Gas Boilers

Just looked at the British Gas site and apparently I could save nearly 300 quid a year if I buy a new boiler from them.

My boiler is about 12yrs old, it still works OK.

They dont say how much it would cost to buy a new one, I'd have to contact them, not sure why, the site seems to be able to work out how inefficient my existing boiler is, (although the exact model doesn't seem to be there), but cant seem to tell me how much a replacement would cost, without fitting.

What are your thoughts, I've heard lots of bad things about modern boilers, they have a habit of packing up in cold weather.
Is that true?

Of course they are using the usual scare tactics, that spare parts for my boiler are getting hard to find, and I need to change before it breaks down, and is impossible to fix.

But I'm thinking I might just be better off waiting until it does actually break down before changing it.

 

I have just gone through the gas boiler nightmare
Yes the new ones are more efficient, but it would take years to cover the cost of a new boiler and getting it commissioned
As for the threat that parts are no longer made
I showed them ebay, where they have brandnew parts for boilers over thirty odd years old

Also the £300 back on your old boiler from BG, it turns out their new fitted are exactly £300 dearer than the opposition/private companies :-)

Also the new boilers exhaust emit acid, so you have to get a new flue liner, which in turn has to be terminated in a sink hole three feet below ground holding a neutralising chemical

Wait until yours breaks down, if it is still providing heat and water sufficient for your needs

IMHO Jack McH

 

What jack says, don't replace until yours is beyond economical repair. Oh, and British gas is THE last place to purchase a boiler and fitting from. Probably the most expensive avenue you can go through. A small independent gas safe reg'd sole trader is your best bet for customer service, quality and price.

 

I've not had a problem with combination boilers. Both the one I have now and the one in my previous house are both Vaillants. The boiler in my previous house is still in use and is seventeen years old. My present one is eight years old.

Jack I've not heard of a sink hole with a neutralising chemical before, I'm not sure that is necessary.

I agree with the others about not using British Gas, not only because of cost but they don't seem to be able to do a job properly first time.

 

Boiler problems I'm very familiar with. I would say that the costs of buying a new boiler economy wise don't come near the running costs of an old one. Only replace it if yours needs a repair which will outweigh the costs of buying a new one which can be £1000 plus so I doubt any repair will outweigh the costs of a new boiler. It would take you over ten years or more to recoup any outgoings.

When you think about boiler insurance, how often will you need a spare part and will the economy really pay for itself in the lifetime of the boiler. Doubt it. I rekon the boiler needs replacing before it pays for itself.

If you do then I can highly recommended a Vailant. Customer service is top and our local council use them for all their properties so can't be that bad as they'd have callouts all the time. Had mine for the last 7 years and it's done us proud (it was 12 months old when we moved in so almost 8 years) and parts are readily available and cheap but doubt you'll need any this side of ten years. First time in 7 years we had to replace the pump due to a sludge build up at a cost of £80 but that was because we'd drained several rads to redecorate and didn't properly flush the crap out of the system. Not worth paying boiler insurance for (£80 over 7 years?) and at around £1600 for a new one it's definitely cheaper to stay with it than fork out for a new one.

Of course you could buy a new boiler and end up with no end of repairs costing you a fortune but in the OP's case I'd just stick with it till it's beyond economical repair.

 

Mine is a condensing boiler John and it's a plastic pipe that runs off into my drain, but not a sink hole. Combination boilers can't heat both radiators and bath water at the same time. There is a shuttle (not sure what it's called) that flips from one to the other, so if a bath is being run water isn't being pumped around the heating system until the tap is turned off and the boiler returns to the heating.

 

Not only necessary but a legal requirement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensing_boiler

To Pete
The general cost of fitting a basic condensing boiler, comes to about £6k
(If replacing an old boiler for a new type condensing)

This is due to labour and green costs, along with all the required regs fitted

ie your old flue has to be removed, and a stainless steel one fitted, as the exhaust
gasses with their acid destroy, any other type of flue,

Next as in my case only one is available as a back boiler replacement, this requires
extra air intakes, and also, a new front facing fire which for some reason Can not be Gas fired
only an electric fire available ?

Saving of £300 a year would take you only 18 years to recuperate, and as the boiler is only good for eight years, seems to be a no no in my book

My written off Potterton back boiler, no spares mate, had every part replaced, as my private plumber bought all the brand new parts off ebay,
Alas it was me who showed him my boiler could live again, only thing was, he bought the parts and added his mark up on them (he would not let me buy them and him fit them) so it cost me and extra £100, but a brand new boiler for £365 can not be bad

Jack McH

 

Diverter valve. It gives priority to hot water which is usually where it's needed. If rads are heating up it stops the heating while bath is running but usually if rads are already hot you won't notice the drop on temp for the 10 mins or so you have the tap open because the metal rads will hold the heat and stay hot long enough until time you turn the hot tap off when the diverter valve switches back to CH.

Only time you tend to notice it is if you flick on the heating then run a bath straight away. The rads wont get hot until after you turn the tap off as all the heat is diverted to water.

 

I had our boiler replaced a few months back and so far it's one of the best decisions we made. It turned out our old back boiler was creating too much hot water, such as making enough for a bath which hadn't been present for years. It's so much quieter than the last one too. We got a local company to fit ours in and correct the bodged up pipe work that was above the floor. Only took fives days to do for one bloke.

If you do go down this route get a decent brand of boiler, British Gas I don't think use them. Ours is a Vailant. Don't use British Gas, support a local company who needs your money more than them.