Help required - gas boilers

[brisgull]

I have just found out that I need a new boiler and all the pipework and been quoted £1,300 plus VAT.

Not knowing about these things and Bloke working nights, I was wondering if anyone might have a clue if this is expensive or not. Also if there are any West Country seagulls who could recommend a boiler man.

Thank you.

 

[Hiney]

Can't recommend, but that seems pretty high, unless you live in a castle!

 

[wehatepalace]

i've just had a combi boiler fitted and that cost me about a grand ,they save loads of room though no great big storage tank type thingy !

 

[Yorkie]

We had central heating installed 5 years ago in Yorkshire (combi boilier) with 7 radiators and it cost £1900 so that seems to be a fair price but get at least 4 quotes and choose someone recommended to you by someone you know.
Don't just go for the British Gas option (they quoted us £2400 at the time)

 

[brisgull]

Thanks and no its not a castle, just a small two bed barratt house! This is a combi boiler, clock and new pipework and they will take the old one away!

Am trying to sort out a couple more quotes although getting them into the house is a different matter - dont they want the work!!! The company who have been quoted have been highly recommended, just seemed a whole heap of cash!

I really do want to get it changed as it has been nothing but trouble since I bought the house. Three weeks after moving in, the electrics in the boiler caught fire and I wish I had pestered the insurance company to replace the whole thing!

Cheers for the advice! Bang goes the winter sun holiday!

 

[sams dad]

£1300 + Vat is a bit steep.You should be able to get that done for around a grand.

 

[Spicy2]

We also got a quote off of British Gas and, apart from the bloke being a complete nutter who told me his life history, he also quoted £2,000. Always best to get two or three quotes.

 

[brisgull]

Am seriously considering quitting the day job and going back to school to be a boiler woman!!! Will have to think of way to persuade Bloke to support me during training!

 

[Bozza]

Bizarrely given the industry I work in - am currently doing a lot of work with the Gas Safety Watchdog CORGI. In fact spent all today at their offices in Basingstoke for a meeting.

Anyway - make sure whoever you use is CORGI registered - CORGI run a search facility on their site I believe. And just to make sure check their badge which they MUST carry when they come to do the work. Check the back of the card and make sure they are permitted to installer boilers - not everyone is.

(On another note, did you travel to the Swindon away playoff game from Temple Meads in an Albion shirt by yourself?)

 

[brisgull]

Cheers for that Bozza, will check out their website and see what comes up.

On the other note, sorry, wasnt me on the train from Temple Meads to the Swindon away game. I drove to that one. Only games I have gone to on the train are Plymouth away (last season), Millwall away (2 years ago) and that horrid game in London with the scary scoreline (2 years ago).

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Combi boilers are shite.My mates a plummer and reckons if he bought a new house with one in he would rip it out and put a conventional boiler in.Most decent plummers are so busy they charge what they want.Its a double edged sword -Go with a good recommended plummer and wait ages for him to come and then pay over the odds or put a pin in the yellow pages and take a chance.

 

[Superseagull]

How old is the existing boiler? It may still be under manufactures warranty. Worth checking out as it could save you a few quid.

If you are replacing the exisiting one like for like then there should not be too much work invovled as long as it is going in the same place. Just make sure whoever does it is CORGI registered.

Also make sure it is a combi condensing boiler that they are installing. Much more efficient so will help with the gas bill.

Finally make sure the boiler is a decent brand such as Gloworm, Worcester, etc not some cheap foreign one.

 

[brisgull]

The existing boiler is about 9 years old and not really sure what previous owner did in the house (another story) as it was in a sorry state when I moved in. As I said, I had the electrics catch fire and since then had a couple of things go wrong with it. The house is now rented out and I am very nervous about the whole thing dying in the middle of winter!

The quote is for a Worcester one and have printed a list of names off the Corgi site to give them a ring tomorrow (hopefully the office will be quiet!).

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.

 

[Yorkie]

I can understand the boiler needing replacing but why the pipework?