New Central Heating Advice Needed !

[Clunk]

Hi,

My old Mum has been advised by British Gas that her 30 year old back boiler based central heating system will no longer be covered under their boiler insurance scheme as the manufacturer has stopped making parts for it. to be honest, it is noisey and has a seriously fugly gas fire in the lounge. i personally know nothing about plumbing and after seeing some of the horror stories on 'builders from hell' and the like, im a bit nervous about getting the whole thing replaced.

its only a small house (2 up 2 down + bathroom), and would only need, a small radiator for the hall, one for the lounge, one for the kitchen, one for each bedroom and one for the bathroom. im not sure what kind of boiler to go for. the one she has is a backboiler type that sits inside the chimney breast, behind a gas fire in the lounge. this also means that there has to be air vents in every room in the house (according to british gas anyway), and i can tell you that its really draughty.

so could anyone give me any pointers as to what type of boiler she would need, and what trick the plumbers might get up to so i can get the the best quote possible.

if you need more info, please say so.

thanks muchly

[jklm_37]

dont no much but i do no u wanna go with some one who is Corgi registered...

[Skii]

ask here

http://www.diynot.com/forums/

[rox0r]

Father-in-law is a heating engineer extrordinaire and we happen to be in the same situation; 30+yr old back boiler that you can't get parts for anymore. Fortunately for us he's a damned good old fashioned plumber and knows his way around these old systems and keeps it going quite nicely for us.

The unfortunate truth is though that replacing a defunkt back boiler system involves a lot of money. There are now regulations governing this area meaning the engineer can only fit a certain type of new boiler. Unfortunately this means a refit of justabout the whole system. Father-in-law quoted us around £2500 for parts and the whole job, but that's at 'family-at-cost' rates so realistically it's nearer £3500.

It's difficult at best to get a 'decent' plumber who knows what he's doing let alone one that isn't going to rip you off in a heartbeat. Go by reccomendation and reputation alone. Just because he's got a Corgi certificate doesn't mean he's cosher, they give those things away on cornflake packets.

Oh and for the record, British Gas are some of the biggest conmerchants going.

A really good engineer will be able to nurture the old boiler back to a fit state like ours is , most however will simply right it off on the spot and gleefully quote you up a refit.

[BUFF]

There are now regulations governing this area meaning the engineer can only fit a certain type of new boiler.

condensing boilers.
There are exceptions allowed using a points system to see if you qualify.
(oh & if you lived in Scotland those regs. don't apply - the same with the new electrical regs)

edited for my poor typing

[Stoo]

It's not a Baxi is it?

[malfunction]

Oh and for the record, British Gas are some of the biggest conmerchants going.

Indeed - got my boiler replaced a couple of years ago and BG wanted to charge me something like £3,000 for a boiler you can buy for £450 (needless to say I went with someone else). This is a good website to help beat down quotes if anyone tries to inflate the price of the boiler or anything else:

http://www.discountedheating.co.uk/

[0iD]

Get a combi boiler, much better suited to your needs imo.

[Clunk]

thanks for all the replies. when british gas came to service the boiler last time, the bloke that did it said in passing that it would be 7500!. Of course if it cost that much, she can have a bonfire in the back garden and have the door open !.

i think the problem is that the whole boiler would have to be relocated to a different room and all the pipes redone...maybe?

ill try that discounted heating website, but i dont know what im looking for yet. i think ill get a couple of quotes and get them to list the model numbers.

thanks

[rox0r]

i think the problem is that the whole boiler would have to be relocated to a different room and all the pipes redone...maybe?

If it were a combi being fitted then yes it would need to be fitted elsewhere. That's not such a massive job in itself really, it's stripping out the rest of the system to cope with change in pressure etc. You'd also need to take into consideration a new gas fire to replace the old front, doing the job properly would mean a nice fireplace could be fitted (if desired) with a nice simulated-flame gas fire sitting in the recess.

As BUFF says if she qualifies then a back boiler could be fitted meaning the job is immensely cheaper.

[Clunk]

i think if the boiler needs to be replaced, then she would want the fireplace gone altogether. its only a smallish room and not having a fireplace there would free up a lot of dead space.

ill find out for sure tomorrow.

thanks