Boiler Failed British Gas Take on inspection

agile83

Hi all,

I signed up for boiler cover with British Gas on my 20 year old Baxi Solo 2 boiler and today they said they couldnt take it on cover unless I had the heat exchanger in it replaced ( badly corroded), that would cost around £500 though.

I have been advised to discuss options for a new boiler with British Gas, and they are arriving at my home tomorrow to go through options with me.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing or indeed with British Gas and their prices and payment options? I am wondering if there is a recommended option I should consider first or that I should check out another company as they would likely be cheaper?

I have never owned a home with central heating and so never head any dealings with boilers, gas companys etc, but I presume many people can replace my boiler and offer me competitive solutions.

The friendly british gas engineer advised me to look at a worcester bosch greenstar 15ri or 18ri, and magnabooster.

Any advice / suggestions much appreciated,

cheers

KTF

This is a thinly disguised play by BG to sell you a new boiler.

First phone them up and cancel the appointment for tomorrow.

Then get a local plumber round (recommended by friends, etc) and get them to service it and see if it actually needs new parts/replacing. I would be amazed if they are not cheaper than whatever number BG would think up.

Edit: If you can I would cancel the boiler cover if you have signed up for it although if it failed the pre-check then they shouldn't have signed you up anyway but make sure.

agile83

Thanks KTF,

I did have a look at the heat exchanger at the front of the boiler and although the engineer stated they were made from cast iron, this was pretty poor looking, the metal had flaked off and it was very black over a fairly large part of it. With my zero / limited knowledge of boilers it looked in bad shape. He showed me the part which was around £300 on his screen so with labour £500 sounded about right. Ive not yet googled to see if it is cheaper elsewhere.

I did think about the conundrum of spending £500 on the 20 year old boiler or getting a new and presumably more efficient one. My boiler is apparently around 65% efficient compared to a new one achieving around 91%. He did show me some figures and stated I "could" save around £385 per year having a new boiler. I know thats just a random figure based on an average gas consumption but i am thinking even £200 a year would claw me back most of my money in a few years.

To me the new boiler route would make more sense than repairing an old one for £500, but i too feel slightly concerned that I am being pushed into splashing out thousands of pounds when there is a better alternative solution to this problem

Would welcome any comments on this,cheers

Cardew

I personally wouldn't cancel the appointment with BG.

They will prepare a detailed quote, which will very probably be far higher than a local plumber.

However it will give you a specification to use for comparison IF the boiler needs replacing.

However I would then take the advice above and see if the boiler is repairable for a reasonable cost before committing to a new boiler.

P.S. I doubt if any firm will put in place a service plan on a 20 year old boiler.

KTF

Personally I would only replace a boiler when it is either uneconomical to repair or has some sort to terminal failure that means it has to be replaced.

A heat exchanger will discolour through use over time so just because it is black doesnt mean that it is on the way out - hence why I suggested that you get a local guy in to give it a once over first.

If you want to replace it then thats fine but at the very least get a local guy to give you a quote as BG will not be the cheapest.

agile83

Many thanks for your responses and suggestions. General consensus seems to be that British Gas are not the cheapest, so on this basis i will see what they have to say in the morning and compare that information with other companies local to me. I will perhaps report back findings on here tomorrow in case it helps others that stop by this thread when searching in future.

macman

agile83 wrote: »

Many thanks for your responses and suggestions. General consensus seems to be that British Gas are not the cheapest, so on this basis i will see what they have to say in the morning and compare that information with other companies local to me. I will perhaps report back findings on here tomorrow in case it helps others that stop by this thread when searching in future.

Rather worse than that. BG are typically 40% more than a local independent GSR RGI for a boiler install.

ollski

agile83 wrote: »

Many thanks for your responses and suggestions. General consensus seems to be that British Gas are not the cheapest, so on this basis i will see what they have to say in the morning and compare that information with other companies local to me. I will perhaps report back findings on here tomorrow in case it helps others that stop by this thread when searching in future.

You just need to go into it with an open mind, get your quote from bg and then ask others to compete against it. I have come across a bg install not very long ago, replaced an ideal isar with a greenstar ri, powerflush and gas pipe upgrade for 1200...no indie would have touched that....I've also seen them quote prices that are totally unrealistic.
You could listen to the repetetive drivel on here or just get quoted by the big install companies and a couple of indies and arm yourself with the ammo you need to get the best deal.
The fins on the solo2 quite often crumble towards the bottom, it's not too desperate as long as combustion is unaffected.

agile83

ollski, that is an interesting comment - you mentioned about the fins crumbling on the solo2. Interestingly enough it is the fins on the bottom of the exchanger that were crumbling and black. I am now feeling suspicious of what the engineer said especially as i am an avid follower of cowboy builders, bbc rogue traders etc etc. The engineer did say to me that he thought there "might be around an inch left" and that "it might be ok for a bit" but that it may leak water and gas if used and therefore he was turning it off. He then said his boss would be annoyed that he has failed to take on me as a customer onto the boiler cover scheme and then proceeded to leave a voicemail for his boss apologising for not being able to take me on due to failing the boiler on the heat exchanger.

Problem is i have now convinced myself that a boiler with obselete parts and other parts on a reduced spares list is an issue and that it being 65% efficient will cost me in the long run. Am very confused. I would just about be able to find a few thousand to replace the boiler but having just moved in and with other bills to pay i obviously would rather not.

appreciate comments and suggestions and now i guess i need to get someone to inspect the exchanger and see whether it is ok.

Cheers

ollski

It depends what the emissions were like, I'm guessing it was outside the higher level on the reading and so classed as 'at risk', in which case you can choose to operate it or not. It is possible they become so damaged that combustion cannot happen properly and the unit soots up, in that case I would cap it off.
I wouldn't throw money at a new heat exchanger, thats a good chunk towards a new boiler.

ValHaller

agile83 wrote: »

ollski, that is an interesting comment - you mentioned about the fins crumbling on the solo2. Interestingly enough it is the fins on the bottom of the exchanger that were crumbling and black. I am now feeling suspicious of what the engineer said especially as i am an avid follower of cowboy builders, bbc rogue traders etc etc. The engineer did say to me that he thought there "might be around an inch left" and that "it might be ok for a bit" but that it may leak water and gas if used and therefore he was turning it off. He then said his boss would be annoyed that he has failed to take on me as a customer onto the boiler cover scheme and then proceeded to leave a voicemail for his boss apologising for not being able to take me on due to failing the boiler on the heat exchanger.

Pure theatre. Or pantomime.

A heat exchanger problem has no direct implications for a gas leak because gas does not come into contact with the heat exchanger until after combustion. At which point it is not a leak. Just about possible that if the combustion chamber is corroded there may be a Carbon monoxide issue.

But the voicemail to 'apologise' to his boss? His job is to reject unsuitable boilers and accept the rest. It is a scammy trick.