I wouldn't go with British gas, as even with an extra £400 off they will be considerably more expensive than local plumbers are. Had to replace a condemned boiler 3 months ago and Britigh gas quoted £3000 whist 2 recommended local plumpers quoted £1600 and £1800 for same equipment and moved some pipes for free.
Boiler scrappage scheme launched (£400)
- Thread starter NeilF
- Start date
I wouldn't go with British gas, as even with an extra £400 off they will be considerably more expensive than local plumbers are. Had to replace a condemned boiler 3 months ago and Britigh gas quoted £3000 whist 2 recommended local plumpers quoted £1600 and £1800 for same equipment and moved some pipes for free.
OK... We'll get some advice from BG and then also shop around/compare - Thanks...
Exactly, what's the point of getting rid of ones that are working perfectly, even if they are a little less efficient? Surely they should be getting rid of the ones that have "seen better days"?
Another silly scheme, as you say - just like the car scrappage scheme - lets get rid of cars that are mot'd and perfectly ok rather than the old bangers eh?
I know someone who owns a scrapyard that got a lot of cars from the scrappage scheme, and there were hardly any old cars going through, most stuff was very modern, late stuff. He said it was so annoying having to break perfectly good cars - a lot of the motors were immaculate. 
How often should you have your boiler serviced?
I've lived in my flat, which I own, for 15 months. No idea if the previous owners serviced it or not.
Can't ever remember having our boiler serviced when I lived with my parents...
I've lived in my flat, which I own, for 15 months. No idea if the previous owners serviced it or not.
Can't ever remember having our boiler serviced when I lived with my parents...
Associate
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- 8 Nov 2009
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once a year i believe
Exactly, what's the point of getting rid of ones that are working perfectly, even if they are a little less efficient? Surely they should be getting rid of the ones that have "seen better days"?
Another silly scheme, as you say - just like the car scrappage scheme - lets get rid of cars that are mot'd and perfectly ok rather than the old bangers eh?
Well, if the newer one is 25% more efficient, that's nigh on £250 a year in an average household, so it could pay for itself in 6-8 years...
In our case we're about to redo our kitchen, so now's a logical time to consider it...
Yes, BG service ours every year as part of their service plan...
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Just been in contact with the govt scrappage scheme helpline and Johnson & Starley. Unfortunately warm air heating boilers do not qualify for the scheme
they are not officially rated as boilers by the govt even though it fulfils:main boiler heating the home
permanent pilot light
ARGH! Going to upgrade to this one, it's a BEAST! Standing at 130cm high, WOOSH! So just for the note, these ones arent included in the scheme
It's a shame many people haven't had the chance to experience this instead of central heating and radiators, IMHO, so so so much better, and thats why its very popular in North America...but not here for some odd reason!
I assume you still have a hot water tank elsewhere then? ie: It's not heat on demand? Is yours one of these super efficient condenser ones?
We got a new boiler a couple years ago now so have missed out on this, it's much better anyway. I think we actually have the one pictured in the article, or a very similar one, it recently broke down.
That's one thing that concerns me. The engineers who come along to service our 15yr old model always go on about how simple/reliable they are compared to modern ones... I think in 15yrs we've had one part fixed/replaced...
Just been in contact with the govt scrappage scheme helpline and Johnson & Starley. Unfortunately warm air heating boilers do not qualify for the scheme
main boiler heating the home
permanent pilot light
ARGH! Going to upgrade to this one, it's a BEAST! Standing at 130cm high, WOOSH! So just for the note, these ones arent included in the scheme
It's a shame many people haven't had the chance to experience this instead of central heating and radiators, IMHO, so so so much better, and thats why its very popular in North America...but not here for some odd reason!
Damn, I have warm air heating in my house and it is awesome compared to rads! I was wondering if they were elligible as my parents one must be 30+ years old (and going strong) and mine is 26 ish years old. The heating bill for our three bed is tiny though and my parents bills are quite low as well.
Soldato
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- Near Winchester
WHAT! This is stupid, do you all realize how many classic boilers are going to be consigned to the crusher because of this? It's more environmentally friendly to use an old second hand boiler than have a new one built. etc... etc...
Soldato
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In my flat, the boiler is rather aged and would most likely be included in the scrappage scheme... but the amount it would cost to replace it with a new boiler...even under the scheme it is still not worth it because it would take so long to make any saving from the new boiler that it's just not worth doing.
Part of the reason installing a new boiler can cost so much is (according to a gasman I know) because older boilers have much more space between the fins in the heat exchanger so any sediment in the system etc doesn't cause too much of a problem, however, the newer boilers have much closer fins in the heat exchanger so the sediment can be a big problem, as such apparently older systems need a full power flush to get rid of any crap before the new boiler is installed!!
Part of the reason installing a new boiler can cost so much is (according to a gasman I know) because older boilers have much more space between the fins in the heat exchanger so any sediment in the system etc doesn't cause too much of a problem, however, the newer boilers have much closer fins in the heat exchanger so the sediment can be a big problem, as such apparently older systems need a full power flush to get rid of any crap before the new boiler is installed!!
Once I buy a house, I will get rid of radiators and put warm air heating in. There's just no comparison
Its SUCH a shame they've left us lot out though. British Gas are being tardies and said that they are unable to service our boiler anymore and are trying to persuade us to get radiators in...(erm...no) Oh well.... Johnson & Starleys work for 25+ years. They're amazing!
The heat on demand ones are no bigger than the old ones, or at least not significantly bigger, and you save a lot of space from where you previously had the hot water tank.
Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again, but if it happens every two years it will be very annoying. Our old boiler was bullet proof but to be fair the new one is so much more convenient with hot water straight away when wanted rather than having to leave it on to heat up before a shower or whatever, it's also a lot faster to heat up the central heating. Before we also had an immersion heater to heat up the water for showers and stuff and that broke down a few times which would mean we couldn't have showers, but could have the central heating on as the other boiler could do that. Now when the new one broke all the hot water was fine but the central heating wouldn't work . All in all though, the new setup is a lot better, and if this breakdown was a one off for a long time now I'll be able to give it nothing but praise, so fingers crossed 
.
Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again, but if it happens every two years it will be very annoying. Our old boiler was bullet proof but to be fair the new one is so much more convenient with hot water straight away when wanted rather than having to leave it on to heat up before a shower or whatever, it's also a lot faster to heat up the central heating. Before we also had an immersion heater to heat up the water for showers and stuff and that broke down a few times which would mean we couldn't have showers
, but could have the central heating on as the other boiler could do that. Now when the new one broke all the hot water was fine but the central heating wouldn't work . All in all though, the new setup is a lot better, and if this breakdown was a one off for a long time now I'll be able to give it nothing but praise, so fingers crossed .