Boiler Failed British Gas Take on inspection

powerflush

Hi,

If you are new to the home and don't have any of records of when the last boiler service was carried out then it might just be case of doing a full strip and clean on the boiler.
It may look a lot worse then it is, it's quite possible that it has never been cleaned in the last 20 years.
Baxi Solo's are quite robust boilers and most have plenty more life left them.
I would suggest a getting a GSR engineer to give the heating exchanger a good clean along with the burner.
You need to find out from the British Gas if it failed on emissions?

There is a gasket that goes from the fan to flue turret that crumbles away due to the heat, this can cause high emissions. Also check the flues condition if emissions are high.
If the heat exchanger is not leaking at the moment than it is quite possible for it to carry on fine for many years to come.

With regards to efficiency I think you would realistically be looking at around 12-15 years to break even on your investment in a new boiler.

In case you can't tell I am a fan of the Baxi Solo 2, not sure insurance cover is the best option for you, they are quite reliable boilers.
Use a independent when they break down or use British Gas a guaranteed fix or no charge basis as when the boiler breaks, maybe a cheaper option.

Ignite

Don't waste your money with BG. All they are interested in is getting you to buy a new boiler. This is where they make their money. A new boiler will never get to the efficiency level that is quoted as this is usually under lab conditions and in the average home it will get no where near these figures.

My boiler is now 23 years old and still going strong. There is no way that I would change it unless there was a major failure. I have it serviced each year and it cost me £55 for the service. The only replacement part I've had to fit to the boiler itself was a new thermostat and this was due to the old one arcing and causing interference on DAB and Freeview. The part cost me £25 and it was fitted for free during an annual service.

The other bit of major work I've had done on the system was a new hot water tank and header tank. The old header tank was within weeks of failure as it was nearly totally rusted through and now I've got a very well insulated hot water tank and the whole system is running very well.

Find a good local company and get a full service. They will soon sort your boiler for you.

agile83

Had a quote from British Gas this morning - £3800 for a straight gas boiler swap, powerflush, magnafilter and 10 TRVs. Cant believe even BG would go as high as almost £4000.

I am definitely going to have a full service of the boiler done, and even if they turn round and say i need a new heat exchanger at least I have only spent £100 pounds or so and will know where i need to go from there.

Am pleased to see a few fans of the Baxi Solo boiler, mine is a solo 2 PF 14.65KW. British gas tried to sell me a worcester 24ri - a full 10kw higher than what i have now. Apparently by law BG cannot quote for a smaller boiler on the off chance that i will get my loft insulated and cavity walls insulated. The salesman told me they need to quote me the correct boiler for this current point in time, regardless of whether i get the house properly insulated. Seems suspect to me. I know nothing of boilers but to me a worcester 15ri or 18ri would surely suffice and would be a worthy successor to a 14.65w baxi solo?

Appreciate comments and responses, it has opened my eyes on this subject, thanks

KTF

How much did an independent want for the service? Always get more than 1 quote.

ollski

Lot of money, what could you beat him down to?.Now you can get like for like quotes and see what the market rate is.

The price differnce between the 12ri and the 28ri are pretty negligable, I'd always go bigger to allow future expansion and I'm pretty sure Worcester require a 22mm gas supply to the smaller greenstars anyway.

I'm not keen on the solo 2, the only two kitchen fires I have personally seen caused by boilers have been 1 x puma and 1 x solo 2. I reckon my pro rata turnover of fans, pcbs and gas valves are higher on this model than any other. I am a fan of the fact that you can strip them down in less than a minute though!