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abacusmk

I am also waiting for my cash-back from another comparison site. Don't know how long I have to wait !!!

Consumerist

Doc_N wrote: »

With direct experience of both, I'd totally agree with you. Our old boiler rarely needed any attention at all, and if it did it was just a few pounds for a replacement thermocouple.

The new one, however, a Worcester Bosch (the most reliable, according to Which?) has needed three repairs in just 5 years. Each of those repairs involved failed electronic parts costing around £200 each + labour. If that's typical of Worcester Bosch, goodness only knows what the less reliable boilers are like!

The annual "service" probably causes more problems than it prevents. That suits the plumbers, of course, but I don't think I'll bother with them for my new boiler. When it actually goes wrong, I'll call them and not before. I'll probably save enough money for a new one when needed.

Purple_fiend

Not very happy with the MSE Cheap Energy Club. :mad: Switched or so I thought through it on the 20th November, only to phone Eon today and ask why I hadn't had any communication, and apparently they haven't received my details from MoneySupermarket. Also been told they increased their prices yesterday and the deal I had selected is now no longer available!! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Frankie56

I fixed with nPower on 20th October. Got an email pretty quickly acknowledging I had been accepted but still haven't been switched. They did send another email saying it would take a while due to high demand and that they will backdate it.
A plumber once told me it was cheaper to get the boiler repaired when it broke and that the servicing was a waste of money. He said to just hoover round it myself once a year.

victor2

Frankie56 wrote: »

A plumber once told me it was cheaper to get the boiler repaired when it broke and that the servicing was a waste of money. He said to just hoover round it myself once a year.

On the other side of the coin is having it serviced annually by someone you trust. They are likely to postpone problems or spot one before it results in a failure - which you can guarantee will happen on the coldest day of the year during a public holiday and everywhere is closed!

creddish

Frankie56 wrote: »

A plumber once told me it was cheaper to get the boiler repaired when it broke and that the servicing was a waste of money. He said to just hoover round it myself once a year.

That is risky and can lead to dangerous conditions developing. A couple of years ago I had neglected servicing and the heat exchanger became sooted up and gas combustion was restricted. This resulted in dangerous gases being discharged into the room. I contacted the gas emergency service for advice and they sent an engineer round who immediately sealed of the gas supply to the boiler informing me it was illegal to use the boiler until it was repaired. It didn't help that this occurred 2 days after Christmas with a house full of visitors and the weather was freezing.


Colin

chrisx69

Am trying to switch to npower. They ask me to submit readings. When I log in to my account, the message says my account is closed, so I can't send a reading.On telephoning, I was told that the queue was over 24 mins. Any ideas as to what I should do?>

harryhound

Consumerist wrote: »

The annual "service" probably causes more problems than it prevents. That suits the plumbers, of course, but I don't think I'll bother with them for my new boiler. When it actually goes wrong, I'll call them and not before. I'll probably save enough money for a new one when needed.

My experience of not owning a gas boiler is as follows:

Mum had a Potterton 80 installed in 1972 (that would be 80,000 btu in old money,) it was just two 40's strapped together and consisted of a cast iron combustion chamber with a few nobbles on the inside to try to extract more heat. It is about 50% efficient. It went into an ordinary chimney.
My daughter has a small Potterton, probably installed about 5+ years ago replacing as 20+ years older original - balanced flue; claims to be 72% efficient..
My son has a Worcester Bosch condenser, balanced flue, replacement for a chimney one in the kitchen, installed in a bedroom 2 years years ago. So far so good, but the condensate discharges onto a flat roof!

Mum's lasted 32 years trouble and maintenance free and then some corrosion damaged one of the two burners and I had to get that "repaired" = brazed.and a small bucket of soot removed from the bottom of the fire box.

Daughter's previous boiler had also lasted 25 years.

Son's previous boiler had also lasted since circa 1980 - primitive fin backed radiators and large diameter radiator valves. No pipe insulation. Expansion tank in the loft.

However let us hope everything was flushed to within an inch of its life when the new boiler was fitted and the inhibitor was up to strength and I wish a magnetic filter had been fitted. The heat exchanger must be like corrugated cardboard and I would hate for that to get blocked and it will have an engine management system comparable to that on a diesel car.
It might be false economy not to have the last of these three boilers inspected once a year and budget for a replacement every dozen years.

Wednesday lunch time explaining why swapping a tractor for a car that could not be recognised as a diesel, costs in repairs what it saves in fuel economy ?:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ktz0h

Consumerist

creddish wrote: »

That is risky and can lead to dangerous conditions developing. A couple of years ago I had neglected servicing and the heat exchanger became sooted up and gas combustion was restricted. This resulted in dangerous gases being discharged into the room. I contacted the gas emergency service for advice and they sent an engineer round who immediately sealed of the gas supply to the boiler informing me it was illegal to use the boiler until it was repaired. It didn't help that this occurred 2 days after Christmas with a house full of visitors and the weather was freezing.

I take your point that, after a time, the boiler will need some attention but that is the time to call in the repair man to fix it. In the mean time, you have saved yourself the expense of "servicing" to pay for the repair.

My concern is that inexperienced "engineers" are getting their grubby little fingers into things they don't really understand and may not be Gas Safe qualified, anyway. There is always the suspicion that parts will be replaced unnecessarily and latent faults are being put on to ensure further call-outs become necessary.

Russellx

I just reviewed my next years costs (dual fuel no direct debit) on existing variable tariff at likely £1620. However the one year fix they offer would likely cost me £1456 but its a direct debit only tariff. Looks like it will cost me £164 to keep my suppliers untrustworthy fingers out of my (very) private bank account i.e. a surcharge of about 11% not the 6% quoted in the MSE article.