Boiler replacement cost

[Muddymike]

My son has just bought a house that has a very old gas back boiler. Can anyone give me a ball park figure for having an old gas back boiler replaced with a new condensing combi boiler? Minimal pipe runs as all the pipes are in an airing cupboard only 8 feet from where the new boiler will be wall mounted. My son is prepared to lift and replace floorboards as required to help keep the cost down as he is on a very limited budget.

We have yet to establish if the gas pipe to the kitchen is big enough to supply a boiler so that may be an extra job but again my son would lift and replace floorboards etc.

We have looked up the cost of the boiler and a new Worcester can be had for Around £720, the rads and plumbing are okay but will need thermostatic valves which he would like the heating engineer to fit at the same time. So does anyone know roughly what an engineer should charge so he can judge if he is being ripped off?

Mike

[reg]

you could ask in here

a nice friendly forum with a gas section

[Ret.]

No idea of the current cost. One tip, however, if you are switching to a combi, is not to go for the lowest power rating possible for the house size. I know so many people who have done this and then regretted it - saying that the boiler is not powerful enough and takes an age to fill a bath.

We had our conventional boiler replaced 12 months ago with a Worcester Bosch condensing combi. The one recommended for our house (average 3-bed detached) was the 27 CDi. We decided, however, to go up a step to the 30 CDi - and haven't regretted it. The boiler has ample power to run 8 rads, gives a great shower, and fills a bath in a reasonably short time. We had some doubts about moving to a combi - but have never regretted it. We've been able to remove all the tanks and piping from the loft, tear out the airing cupboard from the bathroom - and replace it with a proper walk-in shower cubicle.

Our gas useage has also dropped considerably with the new boiler.

The price difference between one power level and the next one up is not great - and well worth it IMO!

Ret.

[Clive]

Very good advice. You will notice a huge difference. I am also riping out the airing cupboard, removing tanks and installing a shower cubicle. A competant plumber/gas fitter will take a max of 3 hours to convert the system. So it all depends what the labour cost is.

[Ash]

I agree absolutely with this advice. We opted for a system which was of a higher spec then necessary but we've not regretted it ... it's more responsive and provides loads of hot water and heat without having to thrash the nuts of the poor thing to get there.

Ash

[critcher]

Had Vaillant condensing boiler fitted recently, along with taking out old fire and backboiler. Thermostatic valves on 7 rads, new gas run, water pipes into attic and back down into airing cupboard. clean system, electrical wiring etc. All done in one day by three fitters total cost £1795-00. British Gas estimate £4500-00

[DIY]

I had similar work done about 2 years ago by two plumbers from a local private plumbing firm, as did my daughter/son-in-law, and it cost about £2,200 including VAT. That was for fitting a W-Bosch 24i junior and flue, timer etc. In my case they removed the old Baxi Bermuda back boiler, and ran a larger diameter gas supply pipe from the front to the rear of the house. They sited the boiler in the loft of a downstairs bathroom; the only alternatives were on the wall of a small kitchen or in a cupboard in an upstairs bedroom - neither would have been convenient for us. I didn't bother with TRVs, but they shouldn't cost much - the system needs to be drained down and flushed out anyway.

[Ian_m]

Mate of mine had is Baxi Bermuda back bolier done recently for £2300. Wasn't a condensing boiler as not possible in the boilers current location. Works fine and uses less gas.

Other options would have cost far more, involved ceilings coming down and loss of 1 out of 3 kitchen cupboards for the boiler.

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