New boiler for the Scout Hut - how much?

[ARW]

Bog standard combi that will need a condensate fitting when it is replaced. 7 rads and 2 sinks (but the existing boiler is not actually plumbed into the HW taps at these sinks) however it need not be super high powered [1].

Easy access to boiler and pipework. No breakables or expensive carpets to worry about in the building. Easy private parking (about 5ft from the front door of the building) for 3 vans if you want to.Condensate run not too bad down to the kitchen waste pipe area.

I would say that I could do the job on my own in a day and I am not a plumber.

[1] ATM the sinks HW (or lack of it) is fed from a broken electric 3kW HW wall mounted heater and it would cost less to plumb them into a combi than replace the HW heater so this is part of the quote.

All quotes were NOT to include electrical work, cost of stats and programmers etc.

Any guesses on the quotes?

[Andy Burns]

3 grand? Depends if it's BG or not ...

[GB]

I was quoted £2.2k in London for a new combi, but I specified a Vaillant that seems to cost around £1000. In the end, it was done by someone else for around £1700.

But you can also get a combi for £500 less.

[tabbypurr]

lot less than that on ebay

NT

[GB]

Really? I was looking for 28KW, and the cheapest I could find is around the £500 mark. Maybe your search skills are better than mine? Anyway, there's clearly scope to save a few bob on the boiler.

Are boiler fitters very strong? Some of these boilers are really quite heavy.

I removed a back boiler with a cast iron heat exchanger from a flat I'm renovating. No problem getting it downstairs on the sack truck, but there was no way at all I could get it in the car to take it to the dump. Very embarrassing. :)

[dennis]

£1500 for the boiler £1500 to fit £1000 for the electrician to wire it.

[Graham.]

A thousand pounds to wire an FSU and a thermostat? (Which is probebly wireless anyway).

[tabbypurr]

I've looked on occasion to see what the deal was. It seems to vary greatly, one time it's flooded and another there's nothing.

20 or 30kg is liftable.

I bet someone would take it for scrap though. Save you the bother.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

£1500 -£3000

[spuorgelgoog]

Probably about £7000 if the Lady Scoutmistress phoned up and asked.

About £2000 if you go round in your overalls.

Do you have Low Surface Temperature guards on the radiators?

Owain

[alan_m]

£2000 for the boiler, £5000 for the elfin safety risk assessment?

[John Rumm]

Sometimes its the awkward place they need to go that makes it hard - i.e. often working above a kitchen worktop, between cupboards etc when you can't really get under it or even get a good grip on it. I did one like that, right in the corner of a kitchen and although it was not that heavy in absolute terms (about 35kg) there was no way to actually get it in place directly. So in the end I stacked up a few power tool cases on the worktop, sat the boiler on them so that it was an inch higher than the wall bracket, and pushed it back against the wall. Hanging it was then just a job of keeping it against the wall, while pulling one of the tool cases out from under it so that it dropped onto the bracket.

(It can be more fun getting the old ones out - the Mexico I took out of here was something like 96kg! (fortunately I had it on a long rad in the back of the car, so when I had to offload it at the scrappie, I had something that would slide out easily, and also gave a bit of mechanical advantage to the end that needed lifting).

[tabbypurr]

that's the way to do it. Another is to use 2 piles, adding a bit to each one in turn. They must be laterally stable enough though.

ouch

NT

[GB]

Have I seen an advert for some sort of block and tackle arrangement? Screw it to the wall. Lift the boiler into place safely, then unscrew it again.

Can you lift 96kg? Otherwise, how did you get it into the car in the first place? :)

[tim...]

no doubt that's the official way :-)

tim

[Dave Plowman (News)]

My Viessmann has a mounting frame which weighs very little. You fix that to the wall first, then fit the boiler to that - an easy job. I had no trouble doing it on my own, and I'm not Charles Atlas.

[Andrew Gabriel]

My Kestion was 43kg IIRC (mostly stainless steel heat exchanger which has very thick walls), and I was mounting it high up on a wall. The combined weight of the boiler and me exceeded the max ladder weight, and it was an awkward shape to lift.

I decided before climbing the ladder that no way was I going to risk my back in saving it if it became unstable to lift, and I would simply drop it on the floor and write it off (£650 at the time). In the event, I had prepared it all correctly, and it hooked on the wall bracket quite easily. I did wonder if the bracket would hold, but 16+ years later, it's still fine!

If I'd had to do another one, I would have taken the heat exchanger out to lift it, now knowing how simple that is for that boiler. However, I didn't want to do that with a brand-new boiler I wasn't familiar with at the time.

We lugged my brother's old floor-standing cast iron lump out into the front garden. It was gone in 2 hours, including all the metal side panels. Very convenient.

[John Rumm]

Probably - just - but I would not risk trying to lift it outright these days! (I find it too easy to injure myself!)

By only taking part of the weight at any given time...

Rocking it onto an edge let me get a sack trolley under it. Some wood ramps on the steps to wheel it out of the garden. Then at the car a rolled up blanket on the edge of the tailgate (for protection), and prop one end of long scrap rad on it as a ramp. Wheel the boiler a little way up the ramp, and then tip it forward and lower it onto the rad. Pick up the far end of the rad (that gives me some mechanical advantage, and the car already has more than half the weight), slide the lot into the car. Unloading was kind of the reverse of the process

(I did not think the accelerate backward quickly and then brake technique would be looked upon favourably in the scrap yard ;-)

[ARW]

I would say that I found the cheapest around the £500 mark including the flue! And that was for a 28kW.

At least you only have to usually lift it up onto a bracket. I am physically reaching the point where I am struggling to do that. It's time to get more exercise done.

It took 3 of us (and some swearing) to get my old Ideal Mexico boiler up the garden steps. Apparently swearing alters the value of gravity when you are lifting heavy things.

[ARW]

That will be the same one that got a better discount at my electrical wholesalers than me for the emergency light she bought for the scout hut for reasons that I cannot tell you.

First quote £1500 (£500 boiler)

Second quote £1150 (£500 boiler)

Third quote from my mate £900 (£700 boiler)

Forth quote £FREE if I can have an advert in the Scout Hut and in the Scout letters/emails for my firm (boiler unknown but it has a 5 year warranty)

No. Are they needed? The little bastards must have radiators at home and must be used to them by now.