Power flush quote from Vaillant

gekko2102

Hi all. We lost our hot water a few weeks back and called out a boiler engineer. The first guy who came told us that we needed a Vaillant specialist so we ended up calling out Vaillant directly (we'd already wasted a week and a half with someone who couldn't help us so wanted to ensure it got sorted quickly). The guy who came out fixed it but showed us that there was lots of sludge in the system. Sure enough, 2 weeks later, we are again getting dripping out of the outside pipe and the pressure is headed back up into the red zone.

When we phoned Vaillant, they said they wouldn't send another engineer out until we'd had a power flush. They have provided a quote from their recommended company and it's £595 including fitting a filter. This is for a 4 bedroomed, 3 storey house with 9 radiators.

Looking online, it seems that you can get the job done for as low as £350, but Which indicates that a power flush could cost from £330 - £450 and the filter fitting from £150 - £240. With that in mind, £595 doesn't seem outrageous although it's certainly at the high end of the range Which gives. We do live in London, so I'd expect the price to be higher than elsewhere in the country.

So, my question is simply, does this price seem fair? It's a lot of money and has come as something of a shock. However, I want to ensure we use someone reputable so I'm wary of just scouring the phone book.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

C_Mababejive

I wonder how old your boiler is? Was it fitted to an old system as a boiler replacement? Modern new boilers do not tolerate this kind of carp in them very well and it can be extremely troublesome to cleanse them thoroughly and get them back to normal again if at all possible. Thats why it is costly.

gekko2102

Thanks for the response. The boiler (combi) was fitted 8 years ago and replaced a conventional boiler. We then had all the radiators in the house replaced 2 years ago. Additionally, we had a loft conversion earlier this year, which added 2 new radiators (so 9 in total).

macman

Rads replaced, or rads and pipework?
Even if the former, the system should not be too sludged up after 2 years?

gekko2102

Just rads replaced, not pipework.

C_Mababejive

Did they flush the system prior to fitting the new boiler?

gekko2102

It's a good question, but I can't remember I'm afraid as it's 8 or 9 years ago.

C_Mababejive

Theoretically, if the system had been thoroughly flushed on new install and a filter fitted then along with suitable water treatment,you wouldnt have the current issue.

gekko2102

Agreed. I can't think why this didn't happen. We did use a company that were highly recommended by several people locally, but as I say, it's a long time ago so I can't really remember any of the actual conversations. Unfortunately, it's one of those things that as a non-expert in heating, you tend to have no awareness of until something goes wrong. I'd never heard of power flushing or magnetic filters until 2 weeks ago. Anyway, suffice to say, we do now!

C_Mababejive

Well id say that its important to arrest the problem right now because if you dont, you will be into a new boiler prematurely. Look for a reputable company who will do the powerflush,water treat,fit filter and back it up with some kind of warranty. Maybe you need to sign on to a British Gas contract? At least once you have thrown some money at fixing the problem you will have some peace of mind with some back up whereas if you pay a random independent, they will not be wanting to come back once they have done the job.

gekko2102

Thanks for this. When Vaillant came out to fix the boiler they put us on a service contract, which we can cancel if we want (we'll review later but our focus now is on just getting the problem fixed once and for all). They have put us in touch with their recommended power flush company and whilst they seem a bit more expensive than a local company might be, it may be better to stick with their recommendation as it's likely to be a decent job. We have confirmed with the Vaillant-recommended company that the job will take them 5 hours, they will fit a filter, treat the water and provide a 2 year warranty for the work. We are now waiting on them supplying a date when one of their engineers is available.

I should add that the filter is manufactured by Adey and comes with it's own guarantee (2 years from fitting company and a further 8 years from the manufacturer).