New boiler now or wait until next year?

cassoncomps

Hi all,

my current 16 year old boiler is on it's way out. It's a convection boiler and is unfortunately rusting/rotting on the inside. On it's service last weekend the engineer cleaned it out and said that whilst it's fine for the time being it will need replacing soon.

I've just had a British Gas engineer come around to give a quotation on a new boiler. He has quoted £3131 for a combi-boiler and £2700 for a convection boiler. These prices include a couple of discounts for being part of their HomeCare scheme and £400 off for boiler scrappage (which the chap said could be ending anytime soon).

Obviously I want to pay as little as possible for a new boiler but am aware that I will have to shell out at some stage to get some. Frustratingly I think that I would have been eligible for a new one under the ECO free boiler scheme before I got married in April because of my low wage and Tax Credits. Now that I am married I no longer get Tax Credits but still have the low income and no chance of a free boiler. My wife has a high income but much of this goes into bills/mortgage/living costs and as such we have little savings and obviously Christmas is around the corner.

I know that the Government will be relaunching the ECO scheme as ECO2 early next year, and was wondering if it would be worthwhile waiting until that started to see what benefits that would bring. The boiler scrappage discount is a decent saving but will be ending soon but the engineer didn't know when.

Does anyone have any relevant information and advice about the new schemes terms and benefits or when the scrappage offer will ends?

Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated!

Girlkk125

There is no way you would qualify for a new boiler if you do not have any benefits. Especially as your wife has "a high income". Really you are looking at needing at least working tax credits, but it's more for people on Jobseeker's Allowance or pensions or incapacity benefits or things like that.

If I were you I would ask a couple of local tradesman to give you a quote. That is more likely to save you money. Boilers are always expensive, whenever you buy one.

captainhindsight_2

At least wait until the end of the month there is a cashbaxk scheme coming which is worth waiting for

cassoncomps

Thanks for that.
Do you know who the cashback scheme is with? Is it British Gas?

captainhindsight_2

cassoncomps wrote: »

Thanks for that.
Do you know who the cashback scheme is with? Is it British Gas?[/QUOTQUO


Loads of companies will offer it when it does come out, it will be called the green deal home improvement fund 1.2

At this stage we have no detailsother than it will be similar to v 1.1but we have been told details will be released at the end of this month

Cardew

I would query why a 16 year old non-condensing boiler would need replacing at 'only' 16 years old.


Many of us on this forum have boilers 25+ year old boilers(mine is 26).


I am afraid that some fitters - especially from BG - have an incentive to persuade customers to get a new boiler. Usual excuse is spares are not available!


P.S. The BG employee who gave the quote is not an 'engineer' but a salesman.

ariba10

Whatever you decide. Do not rely on a British Gas quote alone.

captainhindsight_2

If it's 16 years old it's on its way out.

There are people on here who are happy to keep there old boiler and keep spending money on repairs and keeping it going and spending to much money on gas because there boiler is inefficient.

But you will be much better off replacing your old boiler with 90+efficiency boiler, no repairs, has a guarantee etc...

Cardew

captainhindsight wrote: »

If it's 16 years old it's on its way out.

There are people on here who are happy to keep there old boiler and keep spending money on repairs and keeping it going and spending to much money on gas because there boiler is inefficient.

But you will be much better off replacing your old boiler with 90+efficiency boiler, no repairs, has a guarantee etc...

I do appreciate your Modus operandi but others may not;)

Many of us with old boilers keep them because they are trouble free and as such we do not need to spend money on repairs. My 26 year old boiler has needed 2 thermocouples(costing a couple of pounds) in it's lifetime.

The 90% efficiencies of condensing boilers are achieved under laboratory conditions - and even then not for domestic hot water(DHW). However what are the savings even if 90% efficiency could be achieved.

The average gas consumption in UK is apparently 13,500kWh pa. That would cost £472 @ 3.5p/kWh.(we can now exclude the Daily Standing Charge) Now with an old boiler it might cost 10% more than average so an extra £47. With a new boiler perhaps 10% less than average; so £47 saving.

With the above scenario we are talking about a £94 annual saving between an old an new boiler. this was published in 2010:

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors stated recently :

The average cost of installing one of these modern boilers is £1,720, but saves on average just £95 off people's gas bills

If you think a £94 pa saving is too low - pick your own figure £100? £150? £200?. How long to payback the installation cost of a new boiler at £2,500? £3,000?

How long do modern boilers last - manufacturers seem to think 10 years is a reasonable figure?

Now the Warranty. I believe Worcester Bosch give 5 years provided it is serviced by one of their approved fitters and that along with Viessmann iirc is about the best guarantee available.






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HUMBUG

Hi there - I am in a worse position because my 25 year old Glow-worm was shut down by the engineer saying it failed the CO2/CO ratio test . God knows whether they are conning me or not but he was quick to offer me a quote of £2600 + vat for a new Worcester Bosch +new thermostat, programmer + magna clean, etc . What he didn't include are all those extras they add on afterwards about compliance with building/gas regulations. For example, you must also have a pre-lagged hot water tank to replace my old perfectly fine copper tank (lagged with a jacket). Cost to replace is over £800 . New 22mm wide Gas pipes to replace my old 1 inch iron gas pipes (means taking the floorboards out and laying new pipes from meter to boiler). Converting my open vent central heating system to a sealed one , ensuring there is 600mm clearance from the front casing of the new boiler plus other clearance amounts top and bottom and sides. So now being told I will have to remove all my hanging wall cupboards and then relocate the boiler (which is nicely hidden in the corner under my kitchen units) to an ugly place above it . All wall cupboard units including cooker vent to be binned + decorations and tiling destroyed because of a 600mm clearance regulatory rule. If I don't want to comply with all of this , then they won't install a new boiler and I'll freeze over winter with no hot water or heating. Cost of doing all the above a whopping £3.7k + vat + a kitchen units and decorations destroyed.

HUMBUG

Hi Cardew - But when they send a Gas-Safe engineer to service it - there are lots of new rules to ensure you comply with building regulations and other new safety rules . They will most likely fail it (like my boiler 2 days ago)- especially when they do the Carbon Monoxide parts per million test + CO2/CO ratio test . If it fails either test , then they shut down the gas to the boiler and stick a bid red 'WARNING' label with code ID . Just wondering now whether its worth getting a second opinion to confirm those results . How do I know whether the guy has calibrated his measuring devices to show the wrong readings and therefore using it as an opportunity to shutdown my boiler and force me to buy another (knowing that I might not request a 2nd opinion)? Are we being led by corrupt and untrustworthy people who are also in cahoots with the building regulatory bodies making people pay for extra compliance work? Who knows but I'm getting broke pretty quickly .