Boiler replacement advice needed

wendb69

Good afternoon,

Our 20 year old Potterton boiler still works, but we have to manually turn the dial to put it on, as it doesn't always fire up.

Were at the point that we think we need to replace it but no idea about where to start.

We live in a 3 bedroom terraced house and we had the free loft and cavity installation around 14 years ago.   We own our home and are not on any sort of benefits.

Q. Is there a government scrappage scheme at the moment - and would we be able to apply for this?

We dont have a lot of spare funds, so wondered if its best to do a deal (0% with British Gas).

Just no idea where to start.   So much on the internet, re Eco boilers etc - just a mind field of info which I have no idea about.

Also my energy certificate ran out in December - so in order to get a new one, what do I need to do to get this?

Be grateful for any help.

ThisIsWeird

More info, please, Wendb.

1) Model of current boiler. Power in kW if possible (does it have a spec plate on it? Do you have the instructions?)

2) Type of 'system' that you have. Does the boiler have a pressure gauge on it? 

3) Presumably you have a hot water tank? Is this 'vented' or 'unvented'? Post a pic if you don't know. In fact, please post a pic of your hot cylinder in any case, showing all the valves and thingies surrounding it.

4) Apart from the boiler becoming unreliable, are you otherwise 'happy' with how it all works - hot water supply (DHW) and your central heating (CH)? Are you considering a different type of system? Eg, Combi boiler? Unvented cylinder?

wendb69

ThisIsWeird said:

More info, please, Wendb.

1) Model of current boiler. Power in kW if possible (does it have a spec plate on it? Do you have the instructions?)

2) Type of 'system' that you have. Does the boiler have a pressure gauge on it? 

3) Presumably you have a hot water tank? Is this 'vented' or 'unvented'? Post a pic if you don't know. In fact, please post a pic of your hot cylinder in any case, showing all the valves and thingies surrounding it.

4) Apart from the boiler becoming unreliable, are you otherwise 'happy' with how it all works - hot water supply (DHW) and your central heating (CH)? Are you considering a different type of system? Eg, Combi boiler? Unvented cylinder?

Promise to get this info....

wendb69

ThisIsWeird said:

More info, please, Wendb.

1) Model of current boiler. Power in kW if possible (does it have a spec plate on it? Do you have the instructions?)

2) Type of 'system' that you have. Does the boiler have a pressure gauge on it? 

3) Presumably you have a hot water tank? Is this 'vented' or 'unvented'? Post a pic if you don't know. In fact, please post a pic of your hot cylinder in any case, showing all the valves and thingies surrounding it.

4) Apart from the boiler becoming unreliable, are you otherwise 'happy' with how it all works - hot water supply (DHW) and your central heating (CH)? Are you considering a different type of system? Eg, Combi boiler? Unvented cylinder?

Ps didnt know I can post a pic on here - how do I do that please?

ThisIsWeird

When you get the 'leave a comment' box up, can you see a wee photo symbol on its top-right?
Take your photo, download to your PC, click on that symbol, and follow the directions to upload your pic.
Or touch the symbol if doing this on yer phone, and ditto.

FreeBear

Was in a similar position myself last year with an even older Baxi back boiler. Have been investing heavily in insulation & doors/windows, and was then faced with having to replace the boiler. Didn't even consider contacting British Gas. Did approach Eon as they were my energy supplier at the time, and they gave me a quote of just shy of £5K just for a boiler swap & reworking the hot water plumbing.

Sat down with the Stelrad heat loss calculator and played with the numbers to see if any of my radiators needed changing - Ended up replacing most of them (and adding a couple more), oversizing them by around 30%. Also took the opportunity to replumb the system and route the pipes more sensibly. Hopefully, the work will put me in a better position when the day comes and heat pumps are the only option.

Negotiated with one of the national boiler installation outfits (not Boxt), and got a fixed price installation of ~£2500. The radiators, pipework, and fittings cost me another £800 or so. Did all the CH & DHW plumbing myself, so saved a packet on labour (neighbour a few doors down was having a new heating system installed around the same time by a local company, and it cost them £8K). Could have gone with a 0% financing option, but decided against it....

If I were to go through the same exercise today, I would seriously consider a heat pump through someone like Octopus. Now that the government is offering up to £7500, Octopus is coming up with a price of £2700 (subject to survey and a valid EPC)...

ThisIsWeird

It's a tough call, FreeBear. If your old boiler had held out another year or so, the decision to go 'alternative' would likely have been a no-brainer.
Prices coming down, efficiencies improving, probably more compact designs... I usually recommend to folk to nurse their ol' gassie for as long as they can.
Your DIYing skills will reap huge!

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

It's a tough call, FreeBear. If your old boiler had held out another year or so, the decision to go 'alternative' would likely have been a no-brainer.
Prices coming down, efficiencies improving, probably more compact designs...

If I had waited another couple of months, I could have got the same boiler installed by the same outfit for just £2300. But how long does one wait - With a gas boiler, it is better to get it replaced during the warmer months rather than waiting for it to break down in the middle of the winter. No pressure in summer, so you can take your time. In the winter, you have to keep warm and are held to ransom by the weather and engineers/installers that are in demand.

Wait too long to get a heat pump, and you may well find that the government incentives have been reduced or even withdrawn completely.

wendb69

FreeBear said:

Was in a similar position myself last year with an even older Baxi back boiler. Have been investing heavily in insulation & doors/windows, and was then faced with having to replace the boiler. Didn't even consider contacting British Gas. Did approach Eon as they were my energy supplier at the time, and they gave me a quote of just shy of £5K just for a boiler swap & reworking the hot water plumbing.

Sat down with the Stelrad heat loss calculator and played with the numbers to see if any of my radiators needed changing - Ended up replacing most of them (and adding a couple more), oversizing them by around 30%. Also took the opportunity to replumb the system and route the pipes more sensibly. Hopefully, the work will put me in a better position when the day comes and heat pumps are the only option.

Negotiated with one of the national boiler installation outfits (not Boxt), and got a fixed price installation of ~£2500. The radiators, pipework, and fittings cost me another £800 or so. Did all the CH & DHW plumbing myself, so saved a packet on labour (neighbour a few doors down was having a new heating system installed around the same time by a local company, and it cost them £8K). Could have gone with a 0% financing option, but decided against it....

If I were to go through the same exercise today, I would seriously consider a heat pump through someone like Octopus. Now that the government is offering up to £7500, Octopus is coming up with a price of £2700 (subject to survey and a valid EPC)...

Thanks for this - had a look on Octopus, but I can only see a link for ECO4 which is related to people on pension credits, benefits etc.    Any ideas?

FreeBear

wendb69 said:

FreeBear said:

Was in a similar position myself last year with an even older Baxi back boiler. Have been investing heavily in insulation & doors/windows, and was then faced with having to replace the boiler. Didn't even consider contacting British Gas. Did approach Eon as they were my energy supplier at the time, and they gave me a quote of just shy of £5K just for a boiler swap & reworking the hot water plumbing.

Sat down with the Stelrad heat loss calculator and played with the numbers to see if any of my radiators needed changing - Ended up replacing most of them (and adding a couple more), oversizing them by around 30%. Also took the opportunity to replumb the system and route the pipes more sensibly. Hopefully, the work will put me in a better position when the day comes and heat pumps are the only option.

Negotiated with one of the national boiler installation outfits (not Boxt), and got a fixed price installation of ~£2500. The radiators, pipework, and fittings cost me another £800 or so. Did all the CH & DHW plumbing myself, so saved a packet on labour (neighbour a few doors down was having a new heating system installed around the same time by a local company, and it cost them £8K). Could have gone with a 0% financing option, but decided against it....

If I were to go through the same exercise today, I would seriously consider a heat pump through someone like Octopus. Now that the government is offering up to £7500, Octopus is coming up with a price of £2700 (subject to survey and a valid EPC)...

Thanks for this - had a look on Octopus, but I can only see a link for ECO4 which is related to people on pension credits, benefits etc.    Any ideas?

Try https://octopus.energy/get-a-heat-pump/

wendb69

wendb69 said:

FreeBear said:

Was in a similar position myself last year with an even older Baxi back boiler. Have been investing heavily in insulation & doors/windows, and was then faced with having to replace the boiler. Didn't even consider contacting British Gas. Did approach Eon as they were my energy supplier at the time, and they gave me a quote of just shy of £5K just for a boiler swap & reworking the hot water plumbing.

Sat down with the Stelrad heat loss calculator and played with the numbers to see if any of my radiators needed changing - Ended up replacing most of them (and adding a couple more), oversizing them by around 30%. Also took the opportunity to replumb the system and route the pipes more sensibly. Hopefully, the work will put me in a better position when the day comes and heat pumps are the only option.

Negotiated with one of the national boiler installation outfits (not Boxt), and got a fixed price installation of ~£2500. The radiators, pipework, and fittings cost me another £800 or so. Did all the CH & DHW plumbing myself, so saved a packet on labour (neighbour a few doors down was having a new heating system installed around the same time by a local company, and it cost them £8K). Could have gone with a 0% financing option, but decided against it....

If I were to go through the same exercise today, I would seriously consider a heat pump through someone like Octopus. Now that the government is offering up to £7500, Octopus is coming up with a price of £2700 (subject to survey and a valid EPC)...

Thanks for this - had a look on Octopus, but I can only see a link for ECO4 which is related to people on pension credits, benefits etc.    Any ideas?

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said:

It's a tough call, FreeBear. If your old boiler had held out another year or so, the decision to go 'alternative' would likely have been a no-brainer.
Prices coming down, efficiencies improving, probably more compact designs...

If I had waited another couple of months, I could have got the same boiler installed by the same outfit for just £2300. But how long does one wait - With a gas boiler, it is better to get it replaced during the warmer months rather than waiting for it to break down in the middle of the winter. No pressure in summer, so you can take your time. In the winter, you have to keep warm and are held to ransom by the weather and engineers/installers that are in demand.

Wait too long to get a heat pump, and you may well find that the government incentives have been reduced or even withdrawn completely.

Actually just saw something on Octopus about a heat pump...... thoughts?