Any plumbers on here, or anyone had a new boiler?

Moos3h

Moos3h

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Hi all,

We live in a new (ish - 1996) build mid-terrace and it's currently fitted with a hot water cylinder.

We'd like to investigate moving to a combi boiler for two reasons:

1). We believe it would be more efficient
2). We'd like to regain the entire cupboard that is lost to the hot water cylinder

Now, before I get quotes from British Gas and the local plumbers, can anyone give me a BALLPARK figure of what I'd be expecting to pay? I don't want to get turned over, so it'd be good to know roughly what I can expect.

I'm hoping that it's a case of old boiler out, new one in and then rip the water cylinder out (presumably just joining the two pipes that feed to and from it).

Thanks for any help in advance!
James
 
I seem to remember my brother saying it cost him just over the 2 grand mark about a year ago
 
It will depend a lot on the size of your house and therefore the size of the combi boiler required.

We had a heating nightmare last year which resulted in us changing to a combi boiler and replacing all the radiators in the house (thirteen)! :eek: At that point we were on *very* good terms with our plumber and he did the whole lot at practically cost price....£3k fitted.

If you through British Gas you'd best be sitting down when they give you the quote....I reckon it'll be around the 4-5 grand mark (seriously).

Get on to http://www.ratedpeople.com/ and post your job requirements (they call it a project); this information will then be passed on to recommended (and hopefully local) tradesman who will provide you with the relevant quotes.

Hope this helps,

Steve
 
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Thanks Steve, it's only a two up, two down and the rads are not old so I'm hoping it's going to be less eye-watering than expected!

Cheers,
James
 
Hopefully....BG quoted me £8500 for the boiler/rads and removal of the cylinder. :cuckoo:
 
Another point to take into consideration, from what I have read before, is that a combi boiler is more is more likely to break down due to it being more complex than a conventional c/h boiler and when it does break down the repairs are generally more expensive.
 
it might not be as simple as joining up the two ends to the new boiler it depends what kind of system you have.

Join this forum and ask a few questions, or you might get some idea by just browsing the plumbers section.

http://www.screwfix.com/talk/index.jspa?ts=73959

There are quite a few helpful guys in there, I have had a few questions answered myself.
 
I have just had an old back boiler and the old water tank taken out, a combi boiler fitted to the existing pipework (with a few pipes moved/diverted) in an end terrace house. I paid £1,300 but I have filled the holes from the pipes that were taken out myself to save a bit. You may need to add a bit for the prices closer to London being higher though!
 
I have a standard traditional boiler that just keeps on going, and I shall let it do so until it dies and I cannot get any parts for it. BG tried to convince me to change it over 5 years ago with a scare story that parts were no longer being made quoting me something like £3500. Well I haven't needed any. I don't believe the running savings will offset the cost of replacement. I doubt that a new boiler will last that long to start with before that too needs replacing. Everbody seems to be producing short term disposable crap these days.

On another point, my brother's previous house had a combi and it took the best part of an hour to fill a bath to any decent level.
 
I had the old water tank and boiler removed from our house and a combi boiler fitted and have regretted it ever since. There is quite a lot of wasted water as the water runs cold for a while until the newly heated water reaches the taps and if you want a bath in the winter, expect a long wait as the colder ambient temperature results in a cooler hot water.

Would I have another? No!
 
Avoid BG, they just subcontract the work out. The quoted me £2300 to fit a new combi boiler, so I asked for the make and model they were proposing to fit and then Googled it and it was £850 incl. vat, supply only, so I rang them back and asked how they worked out the fitting charge as it was going to be, at most 3-4 hours labour and the salesman eventually admitted that they were subcontracting and just adding on a mark-up.

In the end I got a local firm to do the job and including getting an extra radiator put in the bill came to just over £1100.

Having said that I'm not all that impressed with combi boilers, they aren't the most reliable things, the previous (Halstead) one lasted no time at all and the (hideously expensive) repair work carried out by their appointed service engineers was done to such a shoddy standard that I ended up having to get a second company in to repair their repair work :bang:
 
Edbray mentions a point that I forgot and that is it takes an age for hot water to reach the tap.

If you really have to have a combi and you want the flow rate, then I've heard plumbers recommend two small boilers rather than one big one. You have the added advantage of having a backup running while the other is inevitably awaiting repair. Or, with my luck, two dead boilers awaiting repair.
 
Moos3h said:
2). We'd like to regain the entire cupboard that is lost to the hot water cylinder
Click to expand...

Do you use the cupboard as an airing cupboard? If you loose that, how will fininsh drying clothes that come off the line damp?

Chris (in touch with the feminine side today)
 
Two names;

Worcester and Vailliant boilers are the only ones you need to know.

A boiler for you house would cost approx £700 and fitting, if it is a straight forward job, anything up to £500 (it is the Corgi thing that makes it seem expensive)

You will need something the size of a 24 for your house.

Condensing combi boilers are very efficient. My gas bill has lowered by a third since we changed to one.

Anyone who has to wait for their hot water has something wrong with their set-up. Either wrong boiler or the settings are wrong.

As with most things, you get what you pay for.
 
MisterE said:
Edbray mentions a point that I forgot and that is it takes an age for hot water to reach the tap.

If you really have to have a combi and you want the flow rate, then I've heard plumbers recommend two small boilers rather than one big one. You have the added advantage of having a backup running while the other is inevitably awaiting repair. Or, with my luck, two dead boilers awaiting repair.
Click to expand...

I get hot water instantly with my combi :shrug:
 
If you want to ask for advice then I would ask here:

http://www.askthetrades.co.uk/

It doesnt have the huge number of plonkers that the screwfix forum is afflicted with. I've had excellent advice and info from them in the past.
 
Very helpful everyone, thank you!

James
 
I was quoted £1700 three years ago to have my old (dead) boiler removed & a new condensing boiler fitted in it's place. I'd guess that the cost of removing the old hot water tank & 'adjusting' the hot water supply would be rather expensive as well :)



* The £1700 was for a £530 boiler + £1200 fitting :eek:
 
tiler65 said:
Two names;

Worcester and Vailliant boilers are the only ones you need to know.

A boiler for you house would cost approx £700 and fitting, if it is a straight forward job, anything up to £500 (it is the Corgi thing that makes it seem expensive)

You will need something the size of a 24 for your house.

Condensing combi boilers are very efficient. My gas bill has lowered by a third since we changed to one.

Anyone who has to wait for their hot water has something wrong with their set-up. Either wrong boiler or the settings are wrong.

As with most things, you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

Agree with above, although Baxi do some decent boilers too and also have good backup service. Most plumbers will tell you the average life of a Combi Boiler is 10 years, guess who's boiler is 10 years old this year :(

Darren
 
<rant>

I have a combi in the house and I hate it!!

I may just have a lemon, but i had 13 BG call-outs to fix it over a period of 6 months. during which time i would get hot-water for 30 seconds, then cold for 2 mins. Not great for showering! eventually had to get a manufacturers engineer out who was round 4 times. he eventually changed a heat sensor worth a mere £10. claimed it was fixed and legged it.

It now works but i cant run the water temp gauge past 3 on the boiler (5 max) or the system shuts down. I have now decided to deal with this in the mean time as it was costing more to maintain the boiler than i could justify.

Given the choice, i'd go old school again!! Even if it was just for the fact that i know i'd have hot water in a big tank and enough water for a decent shower.

Also, flow rate useless! even when it was working - when my GF ran a bath you basically have to trickle the water out the tap or it goes lukewarm!!

2 smaller boilers may be the way, but i'd see that as having twice the probablility that they will break.

</rant>
 
how long you wait for hotwater from a combi will depend on how long your pipes are. the boiler kicks in to heat the water at the boiler when it senses the water flowing, there will still be cold water in the pipes that needs to be shifted first.

i had a cheap combi boiler first (pro therm). the installer helpfully told me he had fitted a few and they were good. so not knowing anything i went along, it saved me a couple of hundred quid at the time. bout 2 years later the boiler kept getting an error that you had to reset, so in winter coming home to a cold house isnt much fun. had a few people out to look at it, and none were very impressed with it and would say they need to order a part then disapear, couldnt get in touch with them after that.

in the end after bout 7 years, i got a new boiler, a worcester-bosch.

i would not consider anything other than vailant and worcester, it cost me bout £1200 for a simple swap and system flush etc. that is obviouslty with all the pipes there ready and waiting. i think they took bout 6 hours doing it
 
tiler65 said:
Anyone who has to wait for their hot water has something wrong with their set-up. Either wrong boiler or the settings are wrong.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Hot water pretty much instantly....much better than our old conventional boiler.
 
sdb123 said:
Sounds like a water pressure issue as opposed to boiler related.
Click to expand...

No, well known issue with some cheap combi boilers. Always look at the flow rates.
 
sdb123 said:
Sounds like a water pressure issue as opposed to boiler related.
Click to expand...

who? said:
No, well known issue with some cheap combi boilers. Always look at the flow rates.
Click to expand...

Water pressure in a combi has nothing to do with the 'inlet' pressure. A good combi has a good pump. As stated earlier you get what you pay for.
 
I got a replacement vokera (old one was starting to die on me) fitted last March, quote from British Gas was around 2 and a half grand then they wanted to fit new thermostatic valves on each radiator 5 of them even after telling them they were less than a year old which would have cost a extra 300 pounds. Told the rep to go and take a F...running jump. Got a local corgi guy in, £800.00 to fit and supply the boiler.

Stay away from BG unless your loaded. Combi's are not much use for showering, get a proper shower.
 
Well I have a Worcester 28SI and it's rubbish, and it wasn't bloody cheap either!

I also have very good water pressure and flow ('water pressure' is only dependant on head of water not how restricted the pipes or aperture are). My pipes may have a longer run that normal, but it still takes an age to heat up. If the ambient temperature of the water is low (currently about 4 degrees C), the hottest it will get is considerably below the hottest it can get in the summer, the water still passes over the heat exchanger at the same rate, therefore as it has to be heated to a higher degree it cannot reach the same high temperatures as when the ambient temperature of the water is higher to start with.
 
We had the ancient back boiler replaced for a combi last year, £1600 all in plus a new rad in the cupboard where the old tank was which is now used as an airing cupboard only with a lot more room :thumbs:
 
My 25yr? old 3 way combi boiler went on the blink recently. Since I decided to stop using gas and until I can afford to get the central heating converted to electric I've installed instant water heaters for the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink. Now instead of having to turn on the heating to heat water it's there when I need it and I only pay to heat what I use. I'm not sure I'll even go for central heating again, electric radiators work just as well and the instant water works fine, I'm sure I'm saving a bundle this way but it's too early to tell.
 
my parents have a combi and it appears to be keeping the local british gas service engineers busy as its always leaking, breaking down etc and they have to call an engineer out, i think every part of the boiler has been replaced now (luckily under British gas homecare so at no cost (just hastle) to my parents), its a glow worm if thats of any use to anyone thinking of buying.
 
If you use the hot water in your tank for a shower you'll need a new one if you change to a combi
 
wack61 said:
If you use the hot water in your tank for a shower you'll need a new one if you change to a combi
Click to expand...

The whole point of a combi is that you get rid of the storage tank.
 
I meant the shower, when I had a combi at my last house the shower had to be replaced with one that was combi boiler compatible.

My father in law just had british gas fit a new conventional boiler, he won't tell me what it cost but they came at 9am and were done by 3pm so £1000 boiler + 6 hours labour at british gas rates, about 3K i'm guessing
 
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We had a new one fitted a year ago, same thing, old tank and boiler removed, combi boiler installed in a new location. This involved quite a bit of pipe work, the tank in airing cupboard and loft header tanks removing, and it was a big fat boiler as we have a 4 bed house with 24 radiators [ :eek: ], oh and thermostatic valves on rads, all told about 3.5K



oh, and british gas wanted nearly double for same job....
 
I had my old boiler and tank removed. The boiler was in the kitchen. I got the combi put in the cupboard upstairs where the hot water tank was. All in a paid a local plumber £1500.
 
someone call for a plumber?

MarioLuigi1.jpg
 
Plumbers love combi boilers, do you want me to get rid of that old copper tank for you love £££££££££££££££
 
The price will depend on a few things,1)is the gas pipe large enough needs normally to be 22mm, how close is the boiler to a drain (condensate) 3) by law a Corgi engineer must also fit TRVs to each rad except bathroom and a room stat. Worchester are not as good as they are made out to be, Valient are far far better. I would recommend at least a 28kw for flow rate (14lts/min approx) and it will run a shower. Outside large cities £2000 ish inside £2400 ish. Above all the work must be notified to Corgi so you get a compliance certificate some boiler manufactures are now voiding guarantess with out the cert. Regards Jimbo
 
Getting a new baxi boiler installed in 2 weeks time. Our old combi which is 10 years old now, and was flooding a few years ago when the roof was off, has started playing up. It is also dreadful to have a bath, always has been, the flow rate was a trickle in the bath, so I'm hoping this one will be better.

Quote was just under £2k :)
 
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