£6200+ for oil boiler change - is quote reasonable?

Aviendha

We need to remove an old oil system boiler and replace it with either a new system or combi boiler. The new boiler needs to go in a different place so would require extra pipework etc. We've had two quotes now, both around £6200 for a system and £7300 for a combi combi boiler (including the work). That seems excessive to me - should it really be that expensive? The new boiler would be Wochester Bosch. I'm not that fussy on long term reliability as planning to move in five years or so.

bluelad1927

Do you think the lower of those two quotes is still excessive? Get a third. If it falls in between then you'll know the pricing is about right. I imagine  that without knowing the exact work involved at your property it would be difficult for anybody on here to determine if its excessive

Netexporter

With a £7500 government grant towards a heat pump, you might find that a better option.

Aviendha

Netexporter said:

With a £7500 government grant towards a heat pump, you might find that a better option.

I would love to go for the non-fossil fuels option, but we were quoted £25k for a heat pump installation. And we wouldn't get the grant because it's only for properties that are fully insulated- ours is a complicated situation with a property that's very difficult to insulate unfortunately. 

Netexporter

it's only for properties that are fully insulated

Not true. Obviously any property will be easier to heat with better insulation, but that isn't fuel dependent. 

lohr500

We replaced an internal 32kW conventional oil boiler with a new external Grant 26/36kW conventional condensing oil boiler in Spring 2021.

Total cost was £5116 which included : 

• Relocating the boiler from inside the kitchen to outside the house on the other side of the external wall. 
• Converting the old system into a fully pumped S plan system.
• Replacing one radiator in the house with a larger 600x2000p+ radiator.
• Adding a magnetic filter to the system.
• Plumbing in a plinth heater that I provided.

At the time the Grant boiler was more expensive and more efficient than a Worcester Bosch but it came with a 10 year parts & labour guarantee which was an important factor for us.

We also looked at ASHP before making the decision to replace oil with oil, but the numbers just didn't stack up and that was at a time when the grant would have been close to £12k. Also at that time electricity prices were much less relative to the cost of oil.

I am so glad we didn't jump on the ASHP bandwagon or it would have crippled us financially last year and this. 

QrizB

Aviendha said:

Netexporter said:

With a £7500 government grant towards a heat pump, you might find that a better option.

I would love to go for the non-fossil fuels option, but we were quoted £25k for a heat pump installation.

Who quoted that? Have you tried https://octopus.energy/get-a-heat-pump/ ?

lohr500

From memory both quotes we had for an ASHP in 2021 came in at +/- £22k before the grant. 

Size of the house, changing nearly all the radiators, the need for two units in parallel and upgrading the house electricity supply to three phase all played a part.

I am sure if I had shopped around some more at the time I could have got a better price, but even at the initial £16k estimate before grant (before the detailed survey when they thought a single ASHP unit would suffice), I couldn't make the numbers add up over the seven year payback period for the grant.

I also wondered at the time if the installers were bumping up the prices in the knowledge that the higher grant value would mask excessive profit making!!! 

Rightly or wrongly, I am still of the opinion that swapping an old oil boiler for a new one will work out the lowest cost option for anyone living in an older property with challenges over effective insulation. 

1st Jan SVT electricity price in our region from EDF is 27.79p, current oil price is 70p.

Allowing a COP of 3.5 for an ASHP. that gives 7.94p per kWh of heat.
At 10.35kWh per litre of kerosene, and say 90% boiler efficiency, that gives 7.51p per kWh heat.

So based on SVT current pricing the running cost for heating by oil is still marginally cheaper.

Granted an oil boiler may not achieve a real time efficiency of 90%, likewise an ASHP may not achieve a COP of 3.5.
Also, with innovative electricity tariffs and/or the installation of solar/battery storage it may be possible to run an ASHP at an electricity cost of less than 27.79p.
Plus with oil there is a chance over a ten year period that the fuel storage tank may need replacing which comes at a cost. 
 
And the big unknown is what will happen to the differential between kerosene and electricity prices over the projected lifespan of a new oil boiler.

Netexporter

Size of the house, changing nearly all the radiators, the need for two units in parallel and upgrading the house electricity supply to three phase all played a part.

Most people won't need a 3-phase heat pump. New, higher temperature, ASHPs may not require radiator enlargement.

Reed_Richards

Netexporter said:

Size of the house, changing nearly all the radiators, the need for two units in parallel and upgrading the house electricity supply to three phase all played a part.

Most people won't need a 3-phase heat pump. New, higher temperature, ASHPs may not require radiator enlargement.

... but that may be a false economy.  ASHPs that are run at high temperatures will be less efficient and so their running costs will be higher.  It might be cheaper in the long run to pay up-front to replace the radiators then enjoy lower funning costs.  

Netexporter

ASHPs that are run at high temperatures will be less efficient

Not necessarily. R290 can give similar SCOPs at higher flow temperatures.