Quotes for a New Gas Combi Boiler Installation

TELLIT01

Leodogger said:

neilmcl said:

Get more quotes but bear in mind that a lot of gas engineers will not touch a customer supplied boiler and if they did they will have no liability for it if there's a problem and you're unlikely to get the longer warranty from the manufacturer.

Yes so a guarantee you get with a boiler is not worth the paper it is written on, that is what you are saying, unless it is put in by a plumber who buys it personally?    But it's also the case that plumbers like every other tradesman make money out of supplying the materials to the customer (their little perks) and I haven't met one tradesman yet that was willing to tell me what the cost split down is on materials and labour !

That is not what is being said.  If you purchase the boiler direct and there are any problems with it, it will be up to you do deal with whoever supplied it to get it fixed.  It will not be the plumber's problem.  If plumber supplies and installs they will be responsible for any chase up work.

The guarantee is still just as valid.

chrisw

Run through the questions on Boxt and see what quote that gives which will give you another idea of likely cost. You dont have to enter any personal details.

https://www.boxt.co.uk/

Leodogger

jefaz07 said:

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...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. 

If you read my posts above, the same plumber has just finished standardising the flue up to spec, he flushed the system and knew the boiler was up to spec as he inspected it and said HE could do the combi swap at £2700, he never said there would be any problems, in fact he said just the opposite as he had inspected it as I say, this is why I am questioning the price.   As for him running around for a boiler.   If I can order a boiler online and it can be delivered to my house without any running around, so can he.    

Leodogger

Jeepers_Creepers said:

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?)

No he never said the flue would need replacing and would have surely mentioned it as he had just finished strapping it in the loft to bring it up to spec.    As I said, the same plumber who had just inspected the boiler to tell me it needed replacing when he installed a new radiator and removed an old one, and he said the flue was now up to spec.   As I say, he was on site knowing if there were to be any problems in installing a new boiler and would surely have mentioned if the flue would not be suitable for a WB when he did the work.   The flush was also done by him.

Leodogger

Jeepers_Creepers said:

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 :-)

We live in a small 2 bedroomed bungalow with 6 rads, 3 of which are double.   He was the one who recommended a 25i WB boiler.

Leodogger

TELLIT01 said:

Leodogger said:

neilmcl said:

Get more quotes but bear in mind that a lot of gas engineers will not touch a customer supplied boiler and if they did they will have no liability for it if there's a problem and you're unlikely to get the longer warranty from the manufacturer.

Yes so a guarantee you get with a boiler is not worth the paper it is written on, that is what you are saying, unless it is put in by a plumber who buys it personally?    But it's also the case that plumbers like every other tradesman make money out of supplying the materials to the customer (their little perks) and I haven't met one tradesman yet that was willing to tell me what the cost split down is on materials and labour !

That is not what is being said.  If you purchase the boiler direct and there are any problems with it, it will be up to you do deal with whoever supplied it to get it fixed.  It will not be the plumber's problem.  If plumber supplies and installs they will be responsible for any chase up work.

The guarantee is still just as valid.

OK thanks, misunderstood what you said.

Leodogger

chrisw said:

Run through the questions on Boxt and see what quote that gives which will give you another idea of likely cost. You dont have to enter any personal details.

https://www.boxt.co.uk/

Just went on there but that price includes installation by THEM.    I would want the boiler supplied separately and installed by who I select.  As long as a qualified plumber installs it and it is new out of the box, there should be no problem with the guarantee, otherwise how do plumbers merchants sell boilers to the public.   By the way, we are pensioners and don't have oodles of savings so have to watch the pennies LOL!

Jeepers_Creepers

Leodogger said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

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 :-)

We live in a small 2 bedroomed bungalow with 6 rads, 3 of which are double.   He was the one who recommended a 25i WB boiler.

As you know, a combi boiler heats up your domestic hot water 'instantly' as required. How well it does this - the amount of hot water it can deliver - is directly dependent on the power of the boiler; that '25kW' or '30kW' or even '32kW' is solely available for the hot water, and a 30kW jobbie will give a noticeably better flow than a 25kW model.

The other job of a combi is, of course, to heat your radiators, and here you will find little difference between them. Modern boilers 'modulate' their outputs to match demand, just like you turn down your gas ring to reduce your aggressively boiling egg into a gentle simmer. So, the 25, 30 and 32kW combi will turn itself down to suit your 6 rads just fine - once your house heats up, the boiler will gently 'tick over' and even shut off for periods to suit demand.

Do you enjoy your showers? Do you fill baths? A 30kW combi will do both of these much better than a 25kW model.

Jeepers_Creepers

Leodogger said:

Just went on there but that price includes installation by THEM.    I would want the boiler supplied separately and installed by who I select.  As long as a qualified plumber installs it and it is new out of the box, there should be no problem with the guarantee, otherwise how do plumbers merchants sell boilers to the public.   By the way, we are pensioners and don't have oodles of savings so have to watch the pennies LOL!

I think you are misguided if you believe buying the boiler yourself will lead to a cheaper price. A quote of £2.7k would seem to prove that point.

WB comes with - I understand - up to a 10 year warranty (as do some other makes), although there may be some provisos on this like it only applies to certain components like the 'heat engine', or it only covers the cost of parts and you still need to pay labour after 3 years, things like that.

I would expect the 'full extended manufacturers warranty' proviso would also be dependent on the installer also providing the boiler - ie doing everything. But you can confirm this.

This plumber has carried out a few jobs for you to a presumably good standard, so has gained your confidence - cool, that's what you want to find. I would now be hoping, tho', for a 'keen' quote from them for the boiler replacement, and £2.7k doesn't strike me as being that.

It's your call, but I really think you should be asking a couple more local and recommended (with good reputations) GasSafes for their opinions on combi size, their recommendation for the best makes, and for quotes.

£2.7k for a 25kW jobbie? Nah.

(ANY GASSAFES ON HERE?! WILL A VAILLANT FLUE FIT A W-B?!!)

Leodogger

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Leodogger said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

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 :-)

We live in a small 2 bedroomed bungalow with 6 rads, 3 of which are double.   He was the one who recommended a 25i WB boiler.

As you know, a combi boiler heats up your domestic hot water 'instantly' as required. How well it does this - the amount of hot water it can deliver - is directly dependent on the power of the boiler; that '25kW' or '30kW' or even '32kW' is solely available for the hot water, and a 30kW jobbie will give a noticeably better flow than a 25kW model.

The other job of a combi is, of course, to heat your radiators, and here you will find little difference between them. Modern boilers 'modulate' their outputs to match demand, just like you turn down your gas ring to stop the turn your aggressively boiling egg into a gentle simmer. So, the 25, 30 and 32kW combi will turn itself down to suit your 6 rads just fine - once your house heats up, the boiler will gently 'tick over' and even shut off for periods to suit demand.

Do you enjoy your showers? Do you fill baths? A 30kW combi will do both of these much better than a 25kW model.

That's really useful info, I didn't know that !    Thanks, it will obviously now affect which one we choose and from the "BOXT" website suggested above, I put in our details and it also suggested a 30kW boiler so we will probably go for that, even though the plumber didn't suggest it.