Combi Boiler Install Costs

MrCake

MrCake

MrCake

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Joined
22 Sep 2003
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704
Location
South Coast UK
Hi,

Now I know this is a bit open ended but I was wondering if there are any plumber types on here who can give me an idea of how much I should pay for a new combi boiler?

Our current one has been a lot of hassle and has just been condemned. We have British Gas home cover and they offered to quote us but its come back at £2800 after some discounts but this seems crazy to me.

The replacement boiler needs to be small enough to fit in a kitchen cupboard and a little bit of research suggests Worchester boilers are good and should just about squeeze in and seem to retail for about £700 ex vat.

We also need to factor in the cost of a new 22mm gas pipe from the mains as we currently have 15mm pipes. This is going to be run through the garage and back in to the kitchen so shouldnt be too much hassle for whoever does it.

I would also want a flush of the system to try and get rid of as much sludge as possible.

How much roughly should we be paying? To me it seems our first quote must have at least £1200 labour for a days work.
 
are you thinking of getting a combi boiler because your existing one has packed up or because you believe they are more efficient? if it's the latter then please understand that it could take you 5-10 yrs to see a return on your investment (are you going to live there that long?) and the efficiences are only really noticable if you are running the thing at nearly full tilt
 
Our 'Wickes Special' isnt working so its a direct replacement with the only thing missing being the larger diammeter gas pipes to feed it.
 
We had a combi fitted 2 years ago by a local guy, we had 3 quotes varying from 2k to 5k and all wanted to put it in different places in the house.

Boilers are like cars, everyone will recommend you something different, Worcester Bosch do have a good reputation but unfortunately we couldnt afford the price tag to go with them, so went for a Baxi Main that was recommended as reliable and affordable.

The local guy who fixed it managed to fit it in the same place under stairs where's the others said they wanted more room for servicing / had to be in the loft, etc. I'd get some quotes from some local guys who know what the houses are built like, etc.

The other thing is the life of the bloody things, the old boiler we had was something like 25 years old, and although probably hugely inefficient, it was still going until some cowboy said it was leaking and condemned it. Was told we can expect 10-12years max out of a combi but Im hoping to prove that wrong / move :D
 
Don't use British Gas... especially not at the moment

Get a good boiler - Worcester, Vailliant, Baxi would be the ones of choice. They won't be cheap but they'll not break after a month like a B&Q special
 
A local guy should be able to do it for more like £2k, just as long as you're not expecting much after-care. As Cyanide said, spend a little more on the boiler otherwise it will just break down all of the time. Worcester, Vailliant and Baxi are all good choices (I put a Baxi in for my grandma). Stay away from Ariston, Halstead, Heatline etc.. all cheap rubbish.
 
ive looked at many reviews last year about getting out boiler replaced and every review came back with Vailliant being the best out there.

i even went onto screwfix and joined there forums and lot's of plumbers recommend the Vailliant over anything else.

you pay more but i think something as important as your boiler shouldnt be skimped on to be honest.

ill be getting a Vailliant this summer without a doubt.
 
Oxide™ said:
I'm no gas person but our Ariston Aco hasn't skipped a beat and economically does what it should *touchwood*
Click to expand...

You don't have to fix the damned things! :p .

The only times I've ever had to fix a Vailliant was because they used a pump from a company called "Wilo" and they eventually all start making a horrible noise and eventually fail. Rather than just keep churning out the same ones though (like the majority of manufacturers do) they changed the manifold so that a pump from "Grundfos" now goes in the boiler (which tend to last the life of the boiler in most cases!). Think I had a water pressure sensor once (very easy to replace, 5min job) and the earlier ones used a black rubber pipe inside the boiler which corroded and pin-holed if the system wasn't cleaned out properly, again they fixed this with a telescopic copper pipe instead now on all the new ones (and retro fit to the older ones). It genuinely surprises me how much effort they put into the layout etc, they're great to work on.

The Worcester's are also pretty good, just a few minor problems hear and there (but they are very common there so I come across them more often). Not quite on the same level as Valliant IMO though.

Baxi have come on leaps and bounds compared to some of their earlier condensing boilers. Again, a joy to work on and very few problems now. A fair bit cheaper than the other competition at the top.

Anyway... I've waffled.
 
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Thanks for all of the advice, I had heard good things about the Vaillant and ethe British Gas guy recommended one although the £2800 quote was for a 'Glow Worm' which didnt really appeal.

I think our main problem is finding one that fits in a kitchen cupboard as we dont want to redo the kitchen for the replacement. Various forums seem to say that in general the Vaillant's are larger than Worchester and Baxi's so might not be an option to us.
 
MrCake said:
Thanks for all of the advice, I had heard good things about the Vaillant and ethe British Gas guy recommended one although the £2800 quote was for a 'Glow Worm' which didnt really appeal.

I think our main problem is finding one that fits in a kitchen cupboard as we dont want to redo the kitchen for the replacement. Various forums seem to say that in general the Vaillant's are larger than Worchester and Baxi's so might not be an option to us.
Click to expand...

I've been recommended a glow worm by one plumber who said that they were essentially Vaillants since they are owned by the same company.
 
I had a worcester greenstar 30 si fitted just a few weeks back and a bit of other work moving radiator, TRV's fitting, a change in position of boiler so flu change and bricking up old flu hole. This was 1700 all in. I never got a british gas quote but had quotes ranging from 1500 to 2400 depending on model of boiler used and company fitting. Took them 3 days to do it all which I found surprising but they seemed very thorough.
 
Don't get British Gas to do it, they're on a target to sell boilers and cover.

If its been condemed by British Gas then get a reconmended local engineer out to have a look at it and give you an honest opinion, its probably still fine.

We've changed boilers that British Gas have 'condemed' and boilers that this HIPS pack have said are in-efficient, there is nothing wrong with most of them and its big companies trying to get work.

If it is unsafe then id reconmend Worcester, you will need a 22mm gas supply and a way of getting rid of the condense, a drain or soakaway, not a gutter!

Once again, stay away from British Gas etc, they're all out for your money.
 
I've got an ancient Glow Worm boiler, about the only feature it "boasts" is a piezo igniter :D
The local bloke who services it said not to change it unless it packs in. It's a bit noisy but otherwise no problems.
After I cut through a gas pipe by mistake in the bathroom (:o) I couldn't get the normal guy to fix the pipe as he was on holiday, and had to use another contractor. When we asked him how much a boiler service would be to compare rates, he just said "I wouldn't service that, I'd just be switching it off"

Who's right about my boiler? Christ knows.

British Gas would wet themselves with delight if they saw my boiler, they'd be running me up a bill in the thousands before I could even offer them a cup of tea.
 
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