Another boiler price query

[Adrian Clark]

Finally getting round to doing something about our ageing boiler. First bloke I called gave us a quote of £3100 (inc. parts, labour, VAT) for the following...

- Replace old boiler with Vaillant condenser and new Combimate

- Fit outlet for condensate through and along external wall to drain

- Replace one small (approx 2ft) radiator

- Add TRVs to 7 radiators

- Remote control unit (forget which make; possibly Salus)

(Oh, and the addition of some sort of filter to remove acidity from the condensate... I forget the actual details, but the price was trivial for this)

I'm not even sure what sort of ballpark figure I should be expecting, so I don't feel I'm in a good position to judge the relative merits of any future quotes. So... any comments gratefully received!

adrian

[John Rumm]

depending on model that is probably £700 - £900 for the boiler, and say £60 for the combimate.

Allow a couple of hours work for that

He would quote for those based on allowing 1-2/hours each probably...

(some can be done in 15 mins, but others can be a PITA! Much depends on the type of piping etc)

So add a couple of hundred for misc parts...

Well parts and a reasonable markup takes the cost price to something in the region of £1200. So that leaves £1600+VAT for a couple of bods working a couple of days perhaps. At £400 ish per man day which is probably on the steep side. I would have thought £2000 - £2500 was probably closer to the mark. (assuming they do a proper job of flushing, treating, testing and setting up etc and provide all the required paperwork when done)

[Stuart Noble]

Get a list of CORGIs in your area from their website. Shop around. Why go all helpless just because it's a boiler?

[neverwas]

And location may matter? Everything seems to cost more in London. It's certainly a sellers' market around this bit for CORGI registered fitters who can give references.

[Stuart Noble]

The advantage with the website list is that it turns up fitters who are normally trade only. "How did you get my number?" is usually the first response. A good sign because you know advertising isn't one of their overheads. IME they tend to be highly skilled but they prefer a steady flow of work from people they know. OTOH, if your job is local and straightforward, they will often slot you in.

[Adrian Clark]

Because I've never paid for a new boiler before? I don't even have a ballpark idea of what it should cost, which is why I asked for opinions, so I'll be better equipped to judge (ripoff or worryingly low) the next quotes I get.

adrian

[Adrian Clark]

Thanks John! I guess I could give him the benefit of the doubt and allow a little extra for ripoff London (I'm in zone 5) but he seems to be massaging the labour costs somewhat.

adrian

[John Stumbles]

That's not bargain basement but still not approaching the Brutish Gas stratosphere. I take it the new one will be a combi and the old one is a heating-only with hot water cylinder and tanks in attic. They're going to have to run new 22mm (or bigger) pipework to the boiler, probably from all the way back at the meter, which may involve quite a lot of work. Will the new boiler be in the same position as the old one? Will there be a lot of making good to do (and does their quote include doing it)? All these factors (far more than cost of materials) rack up the costs of the job, so the quote may actually be quite reasonable.

[Adrian Clark]

Ooh, good point. I found a few local-ish companies via Google, but their shiny pro websites set off alarm bells for me... style over substance, perhaps!

adrian

[John Rumm]

Have a look at the prices for the boilers here:

a look at Ed's FAQ for details of what you should be looking for:

[Si]

but my head prefers the other way. :(

[John Rumm]

;-) yup, same here!

[John Stumbles]

But not as unfortunate as the domain name PowerGen registered for their Italian subsidiary!

(Hint: it's worth the effort to work it out :-))

[cerberus]

Urban legend

[Adrian Clark]

(stationery supplies!)

(file under health?!)

adrian

[John Stumbles]

Pretty inevitable given that a member of that profession is called THERAPIST.

[John Stumbles]

by powergen (IIRC). Easy enough to fake of course but why do so? The fact that it's now owned by someone else doesn't mean Powergen didn't register it first, then drop it - which Snopes doesn't talk about.

[Andy Hall]

.. and besides, it's still a good story.