Quotes for a New Gas Combi Boiler Installation

Ant555

We replaced a 20 year old worcester boiler with a Worcester Bosch in 2019.  Cost was £2200 including a magnetic filter, flush of the system and a new wireless room thermostat.

The pipes were not in exactly the same place so they had to do a bit of work there and also the flue through the wall was in a slightly different place so there was a little bit of extra brickwork to make good - brickwork itemised at 45+vat

This was done in 1 day.

I dont know if it was the flush of the system, the power of a new boiler, a bit of both or my imagination but the heat 'radiating' from my rads afterwards was noticeably better.

Hope this helps.

Leodogger

Ant555 said:

We replaced a 20 year old worcester boiler with a Worcester Bosch in 2019.  Cost was £2200 including a magnetic filter, flush of the system and a new wireless room thermostat.

The pipes were not in exactly the same place so they had to do a bit of work there and also the flue through the wall was in a slightly different place so there was a little bit of extra brickwork to make good - brickwork itemised at 45+vat

This was done in 1 day.

I dont know if it was the flush of the system, the power of a new boiler, a bit of both or my imagination but the heat 'radiating' from my rads afterwards was noticeably better.

Hope this helps.

Yes it does, as it gives me an idea of how much work he will have to do.   From what I can see it is a straight forward swap from a Vaillant to a Worcester and as the system has already been flushed, has inhibitor in it, and we had a new wireless programmer a few years ago when we had two rads added and now the flue is secured in the loft, the plumber who did this work this week now knows he doesn't have that work to do and STILL quoted me £2700 to change the boiler.   Just seems to be over the top to me but maybe a plumber can tell me different?

In view of what everyone has said I think it best I get a few quotes in!

fezster

Yes, get 3 quotes in and take it from there. There's so many variables to account for, but on the face of it, I wouldn't expect this to be more than a day's labour.

The problem with boiler changes is they are priced disproportionately to what the labour involved is. I've noticed this over the years. Gas safe engineers will always say "I price the job as a whole" and will seldom break down the actual labour charge.

Also, modern WB boilers don't seem to have the best of reps. Worth researching a little before committing. I wouldn't go with a particular brand just because that's all the engineer says he'll fit. 

Leodogger

fezster said:

Yes, get 3 quotes in and take it from there. There's so many variables to account for, but on the face of it, I wouldn't expect this to be more than a day's labour.

The problem with boiler changes is they are priced disproportionately to what the labour involved is. I've noticed this over the years. Gas safe engineers will always say "I price the job as a whole" and will seldom break down the actual labour charge.

Also, modern WB boilers don't seem to have the best of reps. Worth researching a little before committing. I wouldn't go with a particular brand just because that's all the engineer says he'll fit. 

Well most engineers will say that Worcester is the brand leader although me and my sisters have all got Vaillant and always found they were highly thought of too until this latest plumber we had and he seemed to think they have fallen behind Worcester a bit.

neilmcl

Leodogger said:

fezster said:

Yes, get 3 quotes in and take it from there. There's so many variables to account for, but on the face of it, I wouldn't expect this to be more than a day's labour.

The problem with boiler changes is they are priced disproportionately to what the labour involved is. I've noticed this over the years. Gas safe engineers will always say "I price the job as a whole" and will seldom break down the actual labour charge.

Also, modern WB boilers don't seem to have the best of reps. Worth researching a little before committing. I wouldn't go with a particular brand just because that's all the engineer says he'll fit. 

Well most engineers will say that Worcester is the brand leader although me and my sisters have all got Vaillant and always found they were highly thought of too until this latest plumber we had and he seemed to think they have fallen behind Worcester a bit.

No, Vaillant and Viessmann boilers still better than WB these days.

Leodogger

neilmcl said:

Leodogger said:

fezster said:

Yes, get 3 quotes in and take it from there. There's so many variables to account for, but on the face of it, I wouldn't expect this to be more than a day's labour.

The problem with boiler changes is they are priced disproportionately to what the labour involved is. I've noticed this over the years. Gas safe engineers will always say "I price the job as a whole" and will seldom break down the actual labour charge.

Also, modern WB boilers don't seem to have the best of reps. Worth researching a little before committing. I wouldn't go with a particular brand just because that's all the engineer says he'll fit. 

Well most engineers will say that Worcester is the brand leader although me and my sisters have all got Vaillant and always found they were highly thought of too until this latest plumber we had and he seemed to think they have fallen behind Worcester a bit.

No, Vaillant and Viessmann boilers still better than WB these days.

What country makes Vaillant and Viessmann (the latter I have never heard of!) ?

neilmcl

Leodogger said:

neilmcl said:

Leodogger said:

fezster said:

Yes, get 3 quotes in and take it from there. There's so many variables to account for, but on the face of it, I wouldn't expect this to be more than a day's labour.

The problem with boiler changes is they are priced disproportionately to what the labour involved is. I've noticed this over the years. Gas safe engineers will always say "I price the job as a whole" and will seldom break down the actual labour charge.

Also, modern WB boilers don't seem to have the best of reps. Worth researching a little before committing. I wouldn't go with a particular brand just because that's all the engineer says he'll fit. 

Well most engineers will say that Worcester is the brand leader although me and my sisters have all got Vaillant and always found they were highly thought of too until this latest plumber we had and he seemed to think they have fallen behind Worcester a bit.

No, Vaillant and Viessmann boilers still better than WB these days.

What country makes Vaillant and Viessmann (the latter I have never heard of!) ?

Both are German companies although Vaillant boilers are made here in the UK in Derbyshire.

jefaz07

Leodogger said:

Ant555 said:

We replaced a 20 year old worcester boiler with a Worcester Bosch in 2019.  Cost was £2200 including a magnetic filter, flush of the system and a new wireless room thermostat.

The pipes were not in exactly the same place so they had to do a bit of work there and also the flue through the wall was in a slightly different place so there was a little bit of extra brickwork to make good - brickwork itemised at 45+vat

This was done in 1 day.

I dont know if it was the flush of the system, the power of a new boiler, a bit of both or my imagination but the heat 'radiating' from my rads afterwards was noticeably better.

Hope this helps.

Yes it does, as it gives me an idea of how much work he will have to do.   From what I can see it is a straight forward swap from a Vaillant to a Worcester and as the system has already been flushed, has inhibitor in it, and we had a new wireless programmer a few years ago when we had two rads added and now the flue is secured in the loft, the plumber who did this work this week now knows he doesn't have that work to do and STILL quoted me £2700 to change the boiler.   Just seems to be over the top to me but maybe a plumber can tell me different?

In view of what everyone has said I think it best I get a few quotes in!

Is that thermostat boiler plus complaint as per the new regs? Does it have a condensate? Is the gas run of sufficient size? Is it a vertical flue? Does it need a stand off? 

The manual asks if it’s been flushed to a British Standard, he can’t answer that by saying ‘yes a few years ago’ and the system won’t have inhibitor in it as he will drain it to fit the new boiler. 
Have you factored in the tax he will pay on what he’s earning? 

He will add some money to the bits he supplies you as he’s sourced and ran around and picked them up. That takes time. 

Does Tesco or Asda sell you things for the same price they buy them for? 

There are too many variables to say if it’s a good price or not. 

And 1.5 days for a combi swap is perfectly acceptable...a proper power flush is half a day easy. 

That being said, it might be a tad on the high side I of none of these are needed. And I suspect they will be...vertical flues can increase the price quickly. 

For reference I’ve just quoted a job at £2600 for a combi swap, that includes vertical flues,roof flashing, a stand-off and a nest. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Leodogger said:

From what I can see it is a straight forward swap from a Vaillant to a Worcester and as the system has already been flushed, has inhibitor in it, and we had a new wireless programmer a few years ago when we had two rads added and now the flue is secured in the loft, the plumber who did this work this week now knows he doesn't have that work to do and STILL quoted me £2700 to change the boiler. 

Hang on! Are you saying the flushing and flue fix were done by someone else, and that the £2.7k quote is for the boiler swap ONLY?

That's far too high, then.

I'd assumed - with it being a vertical flue, with all the extra work that entails - that the quote wasn't too bad with these factors.

(It's unlikely the Vaill flue will suit the WB, surely, so isn't the flue being replaced anyway?)

Jeepers_Creepers

Oh, and a 25kW combi is pants - that's the correct term.

Is there any reason to not go 30kW or possibly even above? Give that some thought :-)