British Gas raising boiler insurance cost again. Options?

1404

For those asking what extras I'd get. What I recall is:

- a filter which goes near/on the hot water tank on the 2nd floor.
- he did mention a flush of the system
- a balancing of the radiators (shame they never balanced my radiators for the past 5 years as one of them was cold until I recently learned to rebalance it from the knowledge of people on this forum)
- a 5 year warranty. However, I'd still have to pay money each month... He didn't give an exact figure but he said "£9-£12 a month, I believe. Not sure if that includes annual service (which if it does is fine)
- a warranty for years 5-10 is extra money


Replacing the brickwork where the flue currently is added about £200-£300 onto the overall cost. I'd have to check that but that's my recollection. However, my neighbor's old flue holes look like dog's dinners so if it's done properly I'd be glad.  

One other problem is that I have a downpipe for the guttering which comes down very close indeed to the current (and future) flue. It almost touches the flue. Been like that for 22 years. So he said I may need to get someone to create a bend in the downpipe to take it away from the flue. 

FreeBear

Had a boiler installed last year by Boiler Central - Got a 10 year warranty on a Viessmann 050 Combi for £2500. This included a programmable thermostat, upgraded gas pipe, and a (slightly) non-standard flue installation. System flush was standard, and just amounted to adding a bottle of chemicals - Most of the pipework & radiators were new, so didn't need a power flush.

£3810 sounds a bit over the top, especially with just a 5 year warranty. If you are wedded to the idea of a gas boiler, compare the price from someone like Boxt.

housebuyer143

1404 said:

For those asking what extras I'd get. What I recall is:

- a filter which goes near/on the hot water tank on the 2nd floor.
- he did mention a flush of the system
- a balancing of the radiators (shame they never balanced my radiators for the past 5 years as one of them was cold until I recently learned to rebalance it from the knowledge of people on this forum)
- a 5 year warranty. However, I'd still have to pay money each month... He didn't give an exact figure but he said "£9-£12 a month, I believe. Not sure if that includes annual service (which if it does is fine)
- a warranty for years 5-10 is extra money


Replacing the brickwork where the flue currently is added about £200-£300 onto the overall cost. I'd have to check that but that's my recollection. However, my neighbor's old flue holes look like dog's dinners so if it's done properly I'd be glad.  

One other problem is that I have a downpipe for the guttering which comes down very close indeed to the current (and future) flue. It almost touches the flue. Been like that for 22 years. So he said I may need to get someone to create a bend in the downpipe to take it away from the flue. 

I would be inclined to plug your info into the Worcester fast track install and see how it matches up. Worcester will have a 10/12 year warranty and then you can cancel your homecare or keep it for the service, depending on the price. 

https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/fast-track

Even with the brick work needing doing, which you can negotiate with the plumber separately it's still significantly cheaper than BG and with a much longer warranty. 

silvercar

I had BG do a power flush for an extra £300 when they installed my new boiler, even though some of the radiators were new. I was surprised how much hotter they are now. So I think a power flush is worth it, especially as it is cheaper when having a new boiler as the system needs draining anyway.

BG give 10 year warranties on some of their boilers (including WB), I wouldn't go with less.

FreeBear

silvercar said: BG give 10 year warranties on some of their boilers (including WB), I wouldn't go with less.

You will find it is a manufacturer's warranty that BG pass on. So (typically) 5 year on the budget boilers, and 10/12 year on the top end ones.

1404

Here's the online heat pump quote I got from Octopus:

1404

housebuyer143 said:

1404 said:

For those asking what extras I'd get. What I recall is:

- a filter which goes near/on the hot water tank on the 2nd floor.
- he did mention a flush of the system
- a balancing of the radiators (shame they never balanced my radiators for the past 5 years as one of them was cold until I recently learned to rebalance it from the knowledge of people on this forum)
- a 5 year warranty. However, I'd still have to pay money each month... He didn't give an exact figure but he said "£9-£12 a month, I believe. Not sure if that includes annual service (which if it does is fine)
- a warranty for years 5-10 is extra money


Replacing the brickwork where the flue currently is added about £200-£300 onto the overall cost. I'd have to check that but that's my recollection. However, my neighbor's old flue holes look like dog's dinners so if it's done properly I'd be glad.  

One other problem is that I have a downpipe for the guttering which comes down very close indeed to the current (and future) flue. It almost touches the flue. Been like that for 22 years. So he said I may need to get someone to create a bend in the downpipe to take it away from the flue. 

I would be inclined to plug your info into the Worcester fast track install and see how it matches up. Worcester will have a 10/12 year warranty and then you can cancel your homecare or keep it for the service, depending on the price. 

https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/fast-track

Even with the brick work needing doing, which you can negotiate with the plumber separately it's still significantly cheaper than BG and with a much longer warranty. 

Thanks for that. This is my Worcester online quite. Seems quite reasonable:

1404

BOXT quotes:

FreeBear

Few people really need a 30Kw system boiler unless you want ultrafast reheat times of the DHW. And for that, you need a tank with a real big coil.

An average 3/4 bed house can be heated quite effectively with just 12-18Kw, and that is also plenty of power to heat a water tank. OK, you may have to wait 30-40 minutes to heat from cold, but unless you are having multiple hot baths in quick succession, the wait is not an issue.

When looking at a boiler, once you have selected a size to give maximum heat, you need to consider the minimum it will modulate down to. The lower, the better as it will reduce short cycling (which is bad for efficiency and long term reliability).

In a fairly typical 3 bed semi and have instrumented boiler output. Currently generating 6-7Kw of heat initially, and once the system is up to working temperature, output is dropping to 3-4Kw. This is sufficient to maintain a temperature of 20°C. The total number of radiators (9) limits me to 10-12Kw for heating.

housebuyer143

FreeBear said:

Few people really need a 30Kw system boiler unless you want ultrafast reheat times of the DHW. And for that, you need a tank with a real big coil.

An average 3/4 bed house can be heated quite effectively with just 12-18Kw, and that is also plenty of power to heat a water tank. OK, you may have to wait 30-40 minutes to heat from cold, but unless you are having multiple hot baths in quick succession, the wait is not an issue.

When looking at a boiler, once you have selected a size to give maximum heat, you need to consider the minimum it will modulate down to. The lower, the better as it will reduce short cycling (which is bad for efficiency and long term reliability).

In a fairly typical 3 bed semi and have instrumented boiler output. Currently generating 6-7Kw of heat initially, and once the system is up to working temperature, output is dropping to 3-4Kw. This is sufficient to maintain a temperature of 20°C. The total number of radiators (9) limits me to 10-12Kw for heating.

100% agree but you can range rate Worcesters down, so you can reduce it down to 50%, so it doesn't draw 30kw, only 15kw. It does everything in between as well. Mine is range rated down to 16kw.
Im not sure if 30kw modulates at a higher rate than say a 21kw one will, but I suppose that's something to look into.