx. 3500 sq ft). Currently though there are only 3 of us (2 adults plus a baby) and whilst we plan to grow, 2 of the 4 bathrooms will be used infrequently and the top floor of the property (which has one bathroom) won't be used for at least 5 years. Both quotes seem excessive given our circumstances and whilst the new boilers will save on our significant energy bills I wonder if the best solution is like for like replacement for the existing units? We plan to be in the property for the next 20 years so happy to invest in the right solution, help!

JJ

southcoastrgi

the quotes may not be far out, without knowing what they are doing & alterations that have to be made it's impossible from this side of the keyboard to say one way or the other, you have to allow for whats in the house just because you aren't using a room or bathroom this week doesn't mean you aren't going to use it next week.

unfortunately you can't live in Buck House & expect Vera Duckworth repair bills.

Andy_L

The difference in cost between a 48kw boiler & a smaller one isn't that much (~<£100 depending on how small you go). The rest of the cost will be labour & stuff like pipeing which will be the same regardless of the boiler output so you won't save much

Innys

Obvious question - why did you buy a house so large when you don't need the space now and probably never will, by your own admission?

If you had bought somewhere a little smaller you wouldn't be smarting at the costs of maintaining such a large house.

shaun_from_Africa

Provided that you don't mind having 2 lots of work carried out, why not just split it between two jobs done a year or two apart?

Find out which boiler supplies the rooms you use most (or change rooms to suit if needed) and get that one replaced now and sometime in the future, get the second one done.

HappyMJ

Pay for the boiler on a credit card and then get some lodgers in to rent some rooms from you and pay the credit card off. The quotes to me seem fair...it's a large house formerly a old people's home and with 4 bathrooms the cylinder and boiler needs to sized correctly or you'll be complaining the hot water is running out.

diywhynot

Andy_L wrote: »

The difference in cost between a 48kw boiler & a smaller one isn't that much (~<£100 depending on how small you go). ./QUOTE]

Hmmm....no. Huge jump in cost when you get over 40 kW system/OV boiler not to mention gas supply etc.

O.P.: you're in Atag Q series territory (or Keston:eek:) for a solo domestic boiler. What did your your 2 quotes specify?

keystone

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Provided that you don't mind having 2 lots of work carried out, why not just split it between two jobs done a year or two apart?

Find out which boiler supplies the rooms you use most (or change rooms to suit if needed) and get that one replaced now and sometime in the future, get the second one done.

Unless one is for DHW and the second is for CH which is the more likely split IMO.

Cheers

JJ1980_2

Thanks for responses so far. Clearly I need to provide a little more detail for you guys, below is what's been quoted (£6.2k):

- drain heating system
- strip out existing boilers and water heater
- installing two worcester greenstar 24ri condensing boilers
- installing two extended balanced flue kits and condensate drain
- converting the system to fully pumped
- installing programmes and wireless room thermostat
- installing a 300 litre unvented water cylinder
- refilling system, charging inhibitor
- commissioing boiler and balancing system
- issuing certification on completion

Thanks all.

mttylad

That is not much more information that the first post.

IMO the answers remain the same.

The suggestion to split it may be good - it may however cost more in the long run. Are you able to DIY help the installation to reduce labour costs?

Also, get more quotes and from local reputable heating engineers - not just BG.

P.S. The worcester greenstar 24ri looks a little small for such a big house, they are only £700 so there is a lot of labour and piping etc in that quote.

robatwork

Am no boiler expert but.....

You should consider your future plans - can you get one big boiler to handle all the HW and CH needs?

Otherwise you should think about the fact you may want to in future split your property and rent out/sell one part of it, so need 2 boilers that can work separately and each provide HW and CH to one floor / one half of the house. So any pipework you get done now won't be wasted if you decide to do this at some point.