New boiler options

[Targarama]

My Dad's house needs a new boiler. He's got 3 quotes:

British Gas - some kind of Worcester/Bosch combi boiler with an aluminum heat exchanger - £2,400
Recommended local plumber - Baxi/Potterton boiler with stainless steel heat exchanger - £1975
Another local plumber - some boiler beginning with letter 'R' from Austria - £900.

There are a number of tweaks to make to his current system so the prices are not just for the boiler.

Any comment on which to go for? We have a Potterton and it seems just fine. He has a 2 bed bungalow and doesn't demand much of a system (hot water etc.). He just needs something good quality.

Also, they are saying 1yr warranty on the first two, 5yrs on the third option. I thought EU law meant products like this have a 3 year warranty now.

Suggestions on why BG are more expensive and which manu is best for a boiler appreciated. I'm leaning towards the £1975 option (I had guessed £2k for the work before the quotes came in).

Ta.

[Engineer1]

From experiance BG have a price book that means they turn up look quickly then look it up add in extras creating the quote. The local plumber is more likely to have done some measuring up to create an actual quote.

[B17NNS]

Recommended local plumber with a Worcester-Bosch combi

[road_rager]

To give you an idea, we just had Bosch combi with
a few tweaks for £1800(local plumber), we have a 3 bed semi, and been all good so far

[Targarama]

Thanks. Turns it is was the local plumber with the Worcester/Bosch combi - Dad gave me the model number and it looks good. He's going for that one. Apparently the BG quote was a real quote, but even so it was actually £2,700 (Dad got that wrong earlier).

We've have a Potterton feeding our 5 bed/3 bath house with no problems for the past 8 years, so I'm sure they're as good as each other.

[speed8]

I'm surprised BG quoted you. My mother asked them to come out and give a quote for a new boiler and they told her they wouldn't come out to quote unless they were getting the job.

[Simpo Two]

speed8 said:

My mother asked them to come out and give a quote for a new boiler and they told her they wouldn't come out to quote unless they were getting the job.

Which earns them the 'Copper Rabbit for Outstanding Disinterest'!

[CO2000]

Targarama said:

Thanks. Turns it is was the local plumber with the Worcester/Bosch combi - Dad gave me the model number and it looks good. He's going for that one. Apparently the BG quote was a real quote, but even so it was actually £2,700 (Dad got that wrong earlier).

We've have a Potterton feeding our 5 bed/3 bath house with no problems for the past 8 years, so I'm sure they're as good as each other.

If its not too late I'd try another local plumber as I'm sure you will get one who does a better warranty (ie 5 year) on Baxi's also look at a similar Valliant type as we have just gone for one of those tonight & it comes with a 5 year warranty too.

[Iain328]

Targarama said:

Thanks. Turns it is was the local plumber with the Worcester/Bosch combi - Dad gave me the model number and it looks good. He's going for that one. Apparently the BG quote was a real quote, but even so it was actually £2,700 (Dad got that wrong earlier).

We've have a Potterton feeding our 5 bed/3 bath house with no problems for the past 8 years, so I'm sure they're as good as each other.

Absolutely not "all as good as each other". WB & Vallient have far better reputations now than Baxi/Potterton or many of the others. Indeed I'd avoid Baxi/Potterton like the plague (says the man with Baxi boiler that [touch wood] SEEMS to actually be working OK ).

[hairyben]

Iain328 said:

Targarama said:

Thanks. Turns it is was the local plumber with the Worcester/Bosch combi - Dad gave me the model number and it looks good. He's going for that one. Apparently the BG quote was a real quote, but even so it was actually £2,700 (Dad got that wrong earlier).

We've have a Potterton feeding our 5 bed/3 bath house with no problems for the past 8 years, so I'm sure they're as good as each other.

Absolutely not "all as good as each other". WB & Vallient have far better reputations now than Baxi/Potterton or many of the others. Indeed I'd avoid Baxi/Potterton like the plague (says the man with Baxi boiler that [touch wood] SEEMS to actually be working OK ).

Potterton used to be one of the best you could fit, not the worst but like you say bosch & valient are now the boiler of choice, keston also seem quite highly rated.

A good plumber will do a better job than british gas for a lot less money. Don't be tempted by a cheap boiler, always cost more in the long run, and often short run too.

[andy43]

As I said in the other boilers thread..

"We actually chose a Vaillant after reading up on screwfix/diynot forums and our plumber (who fits worcester bosch all day) stating he had a Vaillant in his own house. Looking at the Vaillant with the cover off, it's a million miles away from our old Baxi in terms of engineering.
Read around the net, and you'll find w-bosch spend a fortune on free training, free warranties and anything else that helps to get plumbers to recommend their gear. When we bought to replace an early Baxi condenser that had basically turned it's ally heat exchanger to shrapnel, Vaillant had a stainless steel heat exchanger and worcester-bosch didn't. They may have upgraded now tho'.
Most helpful thing I can say is get the system cleaned/powerflushed/whatever as much as possible before the new boiler goes in. Magnaclean-type thingy recommended too, as is weather compensation, which'll save quite a bit on gas - I think Viessman do weather comp as standard."

The Gritish Bass quote looks suspiciously cheap (for them). You sure that quote's not just for a service?
I'd go with someone 'recommended' every time, but would make sure they fit something decent.

Have a look on screwfix and diynot forums, and see which brands break down and which the actual fitters recommend - Baxi are kind of 'special' if you know what I mean

[F i F]

BG are usually the most expensive, and will always amit it but in the end we used them for GMa's new boiler and price wise they were bang on the money.

OK they had a sale on, being an old lady she could get a £300 discount from some scheme from HMG, and they threw in an extra £100 of quid as their sale included free TRVs which were already in place.

Their price was within £50 of the recommended plumber with a W-B / Vaillant options having discounted the plumbers who wanted to install some garbage that BTL landlords and developers usually put in.

The quality of the installation work was superb.

So I'll go against the usual PH trend of knocking BG and say, in this case, they did a good job.