Boiler Grants - Costs

Jclappi

Hi,
We've recently become eligible for a Boiler grant and so I got E.ON round for a survey last week. From reading other peoples experiences it seems most people have only had to pay the advertised £240 for a new boiler. Now, I know very little about the costs but nothing there jumps out to me as beyond what would be expected for a new boiler installation so I'm not sure why our quote was 4 times higher than what others seem to be paying? Can anybody explain where the extra costs are coming from. (I have emailed the supplier to query but as yet have not received a response).
Installation of:

• Worcester 100mm Telescopic Horizontal Flue Kit
• Flue Terminal Guard
• System control pack (x2 2 Port Valves (22mm) Cylinder & Room Thermostat, 1 Day Programmer)
• Carbon monoxide detector
• Gas Pipe Per Metre
• Heating System Inhibitor 1l
• Heating System Cleaner 1l
• 15mm Filling Loop
• 2 Year's Manufacturer Boiler Guarantee
• Adey Magnaclean Atom Filter - Black
• Grundfos UPS2 15/50/60 Complete Pump
• Worcester Greenstar 24Ri (Regular)

Quote: £946.16

JJ_Egan

Thats more than just  a new boiler .

Pump  Valves Stats  Programmer  CM Detector   Magna clean filter .

matelodave

As said above, they aren't just bunging in a new boiler, there's lots of other stuff as well - TBH that still looks like a very good deal.
If you are unhappy then get quotes from someone else to compare but be aware that nowadays it's difficult to just get a boiler change - controls etc have to be upgraded as well (by law, not just because the installer wants to bump up the price https://blog.constructaquote.com/2018-boiler-regulations/ - see here ) and there's a fair amount of labour involved in adding all the extra bits especially if the old system didn't have any and the system has to be altered to suit

Jclappi

I agree its still a good deal. I appreciate there is more than a boiler but what I meant was, it's all pretty standard stuff. The page quotes that they will install boiler with thermostat and programmer for £240. So the extras are a pump, a couple of valves, CM detector and Magna clean which totals almost £700? As the quote's not broken down by item I'd be interested if they do this routinely or if anybody has actually paid just £240 and what they had included.

Smodlet

Not sure but I think CO detectors are mandatory now; might be wrong.  You might be able to source your own far more cheaply than their charge, though.  Those magna clean thingies ain't cheap; we had one added in last year.  Turned out the water was so clean, when tested, we probably did not need it but hey-ho.

If they have to change pipes because your last boiler was not a combi/you want it moved, that ain't cheap either.  It is still less than half (at a guess) what you would pay if charged full price but I think you are entitled to a full breakdown of costs including labour; you might be able to get a better with another supplier... Don't BG have half price sales on boilers in April, usually?  They did when we got ours nearly four years ago and I think it's a regular thing.

How many quotes did you get, OP?  You know you don't have to use your current energy supplier, don't you?  Any enrolled in the scheme will do; we were with nPower but used BG because of the sale.

Jclappi

To be honest, our current boiler is still working fine which is the only reason why I begrudge paying nearly £1000 to replace it. The only problem is it's 14 years old now and there's a high possibility that I won't be eligible for the grant at all soon so wanted to do it now. My gripe was mainly that had they advertised it as £1000 I would have thought that's a good deal, but they advertised it as £240 with this;
"We advise that all contributions are £240. This is based on a standard like-for-like boiler replacement, installed in the same place with no additional extras. The contribution may increase if extra work is required or if you want to install your boiler in a different location."
Think I'll try another quote from elsewhere just to see what they say.

Smodlet

I think that explains it; they deem extra work necessary, as did BG when they did the survey for ours.  I did receive a breakdown for every item, including moving some pipe or other from the soakaway to the drain.  I declined to pay this charge as OH did it himself in about 30 seconds; it was just a plastic pipe which needed to move about two or three feet, fgs!  I queried several other charges too, most of which, it turned out, were completely unnecessary in our particular instance.  From memory, I knocked about £300 off their "quote" and yes, it is a safe, correct installation; they have to be inspected and registered with the council, after all.

BG confessed they use a "model"; a list of "standard" charges rather than actually costing jobs individually so why bother doing a survey at all?  Turns out it was to subsidise those whose "extra" charges would be exorbitant by ripping off those like myself who needed nothing other than a straight, like-for-like swap.  I would not be surprised if e-on do the same thing so would recommend you insist on a detailed, itemised quote, OP and query everything you have any doubts about.  HTH.