Where to buy a new boiler?

pseudodox

In the case of an elderly (potentially vulnerable) customer it is better to use a well established trusted local company who will install and service annually to preserve the warranty.  If they know your mother is dependent on having a working boiler they should do the work fairly urgently.  I had a Worcester Bosch replacement last year and got 12 year warranty, subject to annual approved service.  It might outlive me, but whilst it was not the cheapest option (around £2200 for a 30Kw model) it was done in a day with minimal disruption.  And as an older customer I know the company will prioritise me in an emergency.   With peace of mind for 12 years I just keep money aside for an annual service (£70).

The_Green_Hornet

If you want a Worcester Bosch boiler then you can search for one of their accredited installers on their website.

Find An Installer | Worcester Bosch (worcester-bosch.co.uk)

If you want a gas safe installer you can search their register.

Find or check a Gas Safe registered business - Find or check a Gas Safe registered engineer in your area who can fit, fix and service your gas appliances.

Eldi_Dos

sammyjammy said:

Not something I would normally do but I had mine replaced within a week by British Gas, I used the interest free credit option but obviously you don't have to.  No complaints and with something like a boiler the warranty and support is great piece of mid.

British Gas are unlikely to be the cheapest but agree about the support side of things, with 6500 engineers they should be able to get someone out quickly if OP's mother was left without heating in the middle of a cold spell.

OP is your mother on the Prority Services Register with her supplier, it is easy to do and a good thing to be on.

David333

Eldi_Dos said:

sammyjammy said:

Not something I would normally do but I had mine replaced within a week by British Gas, I used the interest free credit option but obviously you don't have to.  No complaints and with something like a boiler the warranty and support is great piece of mid.

British Gas are unlikely to be the cheapest but agree about the support side of things, with 6500 engineers they should be able to get someone out quickly if OP's mother was left without heating in the middle of a cold spell.

OP is your mother on the Prority Services Register with her supplier, it is easy to do and a good thing to be on.

Thanks, I'll look into this

David333

pseudodox said:

In the case of an elderly (potentially vulnerable) customer it is better to use a well established trusted local company who will install and service annually to preserve the warranty.  If they know your mother is dependent on having a working boiler they should do the work fairly urgently.  I had a Worcester Bosch replacement last year and got 12 year warranty, subject to annual approved service.  It might outlive me, but whilst it was not the cheapest option (around £2200 for a 30Kw model) it was done in a day with minimal disruption.  And as an older customer I know the company will prioritise me in an emergency.   With peace of mind for 12 years I just keep money aside for an annual service (£70).

Yeah, this seems ideal. Thank you

FreeBear

David333 said:

Browntoa said:

British gas will cost twice anyone else 

Boxt get good reviews from what I see and their online quote system is easy to navigate 

Thanks. I had a quick look and they're quoting around £3000. Fingers crossed it comes in cheaper tomorrow

I punched a few numbers in, and found 0-5 radiators to be more expensive than 5-9 radiators for the same boiler. Can't quite get my head round that...

For a small 2 bed bungalow, I would be questioning whether it really needs an 18kW boiler. Yes, bigger boilers mean faster reheat times for a hot water cylinder (as long as it is matched to the boiler). But with 5 or 6 radiators, most of the time, you'll only need 3-6kW to heat the place. When selecting a boiler, I would recommend looking at the modulation range and pick one with a low minimum heat output.

I have a Viessmann 050 Combi, with 8 radiators for a total load of 10kW and a heat meter to monitor the actual heat output. At start up, I might see ~8kW, and then it drops to ~3.4kW after about 30 mins where it stays ticking over. If minimum output was 5kW like some boilers, it would be short cycling which is bad for efficiency and long term reliability.

David333

FreeBear said:

David333 said:

Browntoa said:

British gas will cost twice anyone else 

Boxt get good reviews from what I see and their online quote system is easy to navigate 

Thanks. I had a quick look and they're quoting around £3000. Fingers crossed it comes in cheaper tomorrow

I punched a few numbers in, and found 0-5 radiators to be more expensive than 5-9 radiators for the same boiler. Can't quite get my head round that...

For a small 2 bed bungalow, I would be questioning whether it really needs an 18kW boiler. Yes, bigger boilers mean faster reheat times for a hot water cylinder (as long as it is matched to the boiler). But with 5 or 6 radiators, most of the time, you'll only need 3-6kW to heat the place. When selecting a boiler, I would recommend looking at the modulation range and pick one with a low minimum heat output.

I have a Viessmann 050 Combi, with 8 radiators for a total load of 10kW and a heat meter to monitor the actual heat output. At start up, I might see ~8kW, and then it drops to ~3.4kW after about 30 mins where it stays ticking over. If minimum output was 5kW like some boilers, it would be short cycling which is bad for efficiency and long term reliability.

I think I put in 5-9 radiators (she has six). Her previous boiler was supposedly 19kW, so I imagine it would be a difficult discussion to move to one with a lower value.

FreeBear

David333 said:

FreeBear said:

David333 said:

Browntoa said:

British gas will cost twice anyone else 

Boxt get good reviews from what I see and their online quote system is easy to navigate 

Thanks. I had a quick look and they're quoting around £3000. Fingers crossed it comes in cheaper tomorrow

I punched a few numbers in, and found 0-5 radiators to be more expensive than 5-9 radiators for the same boiler. Can't quite get my head round that...

For a small 2 bed bungalow, I would be questioning whether it really needs an 18kW boiler. Yes, bigger boilers mean faster reheat times for a hot water cylinder (as long as it is matched to the boiler). But with 5 or 6 radiators, most of the time, you'll only need 3-6kW to heat the place. When selecting a boiler, I would recommend looking at the modulation range and pick one with a low minimum heat output.

I have a Viessmann 050 Combi, with 8 radiators for a total load of 10kW and a heat meter to monitor the actual heat output. At start up, I might see ~8kW, and then it drops to ~3.4kW after about 30 mins where it stays ticking over. If minimum output was 5kW like some boilers, it would be short cycling which is bad for efficiency and long term reliability.

I think I put in 5-9 radiators (she has six). Her previous boiler was supposedly 19kW, so I imagine it would be a difficult discussion to move to one with a lower value.

My original boiler (a Baxi back boiler) was only rated at 13kW. Plenty big enough for the original 6 radiators (added a couple more over the years). Yes, it took 30-45 minutes to heat a tank of water from cold, but most of the time, that was never a problem.

If you sit down with your elderly person and present the numbers in a clear, rational way (concentrate on heating requirements, not the hot water), they should see the logic of going small. A 12kW boiler is going to be some £200 less than an 18kW one, so another number to throw in to the mix.

Gerry1

Eldi_Dos said:

sammyjammy said:

Not something I would normally do but I had mine replaced within a week by British Gas, I used the interest free credit option but obviously you don't have to.  No complaints and with something like a boiler the warranty and support is great piece of mid.

British Gas are unlikely to be the cheapest but agree about the support side of things, with 6500 engineers they should be able to get someone out quickly if OP's mother was left without heating in the middle of a cold spell.

Some people might not agree.   🤔

www.telegraph.co.uk

British Gas leaves thousands of homes in the cold after it failed to fix boilers

Olivia Rudgard, Emma Gatten, Bill Gardner

04 February 2022

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British Gas has been forced to apologise to hundreds of thousands of customers over its failure to fix and service broken boilers this winter. 

The energy giant promised to improve its customer service after facing criticism for its new policy of allowing staff to work from home several days a week.

Customers have been left without heating and hot water as a cold snap approaches this weekend, with heavy snowfall and temperatures expected to drop to as low as 21.2F (-6C) 

It comes after the announcement that energy bills will rise by £700 in April - a record jump of more than 50 per cent - amid a growing cost of living crisis. 

British Gas customers with broken boilers say they have faced weeks of delays and cancelled callouts despite paying for the company’s HomeCare scheme, which charges from £14 a month to provide breakdown cover and an annual service to around 3.4 million people. 

Some customers have faced their annual services being delayed many times over, with the company admitting that it is facing a "shortage of standard appointments in some areas".

Requests for emergency callouts are also taking weeks to be fulfilled, leaving customers without adequate hot water or heating.

People were also complaining about similar problems in the autumn.

British Gas, which has received complaints from tens of thousands of customers, apologised for its poor service and promised to improve. 

A British Gas spokesman said: “We've identified where the issues are and we are taking the right steps to fix them. Our customers are the most important thing. We are sorry and trust us that we'll improve.”

However, the company has been warned over the issue by the Financial Conduct Authority. 

The FCA said it was aware of the problems and is working with the company to resolve them, with British Gas expected to provide a timetable for how it plans to improve its service. 

The scandal has not yet triggered a full investigation by the watchdog, which could ultimately result in removing the company’s permission to sell insurance or issuing a significant fine. 

A spokesman for the FCA, which is responsible for regulating and investigating how financial services operate, said: “We are aware of the issues and are working with the firm to ensure these are resolved as quickly as possible and that customers are treated fairly.”

'Time to get tough' on British Gas

Sir John Hayes, the former energy minister, said it was "time to get tough" on British Gas.

"Firms need to be made to live up to their responsibilities and give customers the deal they deserve," he said.

"It's time to get tough because people are being kept waiting for far too long. Families with children are living without heating or hot water, and that's simply not good enough."

The problems have been blamed on staff shortages because of Covid, as well as strike action. 

Chris O'Shea - chief executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas - has come under fire in recent weeks for continuing to work at home, despite the national energy crisis and growing customer complaints. 

Anthony Vickers, 46, a data analyst from Basingstoke, has been unable to run a hot bath for his children, aged two and five, for over a month because of a problem with his boiler.

He first asked for an engineer to visit in early January and has twice had callouts cancelled within a day of when they were supposed to take place. 

He has had the British Gas insurance policy since the middle of 2019 and pays £20 a month for the HomeCare plan, which covers the maintenance of his boiler and central heating.

The contract says an extra £60 must be paid for each problem that needs to be fixed - meaning that in total, once the engineer attends, he will have paid out £300 over the past year and more than £600 since the policy started.

His efforts to get the £60 charge waived because of the two cancelled visits were initially rejected by the company.

"We've got the choice of either having paid the money out, cancelling them and essentially having to start the process again, or we will just have to try and stick it out, try and get them out, and then I'll cancel," he said.

A British Gas spokesman said: “We are very sorry for the service Mr Vickers has received and this is not what our customers should expect from us. We will be waiving the £60 breakdown repair excess on this occasion and we have spoken to him to confirm an appointment for Monday.”

'British Gas playing fast and loose with the rules'

Hundreds of customers took to social media with similar complaints, with some having routine boiler services rearranged for a fourth time.

Last year, research by consumer rights group Which? found that a policy with British Gas is worthwhile for just 0.4 per cent of customers. For other companies, it is cost-effective for one per cent of people.  

Boiler repair can cost between £150 for a minor repair up to around £400 for the most serious issues. A boiler service starts at around £75.

Alexander Stafford, the Conservative MP for Rother Valley and member of the business and energy select committee, said he would raise the issue in Parliament.

"This is an absolute disgrace,” he said. “If you pay for a service, you should get it. 

“British Gas are playing fast and loose with the rules and acting in a completely irresponsible way."

Eldi_Dos

@Gerry1
Would a small local company with a few engineers have coped better in the middle of a cold spell with heavy snowfall and staff off with covid?

As I say with 6500 engineers they are in a better position than most to prioritise vunerable customers if their heating fails during a cold spell and was my experience when I was with them.