new boiler or not !

markbsac

i have a fully working boiler but was installed in the 70s ...BG are trying to sell me a new one saying i will save ££££££s by having a new boiler fitted...mate whos a plumber says if your excisting boiler is still working ok leave it in.......any advice ?

espresso

markbsac wrote: »

i have a fully working boiler but was installed in the 70s ...BG are trying to sell me a new one saying i will save ££££££s by having a new boiler fitted...mate whos a plumber says if your excisting boiler is still working ok leave it in.......any advice ?

BG will tell you that you will save ££££££s but they want you to buy a new boiler from them, don't they. Yes new boilers are more efficient but they are much more complicated and need repairing much more often. Your mate sounds about right to me, stick with the old one as long as you can.

btr30

A new boiler will improve efficiency by around 20% so that is the potential saving on your gas bill. You can then weigh up the cost of the installation and benefits of the reduced running costs. It is also likely that gas prices will continue to rise so you may wish to factor that into calculations.
The existing boiler wont last for ever, and it could be beneficial to program a replacement rather than it break down in the middle of winter and be left without heating or hot water.

space_rider

A friend of mine recently changed his boiler to an ideal A rated boiler, His boiler was over 20 years old and so far the amount of units he`s used has only reduced by £7 in money over the last quarter!

I`d say unless your gas bills are through the roof I would leave it until I have to change it.

Cardew

With a boiler installed in the 70's your savings are likely to be 30+% with a new condensing boiler.

My 1988 boiler is rated at 65% and a boiler 10 years older than my 'modern' one is very unlikely to be better than mine and probably worse.

However despite that I am firmly with espresso(post#2) and your plumber mate!

If you currently spend, say £600 a year, you might save up to £200 a year(probably not that much)

A new boiler will cost you £3,000-£4,000 on average - fitting, condensate drain, new ventilation regulations, the inevitable system flush costing £hundreds)

£3,000-£4000 invested will produce those savings. That sum borrowed will cost a lot more than your potential savings.

However the biggest factor for me is that the modern boilers are stuffed full of electronics and it seems from the specialist press that you will be lucky to get 10 years from a boiler. BG Homecare won't even cover the heat exchanger I understand.

Just my thoughts mind - there are plenty of valid counter arguments; but I am sticking with what I have!

neil40

i would'nt believe anything BG tell you.I had a run in with them earlier today.Their call centre in glasgow seems to have one goal -to srew as much money out of you as possible and give you awful customer service.I for one wont be going near them again!.....Neil

neil40

That should read screw ..N

MarkyMarkD

It is shocking, honestly, that BG go on telling people that spending £3,000 or so is a worthwhile thing to do when their gas bills are only (say) £500 a year.

Even on the most optimistic 30% savings, it's only a 5% return on the replacement cost - which is less than you'd get by putting the same money in the bank.

And the environmental case for replacing a working boiler is baloney too. The energy used in making a boiler is significant compared to the marginally lower energy consumption of the new boiler.

And I'm posting this when our 25 year old boiler is not working - for the third time in four years. It's way cheaper to spend £70 getting it repaired every 15 months or so than to buy a new boiler.