New Boiler (24/7)

Linda_Donnas

We currently have a Worcester junior combi boiler. It's 12 years old, regularly serviced and does not seem to have had any problems. 

Our neighbours boiler broke 6 months ago - we both brought our places from our landlord, who installed the same boiler at the same time.

We have recently been offered a new boiler by 24/7. Total cost is £45 p/m this includes, fitting the new boiler, flushing the system, balancing radiators and a magnetic filter. Included in this price is breakdown cover for the boiler and all pipes and radiators. The prize will not go up during the 10 years we are tied in. They will also give us £180 once installed.

We currently pay £25 a month for our cover (which we compare each year and for the past 4 years always get a comparable price from 24/7) although this has creeped up by £6 p/m since 2018. Cover includes unlimited call outs, boiler service and boiler plus radiator/pipes/leaks cover.

I am thinking this is a pretty good deal? We always have Boiler cover and over the 10 years it's only going to be getting closer to the £45 we would be paying, plus we get a new boiler.

Just wondering if others think the same? 

[Deleted User]

Linda_Donnas said:

We currently have a Worcester junior combi boiler. It's 12 years old, regularly serviced and does not seem to have had any problems. 

Our neighbours boiler broke 6 months ago - we both brought our places from our landlord, who installed the same boiler at the same time.

We have recently been offered a new boiler by 24/7. Total cost is £45 p/m this includes, fitting the new boiler, flushing the system, balancing radiators and a magnetic filter. Included in this price is breakdown cover for the boiler and all pipes and radiators. The prize will not go up during the 10 years we are tied in. They will also give us £180 once installed.

We currently pay £25 a month for our cover (which we compare each year and for the past 4 years always get a comparable price from 24/7) although this has creeped up by £6 p/m since 2018. Cover includes unlimited call outs, boiler service and boiler plus radiator/pipes/leaks cover.

I am thinking this is a pretty good deal? We always have Boiler cover and over the 10 years it's only going to be getting closer to the £45 we would be paying, plus we get a new boiler.

Just wondering if others think the same? 

£5400 is a lot of money to pay for a boiler; warranty and service. You can now get boilers with 12/14 year warranties for less than £2500 fitted. An annual service for 10 years might cost you £1500 (allowing for inflation) leaving you £1400 better off. What happens if the installation company goes bust? Is the new boiler company offering you the same central heating cover: I doubt it.

Alnat1

You say you always have boiler cover, have you actually had to claim on it for repairs? Would it have been cheaper to save the amount you pay each month for cover and pay someone if there were problems?

24/7 sounds very expensive, 10 years of payments to them is 120 x 45 = £ 5400 and you don't say it includes an annual service. The "included in the price" bits aren't special extras, only what a normal company should do when fitting a new boiler. 

Consider getting quotes from a local company, which would give a long guarantee on the boiler anyway and putting £25 a month away in a separate account just in case you need other repairs.

It might also be a good idea to install new heating controls at the same time as a new boiler.

[Deleted User]

I have just run a comparison on Boxt. They would want £3775 to replace my 24kW boiler with a new model from the same manufacturer. The boiler has a 10 year warranty.

The 'all-in-one' offer which includes the annual service comes in at a massive £66.55 per month or £7986 for 10 years. A difference of £4211covers a lot of annual services. Parts are covered by the manufacturer.

Running the same specification on The Heating Hub gives the following range of prices:

Coffeekup

Seems very expensive, I'm not a fan of py later schemes. As dolor said what happens if the company goes bust? 

I had a new boiler fitted by a local company 4.5 years ago and it cost me £1,600 with a 5 year warranty and a service is £60 a year. Over 10 year's without call outs or fault's that's gonna cost me a total of £2,200.

I currently don't pay for boiler cover because over the year's when I have paid for it it's caused me nothing but problems, i.e. not coming out when called out, taking 8 weeks with no hot water and heating to fix the issue and money paid on top of that. I'd just save the £25 in to a separate account to fix issues when they arise, best case scenario £25 a month is not touched and after 6 year's there is a problem with the boiler I have the money saved for a new one. 

Same thing goes for double glazed window companies, for now pay over next 10 year's= stay away.

The_Green_Hornet

If your current boiler is working then personally I see no reason to replace it but if you do want to, and you are happy with Worcester Bosch, I would recommend using their Find an Installer service and get some quotes from accredited installers in your area. It will be much cheaper.

Linda_Donnas

Thanks all, really appreciated. It's always good to talk through these things!

We won't go with the new boiler, but have found the cover pretty good. We have had a couple of small leaks over the last year (new radiator valve too) which they have all replaced and the quoted cost from local plumbers (just the call out!!) Has almost covered our costs (as well as the piece of mind) and they have always come out within 24 hours.

Eldi_Dos

One area to look into is how having one of these long term deals works if you come to sell the property.

lohr500

I agree with your decision. As the old saying goes : "If it 'ain't broke, don't fix it"

If your Worcester Junior model isn't a Greenstar one, then it looks like it is non condensing. So fitting a new condensing boiler could increase your efficiency by around 10% or so. But the payback from the benefit would depend on your annual gas consumption and would probably take years to be worthwhile.

I would sit tight with the existing boiler until it starts to develop regular faults. At that point they will probably want to increase the annual cover premium or excess. If/when this happens, it would then be worth revisiting the cost of a replacement.  

NannaH

The ‘all in one’ companies like boxt etc. pay their installers peanuts and expect the job done very quickly, so corners are cut.  DH looked into subbing for them and it’s literally not worth his time as he would be expected to provide any pipes/fittings needed). 

Find a good local gas safe engineer,  a chemical flush will be £150ish ( against £4-500 for a power flush)  buy the boiler / flue kit/ / filter controls yourself ( with the engineer’s advice for around £1500 ( cuts out the 15-20% mark up)  and get him to fit it (for around £750 for a straight swap).

You can get central heating cover for £7.50 a month and a yearly service from the engineer who fitted it will be iro £75-£90.  

So all in all, less than £2500. 

NannaH

Treat your system to a chemical flush if you are keeping the boiler.
£30 for the cleaner and inhibitor.
Stick the cleaner in,  leave it a week or two,  drain the system,  fill and drain again with fresh water,  fill again, add inhibitor,  bleed all the radiators and there you go.    It will protect your boiler and hopefully give it a few more years.
DH always tries to fix old boilers rather than recommend a new one and quite often the manufacturer can replace a part cheaper than he can so he will advise the customer of that.