Brit Gas to do my central heating

[mike]

Hi I'm in Nottingham. Plenty of adverts in local glossys for CH installation but the problem is getting someone who really knows their stuff and (ahem) is trustworthy.

Didn't realize BG just use contractors for this stuff. (Mr Naive I suppose).

Would really like to diy this but health is not up to it. I have a feeling I will probably interfer (verbally) with the work so that won't go down well. eg Will they bash a hole though the wall for a flue or use a core drill. eg2 I'd like to flush all the rads before fixing (whether they need it or not) etc etc. And as we are living in the place during installation it's going to be a difficult time I think. I want to set up a friendly relationship for the duration - but with some folk that will never happen.

Last night I notice an advert in the rag. that's for an ageconcern web site who claim to have lists of reliable, trustworthy etc people - in plumbers and solicitors :-) Will see what they say.

[mike]

Thanks all for the advice, Sounds like BG are well worth avoiding.

[Adrian]

Years back, "before I knew better", BG put a new boiler in for us. Expensive? Probably. But not ONE single local indie could even be arsed to get off their chuff for long enough to quote, so we had nothing to compare it to. No complaints about quality or service, either. Everything was done tidily, exactly when it was promised. Which was more than the indies managed before even picking up a pen, let alone any tools.

We then kept BG on a service contract until we sold that place. A couple of times, the boiler had a sulk - and they were round fast as anything. One time, they discovered a minor leak was actually a cracked heat exchanger. Replaced FOC, way out of warranty. That visit alone paid for the service contract for years.

[robert]

+1 Also think about where you want radiators ( think future furniture placement) and size limits, in less well insulated houses 2 small rads are often better than 1 bigger one in rooms where you sit around.

[DerbyBorn]

robert wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Good point - outfits like BG often offer a "package" to use the stock of things they have bought at a good discount - and to simplify fitting. You need to have a view on what suits YOU.

[Tim Watts]

Do BG have an option to plumb in all copper?

[Tim Streater]

Tell 'em that's what you want.

[Tim Watts]

Not sure that's going to get me too far!

I can see BG offering a set of "standard" installs with not much option for custom variation.

You (or they) get to choose from a set of sizes of rads, but only 1 or 2 makes. etc.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Quite. They fitted a Potterton condenser to my brother's place which broke down several times a year. Often took a few days to get it fixed - with their service contract. He had it replaced by a local firm after only 5 years of misery. And now has no service contract with anyone.

[alan]

Someone I work with thinks the BG service contract is worth the money - especially since he took time off work on seven occasions for various fitters to come around and exchange most of the parts in his boiler FOC.