Boiler gone down - British Gas

[Dr Murdoch]

Moved in last year, the boiler isn't the newest (20 years old?)and has now given up.

Its a conventional boiler.

On the assumption it is old and might not be fixable, I'm happy to get a replacement coventional boiler as opposed to a combi.

Are British Gas reliable? Too expensive*? Any recommendations? I'm happy to go independent.

• 24months interest free is required as our savings have been drained by other 'life' issues

[valiant]

British Gas are expensive but you should have decent backup if it breaks.

Boxt are another national boiler company where you can tailor your requirements, offer finance and can quickly install. Have a different range of boilers so you’re not tied to one manufacturer. Haven’t used them though so can’t comment on their service quality.

Obvious and cheapest answer is to find a local trusted installer but then you run into a brick wall with finance (0% credit card perhaps?).

[tecplumbing]

avoid british gas, they work out very expensive. plenty of good independents around. also, try boxt

[Aluminati]

You’ll probably find a conventional 20 year old boiler is more fixable than the newer fandango stuff.

Independent local would be my choice.

[fatboy b]

Aluminati said:

You’ll probably find a conventional 20 year old boiler is more fixable than the newer fandango stuff.

Independent local would be my choice.

^^^^ this.

Our local independent keeps our 33 year old oil boiler in top-notch.

[Dr Murdoch]

Thanks

Is it better to slightly over power the spec?

A few online quotes suggest 24kW, however I'm minded to go a bit more beefy, say 30 or 35kW. However, I know little about boilers. Is bigger not better?!

Its an old house and feels cold, the previous boiler seemed to be working overtime.

[Nickyboy]

Find a local independant. I was quoted nearly £4.5k by BG for a generic replacement. Got a Worcester from a local company for a lot less.

[andySC]

A 20 year old boiler should be repairable. This depends a lot on the make of boiler but generally speaking at that age most parts would be available.

British Gas are very expensive, even with the current discounts they are offering. A local installer who is manufacturer accredited may be able to offer 0% finance. The Worcester accredited guys certainly do. Plus the fact it’ll be cheaper than a BG quote.

24/30/35kw is seriously powerful for a conventional boiler unless your house is on the large size and there are lots of radiators. Those numbers are typical outputs of combi boilers. Keep in mind that it may not be as straightforward as simply replacing the boiler, certain system upgrades may also be required (cylinder, upgrading to a fully pumped system, thermostatic radiator valves etc...)

My advice would definitely be the local installer route, for little outlay the boiler could be up and running again or replaced at reasonable cost.

[Busterbulldog]

Most independent plumbers will beat BG easily on both price and length of warranty.

[Teddy Lop]

Aluminati said:

You’ll probably find a conventional 20 year old boiler is more fixable than the newer fandango stuff.

Independent local would be my choice.

20 years is too new to be "good" old, depending on brand could be an utter PoS.

OP 0% might appear tempting but it'll be loaded. A 2k loan to pay a local man at 3 or 4 % (or even 20% credit card rates) works out a lot less than 4k "interest free"!!

[Hoofy]

BG are overpriced.

If you're in SW London, I can recommend a good gas engineer.

https://www.checkatrade.com/TGasHeatingandPlumbing...

Edited by Hoofy on Sunday 17th November 11:38

[hotchy]

Nickyboy said:

Find a local independant. I was quoted nearly £4.5k by BG for a generic replacement. Got a Worcester from a local company for a lot less.

This. I just have an entire new system put in. Bosch combi, 8 radiators, full removal of the old system, into my garage haha and the total came in at just over 2.5k including fitting. (I got the boiler for staff cost from a friend)

Never even needed to dispose of all the old radiators etc as I was driving by a traveller picking up old scrap cookers, stopped and offered him my old cooker and the scrap metal radiators. He did question why there wasnt a tank... just said it was being reused on the new system... not that I was weighing it in because its huge and worth a good chunk and hid in the kitchen Haha.

"If I'd knew that I'd have charged you" just smiled and off he went haha yasss!

Edited by hotchy on Sunday 17th November 11:33

[Mr Pointy]

If you do google search for "worcester Bosch 0%" you'll get a number of hits from accredited installers so you just need to find one in your area. However, don't tell them you want the finance until they have quoted, just in case they are padding the price if you take the finance.

[Gandahar]

fatboy b said:

Aluminati said:

You’ll probably find a conventional 20 year old boiler is more fixable than the newer fandango stuff.

Independent local would be my choice.

^^^^ this.

Our local independent keeps our 33 year old oil boiler in top-notch.

^^^^^ this this !

My boiler is also 35 years old, picture of it http://www.zen141854.zen.co.uk/boiler.jpg

It has failed 3 times last 3 years when we fire it up for Winter, first time it just needed a cleaning, second time it needed a new part, and parts on old boilers are hard to find the local engineer said but then just happened to have it in their van... the sign of a good local engineer

This year it failed and I fixed it myself, the vents had once again got clogged up with dust and so the pilot light kept going out. Just burnt if off for 24 hours with the boiler going full pelt. It was similar to



in the kitchen but did the trick.

It's probably very inefficient but with all the money saved you can go on holiday and buy the Pistonheads shed of the week.

As for British Gas, they are 9 to 5 lackeys who don't know jack st sadly compared to a local independent. No point ever getting their coverage that we did for a while. They turn up and then go away as "the have the wrong part"

Slackers.

PS Spot the 1970's flowery wallpaper in the background of my photo. Delboy and his curtains would be proud...