General Chat

a lovely man from british gas came and worked out how much it would be to install a new boiler . this is a result of my last gas bill [for the quarter being £305!] it turns out we will need a soak away and new piping. our pipes are too narrow [now i know why we have crap water pressure !] are you ready for this .... i wasn't.... £3000................... am still in a state of shock !!!

Yep, expensive, aren't they? With all the labour involved in removing the old boiler from the kitchen, tank and immersion tank from the bathroom, I recently forked out over £3500 to British Gas for mine. It has made a hell of a difference though! Only trouble is, I've now got to re-decorate my bathroom and kitchen! Even more expense! Carole

Get at least three quotes from corgi-registered plumbers and compare, is my advice Lily

That will be for a condensing boiler. I believe that's the only type allowed nowdays. I don't like to pile on more bad new, but: They are supposed to be more efficient, but only if the return water temperature is cool enough to condense the steam from the exhaust, which in most domestic situations it is not, so they don't condense anyway. Plus they are so much more complicated than an old-fachioned one - most of the innards of our one at work have been replaced.

couldn't you come to some errr arrangement sue?????? lol only joking, sorry to hear that Bev

Sue, STOP!! Don't believe B.G. Please get a local plumber to have a look. You can get a list from Corgi ( just Google it). I promise you it will only be about half B.G.'s price. I'm a plumber and I can't believe how they get away with the prices they charge. I regularly change boilers for about half British Gas price. All the best Rob

bev- £3000 was the price we reached after the 'agreement' , it was £3005 before, lol ! am even more depressed now. sounds like it still wont be plain sailing. the whole pipe works in this old house is dodgy, hubby called it the house that ronnie wrecked. [ he was the previous owner- who did lots of renavations {!} to it] sue.

hi rob- i had just phoned hubby and told him i thought it was steep ! and we should get another quote. even the bg man who services the boiler for us last week said to mention today that we would be getting other quotes, and that would bring the price down !!! so think i will do what you suggested- i am off to google, lol.

hiya sue .my friend has just had central heating put in . a combi boiler and 8 rads £2000-400 x

Last year,,new combi boiler,,,,Vaillant,,,,£1200 fitted,and old one taken away. Baz.

A few years ago I had a quote from BG and when I queried the price the salesman coolly told me that you couldn't buy a combi boiler for less than £1000. I told him that I could buy one (non-trade) from our local plumbing merchant for £495 including VAT. I then showed him the door. I may be female but I'm not stupid and won't have my intelligence insulted but pushy salesmen telling outright lies. Beth :)

Hi Sue The quote from British Gas is far too high Get another quite from a Corgi registered Plumber but beware of the ones that say the have reg plumbers all over the country They also charge very high prices A few months ago our boiler started making noises that sounded like a load of puppies yapping so we thought we would need a new one . Rang a local Corgi Plumber he came out spent 30 mins looking at the system told us there was nothing wrong with the boiler but the system needed flushing through with some stuff that would get rid of all the gunge in the boiler and radiators it cost abt £15 at B&Q and the system has been fine since and the house is a lot warmer. He didn't charge us anything for his time or advice, and told us that he does a lot of work putting systems right the British Gas have installed and supposedly serviced Bren

Hi SUE, What a rip off weve had a new bath room suite with corner bath walk in shower new worcester top of the range boiler radiator and pipe work fitted for £3000. margx

Hi Sue Please listen to Rob's advice. He certainly knows what he's talking about. We do house renovations and have had to replace quite a few boilers. I'd want a gold plated one for £3,000! lol Jeanette x

Brenda - did the Corgi plumber find the puppies?

I am quite lucky I dont want a new boiler. The two i divorced cost enough !!!!!!!!! LOL

Hi Sue, it sounds as if you will be doing loads of overtime at work lol... but first do as Rob suggests, get that price rechecked....sounds way to much.....Lilly

Sue, I had a new combi condensing boiler installed on Tuesday, British Gas were my first quote ' the best' I thought, they quoted me £2500, I nearly died too, was sat in a state of shock for rest of day, LOL Had a couple of other quotes, ended up going with one at £1485 they did everything BG were going to do, plus will give me a service thingy (where they come out if it goes wrong plus service it too) for only £55 a year, just a local gas firm that have been there a while, they also changed some pipes, put new thermostat in and did other things that mean nothing to me!! All I can say is get a few, and see what your getting for your money, I got everything BG were going to do £1000 cheaper, and thats £1000 towards something else, Tammie X

Hi Sue, Definately get quotes from local plumbers. Last September our old boiler decided it was time to retire, so a plumber got us a new combi, moved it from the kitchen to the bathroom and it cost us £671. The boiler is a good one too, we have loads of radiators, lots of hot water, everythings working great (touch wood). M.

Morfydd - won't even start on the saga of my central heating but would you tell me the make of your combi one please - could do with a recommendation. Thanks, Liz