New boiler quotes

Mistermeaner

Hi : After any general advice on replacing an old boiler

We currently have a Worcester 28CDi that came with the house when we bought it - probably 15-20 years old. It works OK but is leaking a bit (radiator water) and is likely quite inefficient compared to modern stuff

Our house is quite big; 4 beds, 3 bathrooms over 3 floors. 13 radiators in total and needs alot of heating as quite draughty etc. (old house extended multiple times)

We have a megaflow hot water system installed that is heated from the boiler (the boiler was a combi but converted to a 'system' boiler to utilise the megaflow)

Don't mind paying a bit more for the 'best' product, don't want to skimp and have issues down the line

Any advice on manufacturers, sizing, companies etc. greatly appreciated

Currently got each of british gas and eon booked in for video quotes 

TELLIT01

Try looking for local gas engineers with a good reputation.  They will probably be cheaper than either BG or Eon.

SaverRate

Have a look a BOXT for an online quote. Personally wouldn't go with BG and never had experience of Eon. 

diystarter7

Hi
Google boilers etc for size of house/rads, how long the warrites are reliability/costs etc. Then compare like for like
EG, costs, and warranty. NB. not all installers are registered for the very long warrites ie boiler x may have options of 7 and 10 year warranties but only approved installers would be allowed the 10-year warranty.

Get quotes inc like for like

Good luck
Thnaks

rob7475

We're about to have ours replaced - We've gone with the Worcester Bosch 8000 which comes in different outputs. I got a few quotes from local places, Boxt and direct from Worcester Bosch. I wanted the boiler plus the Bosch easy control smart thermostat.

The local place came in at £2750, Boxt were £2650 but I would have to supply the Easy Control which is about £150 extra. Worcester Bosch offered their fasttrack installation for £2600 and have provided the easy control as a free upgrade to the standard controls they usually provide. Worcester pass on the job to a local accredited installer and you get a 12 year warranty with the boiler and controls.

The installation is booked in with Worcester Bosch for this week.

BUFF

It is a 28CDi (non-condensing) & not a Greenstar 28CDi (condensing)?

Take the opportunity to review your controls too (programmer/room 'stat(s)/zoning/TRVs). They will more than pay for themselves by energy savings  (especially at current prices) over the typical life of a boiler.
Make sure that the controls are capable of bus level communications with the boiler to control modulation & ideally you want load /weather compensation.
Some companies e.g. Worcester Bosch will warranty their controls for the same length as the boiler if installed at the same time (subject to the usual terms of approved installer & annual boiler servicing) so potentially 10-12 years.

As part of an extended warranty for the boiler you will also probably need to install a magnetic filter if you don't already have one.

Your old radiator sizes were probably specified to use a higher flow & return temp. than you want to run your new boiler at for efficiency. This would mean that your house would take longer to warm up. Can you afford to replace your existing rads with new, larger ones at the same time (this will also future proof for a likely eventual change to a heat pump at the next replacement cycle)?

Tbh I would suggest finding a genuinely good local heating engineer & using what they are familiar with/recommend especially if they are going to be servicing it.
But as a starter I woud consider Vaillant, Viessmann & Worcester Bosch.

macman

Very good advice above. It'll only be inefficient if it's non-condensing. At that age it could be either. Anything installed from 2005 will be condensing. So, which is it?
BG will typically quote you 40% more than an independent local GSR RGI. The installer will be a subbie, possibly from hundreds of miles away, and you'll never see him again.
Find a local installer for your preferred brand and get a proper site survey and quote.
How can they possibly quote based on a video survey? They cannot check either water pressure or gas supply.

Mistermeaner

thanks all; great advice

to confirm it is a non-condensing boiler

ThisIsWeird

Rob's Worcester Bosch quote sounds really good - I hope they don't pinch much from the local GasSafe who does the job.

And the advice on updating the controls is also pretty key, I think. Not sure what their 'Easy Control' is like - I guess 'smart' at least, but whether it does fine-tuning of the boiler modulation, I've no idea - perhaps worth asking, and if there are even 'better' controls.

And the up-sizing of rads is a good call. Rarely cost-effective to do if the current rads are actually ok - it would take quite a while to recoup the extra - what? - ~£200 a pop? But, if you need to replace any rads anyway, then take advantage of doing this. Even with the existing rads, for most of the year you'll be able to run the new boiler cooler (= more efficiently), but can always tweak the flow temp up for cold snaps - not so 'efficient', but big deal for these shortish spells.

And TRVs on all rads if not already fitted. If fitting TRVs anyway (or even if already fitted), give some thought to Smart TRVs to the main-use rooms too, as this will provide scheduled individual control, and instant override.Eg, bedrooms timed for a half-hour or so before bed, a gentle heat overnight if really required, and then a boost before waking up - but on 'cool' or 'frost' for the rest of the day. Dining room ditto - timed for only when required. Set and forget. Significant energy savings.

BUFF

ThisIsWeird said:

Rob's Worcester Bosch quote sounds really good - I hope they don't pinch much from the local GasSafe who does the job.

And the advice on updating the controls is also pretty key, I think. Not sure what their 'Easy Control' is like - I guess 'smart' at least, but whether it does fine-tuning of the boiler modulation, I've no idea - perhaps worth asking, and if there are even 'better' controls.

And the up-sizing of rads is a good call. Rarely cost-effective to do if the current rads are actually ok - it would take quite a while to recoup the extra - what? - ~£200 a pop? But, if you need to replace any rads anyway, then take advantage of doing this. Even with the existing rads, for most of the year you'll be able to run the new boiler cooler (= more efficiently), but can always tweak the flow temp up for cold snaps - not so 'efficient', but big deal for these shortish spells.

And TRVs on all rads if not already fitted. If fitting TRVs anyway (or even if already fitted), give some thought to Smart TRVs to the main-use rooms too, as this will provide scheduled individual control, and instant override.Eg, bedrooms timed for a half-hour or so before bed, a gentle heat overnight if really required, and then a boost before waking up - but on 'cool' or 'frost' for the rest of the day. Dining room ditto - timed for only when required. Set and forget. Significant energy savings.

Easy Control is  "smart" & does bus level modulation with Bosch group's EMS (their equivalent to Opentherm) & load & weather compensation (via internet data rather than an external sensor).

if it's a 15+ year old system it may also need a powerflush for boiler warranty.

rob7475

ThisIsWeird said:

Rob's Worcester Bosch quote sounds really good - I hope they don't pinch much from the local GasSafe who does the job.

And the advice on updating the controls is also pretty key, I think. Not sure what their 'Easy Control' is like - I guess 'smart' at least, but whether it does fine-tuning of the boiler modulation, I've no idea - perhaps worth asking, and if there are even 'better' controls.

And the up-sizing of rads is a good call. Rarely cost-effective to do if the current rads are actually ok - it would take quite a while to recoup the extra - what? - ~£200 a pop? But, if you need to replace any rads anyway, then take advantage of doing this. Even with the existing rads, for most of the year you'll be able to run the new boiler cooler (= more efficiently), but can always tweak the flow temp up for cold snaps - not so 'efficient', but big deal for these shortish spells.

And TRVs on all rads if not already fitted. If fitting TRVs anyway (or even if already fitted), give some thought to Smart TRVs to the main-use rooms too, as this will provide scheduled individual control, and instant override.Eg, bedrooms timed for a half-hour or so before bed, a gentle heat overnight if really required, and then a boost before waking up - but on 'cool' or 'frost' for the rest of the day. Dining room ditto - timed for only when required. Set and forget. Significant energy savings.

The easy control modulates the boiler flow temp and does weather compensation using the internet rather than a sensor. It offers geofencing etc too.

My current boiler uses Tado which has been great but it doesn't modulate the new Worcester boilers so I've decided to replace it.

I usually prefer to use a local trader rather than the big names but nobody could get near the Worcester price. I'm guessing they probably sell the boiler etc direct to the installer at a discounted rate to keep the costs down.