General Chat

I am facing this problem at the moment - new boiler needed, cannot go in the kitchen where it was before because the vent is too close to a wall, cost is now astronomical. Everyone keeps telling me the new boilers are more efficient and 'you will see considerable savings in your gas bills'. But! - my gas bill only amounts to £12 per month with the old boiler.(And that includes a gas cooker). I am going to have to live an awfully long time before I save the £4K or so that I have been quoted. OC

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions and especially Daphne and her son Chris who has proved very useful. Thanks also to Debs for putting up those warm start details. It all seems to make sense now and it’s amazing how things have changed and also how you don’t think of all the ramifications of doing something. In case anyone is interested, we have settled on a Glow-worm Flexicom 18sx high efficiency system boiler and, having googled it, it sounds quite good and reliable. The cylinder we are having is something called a high recovery indirect pre-foam lagged hot water cylinder. The expansion tank we have will be removed, we are keeping the radiator in the bathroom but because we will be able to turn off all the other radiators individually we can just keep this one on if we want to in the summer. The system has to be power flushed as well and of course there will be various bits of making good as well as some new Pipework etc. I am so pleased that I plucked up courage to start this thread and never thought I would get so interested in central heating. It just proves there’s always something new to learn. Thank you everyone for your time and trouble. Marion PS Daphne will pm you a bit later.

Hi Marion We wanted a combi boiler 2 years ago we had 3 different men come to weigh the job up but all declined to do it The fourth was a bit if a conman and wanted £1440 before he even started the job The reason being if we had a combi boiler it would a have to be on an outside wall , this would mean that some ot the cupboards would have to be removed and all the other work removing the old boiler and cylinder They were only interested in doing the work if it could have been a straight swop We were also told that yes we could have a replacment conventional boiler but the goverment preferred combi's We have still got our old boiler which the gas board had been saying for years when they came to do the annual checkup that it needed replacing because they couldn't get parts etc One day my OH decided to have at look at the boiler and found that the regulator had been altered he changed it to the what it said in the handbook and it's worked fine ever since He was a plumber but can't put in a new boiler because he is not Corgi registered This really annoys him because he spent 5 years as an apprentice and these days they do a short NVQ course plus a 2day Corgi course and they are a Plumber Bren

a combi condensing boiler is what you need-as long as the water presssure is good enough for it-saves having to have a tank and all the other stuff-make sure you DONT use Brish Gas....they installed a 600 pond boiler made by Ideal and charged £3k for it...just make sure the engineer is corgi registered that all....

Debs Doesn't a person have to be over 60 to get the help from WARMSTART as my sil had new central heating/Boiler in a couple of years ago and she was told the people to get the help have to be over 60. Suexxx

Will add these details in case they are any good to anyone regarding financial help. WARM START is firm that helps. need to earning £15,000 or less or on tax creadit, income support etc. not quite sure on all details as not done it myself, it was friend. the grant available is up to £2,500 then apply to local council for a top up grant, this is free of charge but they must see the letter from warm start before they pay out rest of money due obviously. hope this info is of some use to someone. And hope u get a good plumber!!

my mum recently had a new boiler fitted by british gas. She has a radiator in her bathroom that does not have a thermostat and she still has her airing cupboard. I do believe that you are supposed to have a condenser boiler fitted now though. But I should think Chris would know more than I.

Hi Marion, I got my son to look at your thread and her's his reply, hope it helps Daphne HI this is Daphnes son, im a heating engineer so I can explain what is going on... The boiler doesn't have to be condensing but nearly all are made to be so they are up to government standards. That is why you will get sold one....they are more efficient and do use less gas as a rule. You can't have a radiator working off the hot water as this is against the regulations but if you are having a new system then this could be altered to work from the central heating. The new radiators or old ones if you are keeping them will need to have what are called thermostatic valves, these allow you to turn the radiators off when you want meaning that in the summer you would turn all the rads off apart from the bathroom one so that is the only one to get hot working the same as it does now....(dont get an electric towel rail as they are expensive to run) You dont have to have a combination boiler which is what they are trying to sell you...there are other options, it's just a combi system is the easiest and normally the cheapest option if done correctly. if you would like some other ideas or just more information then PM my mum and I'll get back to you Chris

Thanks everyone for your responses. It certainly sounds worthwhile now to get at least another quote as the work involved seems to be more than just replacing the boiler. Nanna-moo, I hope you’re successful in getting a grant towards the cost of replacing your boiler etc. Marion from Scotland, I noticed on my searches on the internet that they don’t seem to do the back boilers now. Good luck when the time comes to make those changes. At least now I know it all seems genuine and I’m not being looked on as a soft touch. Marion

Hi Marion I have a baxi boiler behind the fire. It is about 20 yr old gets serviced every year. Gas board have been telling us for years we should replace it,as the new ones are better. A few weeks ago the man was here. They no longer do the same type of boiler so like you I will have to have big changes,when we do replace it. Well worth getting a few opinions/prices. Marion

That's very interesting. We had a visit from the council research thing. This guy had to go round 2000 properties in our area and check what facilities they had. At the end of it he said we could get a grant for cavity wall insulation, I wonder if they would help or cover the cost of replacing our boiler too, is about 25yrs old now and we are on TC too...have to make a phone call and find out! Thanks you lovely people, didn't even think of that and the cost of a new boiler is scarey...especially if the tank has to done as well.... Nanna-Moo ;-)).

Thanks for all your responses. Yes Sue he is Corgi registered and is qualified to do the electrics as well together with all certification required. Posh, I can have a radiator in the bathroom but currently it works off the hot water system so that in the summer when the central heating is off I can still have nice warm dry towels. Apparently this isn’t allowed now and the radiator would have to work with the rest of the central heating so probably the best bet would be to have a heated towel rail which would work independently. Thanks for your input Liz and Debs but we are not on any benefits and I’d already had a bit of a google for any grants that might be available but alas I can’t find any. (Bit of a scrooge really and never like to pay out more money than necessary lol). I suppose it all could be worth it in the long run if it saves on our bills, but it just comes as a shock when you find that things are not as simple as you first thought. Ah well, such is life. Marion

Yes, my friend who got the grant has a disabled husband, but we got a grant for cavity wall insulation and we are not on benefits, it was just being given to improve house insulation. Liz

There are some new regulations, which state you now have to have a condensing boiler, which my friend had to conform to when she had a new boiler, but she still has her hot water cylinder, original radiator etc. However, if you have a combi boiler you won't need a hot water cylinder, or a cold water tank. The boiler draws the water straight from the mains water supply and heats it as you require it. We have radiators in all rooms and a heated towel rail in the bathroom which does run of the boiler, it could have been a normal radiator, but we chose to have a towel rail. Of course combi boilers are more expensive which is probably why the plumber you had round suggested it. My friend got a grant to change her boiler, might be worth looking into that if you have an old boiler. Liz

just aDDING QUICK REPLY AS GOING TO WORK, FRIEND OF MINE WORKS BUT IS ON DISABILITTY, opps sorry. he has had complete new heating system put in on a grant due to him been on low income, i will try get details of him, but may be few days as just come out of hospital and not at home. do not know if u r on any benefit at all but this scheme is goverment backed i rightly think i can remember him saying. will add back to this as soon as i can. he is on working tax credit and disability money. and they paid for it all, maybe worth a google

I think Bob Camera Dodger knows a bit about this subject? or am I getting muddled, why not mail him direct or wait for him to come on here and see your thread. Good luck. Liz

Was he CORGI REGISTERED for gas fitting cos if not get other estimates from only Corgi registered people. Suexxxxxx

Marion, I think it may be worth your while having a word with a couple of different plumbers as I can't see why you can't have a radiator in the bathroom? Always best to have a couple of estimates/opinions. Good luck with what ever you decide to do. C xxxx

Thanks Posh, you do have a valid point, perhaps it will pay for itself in a few years with reduced bills. Hmmm food for thought lol. Marion

Ooooh just another thought - if this is the case and when you know exactly what you need - it's worth getting prices for the parts yourself - it may be cheaper to source the parts yourself and just pay for labour .............