New gas combi boiler quote

[Chops54]

When our Worcester was on its last legs my BIL told us to go and buy an Ideal Logic boiler from his supplier which we did and he fitted it for us. 900 quid for the boiler and 300 quid for fitting. That included piping up a new rad on the landing so I was well made up with that. Oh and another fifty for a wireless eco stat which has been a good thing really. Glad to see the back of the old Worcester and BG too. The new boiler only needs an emission check once a year for the first five years. Again our BIL does that for us.

 

[Ellenor]

When our Worcester was on its last legs my BIL told us to go and buy an Ideal Logic boiler from his supplier which we did and he fitted it for us. 900 quid for the boiler and 300 quid for fitting. That included piping up a new rad on the landing so I was well made up with that. Oh and another fifty for a wireless eco stat which has been a good thing really. Glad to see the back of the old Worcester and BG too. The new boiler only needs an emission check once a year for the first five years. Again our BIL does that for us.

How long did all that take him? I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it for £300. I wouldn’t fit an Ideal Logic either.

 

[Chops54]

How long did all that take him? I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it for £300. I wouldn’t fit an Ideal Logic either.

He was here with his lad for five hours or so. There’s nothing difficult about replacing a boiler and not that many years ago I would have done it myself but those days are over. And what’s wrong with an Ideal? We’ve found it just fine.

 

[Ellenor]

He was here with his lad for five hours or so. There’s nothing difficult about replacing a boiler and not that many years ago I would have done it myself but those days are over. And what’s wrong with an Ideal? We’ve found it just fine.

It would take me 5hrs to properly flush he system. I won’t go any further into it.

 

[twotone]

It would take me 5hrs to properly flush he system. I won’t go any further into it.

Takes me about a day and a half, the last one I did last week was three days, two and half actually but it went into the third day but normally I usually allow two full days, commissioning takes a good couple of hours plus there's a good half a shift to pick up the stuff and also surveying the job initially is another hour or two.

Anyone doing a boiler change for £300 brother in law or not is off their head, one call back and you're down dosh even having to go back to show someone how to operate the programmer is a call back and loses you money, if you charge properly then you can offer good customer service you can't do that on £300.

 

[hifinutt]

Agreed !!

 

[Ponty]

Takes me about a day and a half, the last one I did last week was three days, two and half actually but it went into the third day but normally I usually allow two full days, commissioning takes a good couple of hours plus there's a good half a shift to pick up the stuff and also surveying the job initially is another hour or two.

Anyone doing a boiler change for £300 brother in law or not is off their head, one call back and you're down dosh even having to go back to show someone how to operate the programmer is a call back and loses you money, if you charge properly then you can offer good customer service you can't do that on £300.

Yep, these guys are scheduled in for 2 days for removal, full system flush and new installation.

 

[Ellenor]

Takes me about a day and a half, the last one I did last week was three days, two and half actually but it went into the third day but normally I usually allow two full days, commissioning takes a good couple of hours plus there's a good half a shift to pick up the stuff and also surveying the job initially is another hour or two.

Anyone doing a boiler change for £300 brother in law or not is off their head, one call back and you're down dosh even having to go back to show someone how to operate the programmer is a call back and loses you money, if you charge properly then you can offer good customer service you can't do that on £300.

That’s worse scenario but your point is very valid.

One example I can give is a combi change I’ve got on at the end of this month. I called in this Tuesday and put a bottle of Fernox F3 in and asked the customer to heat the system up regularly. I’m hoping to get that one done in a day as everything’s there and the system just needs a hard flush out. That’s still a full on day’s work with no stopping for lunch.

 

[Mike Reed]

Can I ask if the full heating system needs to be on (mine's not a combi) with a (hot) flush? logically it would seem so but to do this for ????hours in the summer seems ridiculous from a p.o.v. of comfort, waste and cost of energy. I assume that it's the new boiler which operates the flushing but if the old is still working????? What then?

Last year in my maisonette, the chap removed a Potterton combi, hot flushed the 3 bed system and installed etc. an Ideal in effectively one day + (2 x half days). Doesn't seem long considering the comments above. Oh well, it's guaranteed for 10 years with annual servicing checks but doubt I'll be the owner in a year or so.

 

[Ellenor]

Can I ask if the full heating system needs to be on (mine's not a combi) with a (hot) flush? logically it would seem so but to do this for ????hours in the summer seems ridiculous from a p.o.v. of comfort, waste and cost of energy. I assume that it's the new boiler which operates the flushing but if the old is still working????? What then?

Last year in my maisonette, the chap removed a Potterton combi, hot flushed the 3 bed system and installed etc. an Ideal in effectively one day + (2 x half days). Doesn't seem long considering the comments above. Oh well, it's guaranteed for 10 years with annual servicing checks but doubt I'll be the owner in a year or so.

Some systems need more flushing than others. Some you can get away with a quick mains flush. If a cleanser is used it’s very important that all traces of it is flushed out. Another thing to watch out for is the need for frequent bleeding of radiators. Sealed systems don’t get air in them but a corrosion electrolytic reaction creates the gas you’re venting off. If after a short period after having work done you find the radiators don’t require venting you know your system’s good.

 

[Ellenor]

Oh and when I’m talking about flushing I don’t mean just filling a draining the system. I mean either a hard mains flush (a mains water supply direct to the flow and the return to drain) or ideally use of a powerflush machine.

 

[twotone]

Can I ask if the full heating system needs to be on (mine's not a combi) with a (hot) flush? logically it would seem so but to do this for ????hours in the summer seems ridiculous from a p.o.v. of comfort, waste and cost of energy. I assume that it's the new boiler which operates the flushing but if the old is still working????? What then?

Last year in my maisonette, the chap removed a Potterton combi, hot flushed the 3 bed system and installed etc. an Ideal in effectively one day + (2 x half days). Doesn't seem long considering the comments above. Oh well, it's guaranteed for 10 years with annual servicing checks but doubt I'll be the owner in a year or so.

Just depends Mike personally I check the water quality and if it's dodgy then I'll do a chemical flush if the water's okay then I only inhibit even then I think that your best not adding chemicals cause you can flush till the cows come home but you'll never remove all of the chemicals.

Like Ellenor said you can add a decent cleaner about four weeks prior to doing the work and use the old boiler if it's still working but you have to instruct the customer to run the heating system full blast for at least an hour a day during that four week period plus all of the TRVs have to open fully otherwise it's a waste of time however you can flush using the new boiler as that can get the heating system much hotter than some old forty year old gas guzzler can and if you're removing a cylinder at the same time then that's less stuff to flush and clean it's really all down to the engineer on the day to be honest.

I fit magnetic filters but I think those are snake oil too plus the boilers now have long warranties so I don't really see why the customer should pay over £150 for a filter to protect a boiler with ten years manufacturer's warranty they should be providing the filters themselves or they should be in the boiler,s the filters are terrible anyway they leak if you look at them, the worst culprits are Magnacleans but they're all shit.

My own heating system was an open vent system when I replaced the boiler when we moved in back in 2006 and you could have used the water to make your tea it was that clean so likely your own system will be similar heating systems installed in the 70s were usually installed properly and had no issues with sludge.

The power flushing thing and magnetic filters is all relatively new there was none of that stuff back pre-2000 all you did then, if it was a new system with a combi was to hot flush the system then add inhibitor or use a cleaner to get rid of the flux residues etc then hot flush and add inhibitor then the bandwagon started when Chris Adey (ex BG engineer) 'invented' his magna clean he didn't really invent it gas board guys carried a magnet about with them to find sludge blockages on pipework he just took it a step further, the story goes that he threw a magnet into a bucket of sludge water and the magnetite stuck to the magnet so he developed a filter with a suspended magnet and then managed to sell them to BG and the rest is history.

Regarding summer time installs and running the boiler a full pelt then you have to do that when commissioning the boiler unfortunately there's no way round that and it can take a couple of hours as you need to put the boiler into maximum mode but you can use the diverter valve to dump some of the heat into the hot water circuit.

Tony

 

[paulbysea]

I paid around that sum for a Worcester combi boiler, a radiator, a new towel rail, thermostatic valves on a couple of rads that didn't have them and a Bosch smart home thermostat just before Covid hit. This seems a good price to me.

 

[stevec67]

Can I ask if the full heating system needs to be on (mine's not a combi) with a (hot) flush? logically it would seem so but to do this for ????hours in the summer seems ridiculous from a p.o.v. of comfort, waste and cost of energy. I assume that it's the new boiler which operates the flushing but if the old is still working????? What then?

Last year in my maisonette, the chap removed a Potterton combi, hot flushed the 3 bed system and installed etc. an Ideal in effectively one day + (2 x half days). Doesn't seem long considering the comments above. Oh well, it's guaranteed for 10 years with annual servicing checks but doubt I'll be the owner in a year or so.

Just at the moment it's not waste to run the heating here! I've got 10C outside, 16 downstairs and 17 up. Hardly bloody tropical. I'm toughing it out but nobody's swanning around in a T shirt.

 

[Mike Reed]

Some systems need more flushing than others. Some you can get away with a quick mains flush. If a cleanser is used it’s very important that all traces of it is flushed out. Another thing to watch out for is the need for frequent bleeding of radiators

Thanks Ellenor; Only the occasional inhibitor has been added to the expansion tank in the past (last time last year, by me after cleaning out the exp. tank; I do this every 2 years as big sediments build up, presumably coming back from the system.

then I think that your best not adding chemicals cause you can flush till the cows come home but you'll never remove all of the chemicals.

Point taken.

and use the old boiler if it's still working but you have to instruct the customer to run the heating system full blast for at least an hour a day during that four week period plus all of the TRVs have to open fully otherwise it's a waste of time however you can flush using the new boiler as that can get the heating system much hotter than some old forty year old gas guzzler can and if you're removing a cylinder at the same time then that's less stuff to flush and clean it's really all down to the engineer on the day to be honest.

Sod that for a game of soldiers, Tony! The young plumber who got me out of trouble back in early Feb. mentioned the certain removal of my large 16/17 y.o. cylinder (which does leak a tiny bit at the connection but no prob.) but even though this is a hard water area, I'm dubious. Besides, to me, it's a separate job which can be done in the future if needed. However, your comments re flushing etc. make me think. Thanks for advice.

Just at the moment it's not waste to run the heating here! I've got 10C outside, 16 downstairs and 17 up. Hardly bloody tropical. I'm toughing it out but nobody's swanning around in a T shirt.

I obv. live in warmer climes, Steve (Norwich) but I do my swanning in one pullover unless well over 25 degrees. Toughing it out is 3 pullovers, a jacket, long com's and a fur hat (and that's in bed!) One does, I notice, feel the cold a lot more with increasing age, which is faster than global warming.

 

[twotone]

Thanks Ellenor; Only the occasional inhibitor has been added to the expansion tank in the past (last time last year, by me after cleaning out the exp. tank; I do this every 2 years as big sediments build up, presumably coming back from the system.

Depends Mike might be bacterial growth especially if there’s no lid on the tank and it’s situated under the skylight/uv light source however if the sediment is beeing produced by the heating system then you’ll definitely need a full flush before installing a new boiler, there’s probably air ingress into the heating system usually the culprit is the pump or pump valves leaking or one of them on the negative side of the pump so you get air being drawn into the pump but no water leaks.

I’d definitely be replacing that cylinder too btw.

 

[Mullardman]

My boiler is a Baxi 105 HE,..around 30 Kw. installed in 2006. It's been pretty reliable but struggles to deliver 'instant' hot water and takes ages to fill a bath.
So..I've got a quote for a 36 Kw replacement, including replacement of all TRVs which don't work well. Quote is a little under £2.5k.
What does the team think?

 

[stevec67]

I paid similar for a similarly sized boiler 2years ago, so I'd say that sounds fair.

 

[Ellenor]

My boiler is a Baxi 105 HE,..around 30 Kw. installed in 2006. It's been pretty reliable but struggles to deliver 'instant' hot water and takes ages to fill a bath.
So..I've got a quote for a 36 Kw replacement, including replacement of all TRVs which don't work well. Quote is a little under £2.5k.
What does the team think?

That sounds like a good price. If you get a cheaper quote than that you might not be getting a thorough job done. 36kw is a powerful boiler, is the current gas supply big enough? How far away is the meter??

 

[Mullardman]

To be installed by the same guy who fitted present boiler. Well known and regarded locally. I don't know gas pressure but next door had a 40 kw fitted by same chap. Gas meter is in integral garage. Boiler in cupboard on landing above, with gas pipe running approx 1.5m vertically and 3m horizontally between.