The boiler dissaster thread

[fastgerman]

Hi All,

1 week into the new house and decided to join British Gas HomeCare 200

Engineer visit today, first comments - oh no, thats a Keston

Few minutes later, cracked this, broken that, gosh thats not good etc. Forms marked up as dangerous and boiler turned off fully. We have an independent service carried out on the boiler in Jan, suprised they missed so much. I was shown a cracked gasket and all sorts of dodgy stuff.

I thought I wanted a combi, but the engineer suggested a new boiler (Worcester) + an unvented cylinder if I want to get rid of the water tank to make way for extensions.

Thoughts?

In addition, we have bought a Nest 2 Thermostat, still in its box. The BG engineer was talking about Hive 2 functionality and that this would be covered under HomeCare and likely to be used with the Gov smart metering roll out.

Edited by fastgerman on Thursday 5th May 14:22

[fastgerman]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the reply, the report was so bad they wouldn't cover the boiler - approx £400 of repairs if they could get the parts or £1400 for a new boiler.

Report states:

Burner seal cracked
Hole in lower boiler case
Flue tube rubber in poor condition
Missing case screws
Safety summary, following checked as no - Appliance operation is safe, appliance flue and ventilation safe, functional parts are available
New boiler checked as essential

I'm happy to replace the boiler, it is a Keston Celsius 25 - Google that, interesting reading, not a good word.

Not sure about the combi vs unvented cylinder (megaflow) and new boiler

[fastgerman]

Well I've taken the easy and safe option (although expensive) and gone with BG.

£3.8k for a Worcester Bosch incl. power flush, magnetic filter, fitting, brick work and brick matching, plumbing etc.

Seems to be around £1.6k of labour, which is steep I know.

I could probably save £1k going elsewhere, but we want to be on the homecare for peace of mind especially with a young child and the boiler was always going to be replaced within the next year or so. Surveyor even noted it was looking past its best.

Being fitted on Wednesday

[fastgerman]

nyt said:

Probably too late but the worcester comes with a 8 or 10 year guarantee if fitted by approved suppliers so you don't need to pay Homecare.
I've just had one fitted for £2,.5k in London.
Not paying the homeware for 8 years means the boiler is 'free'.
BT give a guarantee but in their logic you still need homecare. Weird.

Thanks, I did ask about this. British Gas have a link with Worcester Bosch so all the warranties carry over. The homecare 200 that we're on will be frozen for 1 year and covered under the new boiler warranty. After 1 year, the homecare 200 will start up again at around £10 a month. This includes a yearly service, which are usually around £100 with a specialist (I have this done on a BTL property in the same area) so it kind of pays for itself.

The homecare team can also be called 24/7 and it covers anything plumbing related, not just the boiler. It's good for sleeping a bit easier anyway :-)

Details - https://www.britishgas.co.uk/content/britishgas/pr...

[fastgerman]

LordHaveMurci said:

nyt said:

Probably too late but the worcester comes with a 8 or 10 year guarantee if fitted by approved suppliers so you don't need to pay Homecare.
I've just had one fitted for £2,.5k in London.
Not paying the homeware for 8 years means the boiler is 'free'.
BT give a guarantee but in their logic you still need homecare. Weird.

BG should give 1yrs Homecare cover as part of the price, can always cancel it next year at renewal.

We have had BG Homecare for nearly 20yrs despite having two mates who are Gas Safe registered, one of which fitted the Worcester boiler. Don't fancy trying to get hold of either in the depths of winter when they are up to their eyes in work, BG have never failed to turn up promptly.

Edited by LordHaveMurci on Friday 6th May 14:36

THIS > 'Don't fancy trying to get hold of either in the depths of winter when they are up to their eyes in work, BG have never failed to turn up promptly.'

They have 6000 engineers, whereas Worcester have around 400