Survived the winter after our boiler died just after Christmas this year, and we didn’t have the cash to get it sorted.

We’ve got some money together to replace it now and have been trying to get quotes in. (when the plumbers actually turn up, or actually send us the quote after having turned up… grumble grumble)

anyhow the inevitable ‘HOW MUCH???’ is currently going through our heads, but I don’t know if we are being ripped off, or if that is a fair price so input from the singletrack world pumbing masses would be appreciated 😉

We are getting a new combi boiler fitted, but it has to go in the loft (no drainage available where the old boiler was) so we are looking at getting pipe work from the old hot water tank upstairs to the loft, and gas supply from downstairs up to the loft (will run straight up the eaves of the house so not too much hassle).

Also drainage from the bathroom up to the loft and there will have to be a vent put in the side of the loft wall.

The boiler suggested is a 37Cdi Worcester Bosch.

We have a couple of quotes now back of £3500, which seems a bit steep, but maybe I am being naive?

PS any plumbers in the Gatwick area who want to give me a quote let me know!

z.

They are about £1200 to buy, make that £1500 with the plumbers mark up. £2k for labour and bits seems a bit steep. where in uk are you?

Have they mentioned new pipes throughout yet? If you’re going from a conventional boiler to a combi, then the added system pressure can overload old pipework apparently.

mos – Member
They are about £1200 to buy, make that £1500 with the plumbers mark up. £2k for labour and bits seems a bit steep. where in uk are you?

Yes thats what i was thinking. At most it will be 2 days work. We are in Sussex.

£3500 just for the boiler? That is a bit much.
We’re in Edinburgh and paid just shy of £2000 for a full central heating system (boiler & 6 rads) in a 2-bed tenement flat. Think the boiler on it’s own was about £800. Took 2 days.

Google it….Worcester Bosch 37cdi .You can pick one up for around £1150 inc delivery, do’nt forget a flue kit, and a timer/controler. I have just fitted one of these and they are very good, i got a wireless controler so no cables to run through house, your system needs to be power flushed before it’s fired up to remove any crap before the new boiler is put in line, i also fitted a magna trap in my system to constantly clean the system and keep it nice and efficient, i reckon 2 days tops for all this work which should be around £400 labour (I’m in Cumbria) and a few quid (£150) for the power flush. Ask your mates at work for recomendations or pop in to a local plumbing merchants and ask if they can recomend some one, they usualy have a good opinion on local trades man.

Yes Spesh this is kind of what I was thinking, 2 days work, the boiler, parts and labour.

Both quotes I have got have been from recommended people. Unfortunately don’t have any mates who are plumbers ;(

Don’t forget to add tube and fittings into your figure, copper tube prices are through the roof at present. Also 2 days probably for 2 men so allow for that.

boiler in loft requires loft ladder, walkway, light, and guard rail around loft space.

Zuke Monster try Jackson plumbing and heating in Brighton if they’re near you – did a good job on a new boiler for me recently. was about 2k but that was like for liek swap rather than change of boiler type – I can imagine that would push it up a bit.

tbh if all the quotes come in similar then that’s probably the goign rate 🙁

[edit] we were charged £250 to replace a 15mm gas supply with a 22mm one – was probably an afternoons work for 2 blokes to do and then their ‘gas man’ came in and did the connecting up. this was from cupboard under stairs to first floor so probably 15ft of pipe through one floor and two walls.

hi, as an installer who uses only W/B product i’d say that a figure between 2.5 and 3.5k would not be unreasonable. the boiler is top end ( and big, is it the right size for you? i’d fit something like that in a detached property 3 or more bedrooms with a bathroom and one ensuite and a family living in the property)
far from been a piece of cake the new position in the loft raises several issues. firstly gas supply this must be in 22mm copper and british gas charge circa £100 for a meter of the stuff fitted, in lancashire that figure might be as low as £25 a meter. secondly ALL the circulation pipes and hot and cold water pipes will have to be brought to the new position, though this can be done in plastic ( to within a leter or so of the boiler) thirdly the condensate has to be removed, ensure that this is done in at l;east 21mm plastic pipe preferably inch and a quarter and insist on it been 100% indoors. fourthly the ‘blow off’ will have to be exited via an external wall. the where and how is the flue exiting the property, if its in the gable end in a loft installation somebodys going to have to climb up there and drill a five inch diameter hole. the post above is spot on about installing in a loft if all those requirements are not met your boiler will be illegal.

so you ve seen a boiler on the net for 1150 plus vat the flue is 70 odd quid a programmable stat ( wireless) can be had for 48 quid ( Salus) the rest is in copper/ fittings and labour. check out screwfix for how much copper fittings are i’d probably allow 50/80 quid on fittings plus 2/300 quid in pipe the i allow 100 for consumables (gas, flux, solder, drill bits, screws, rawl plugs) then i alawya put a contingency of 200 to cover any un seen issues then add in the electrical work (60) and i charge my labour at 35ph and the 2nd man gets 15 an hour i’d probaly do the job in two long days or more likely 3 x 8 till 5
and having typed all that you might relise why people dont give written quotes.. you ll not be getting them because its not easy work , there be a lot of disruption in the house ( moving furniture carpets etc and frankly if other work is available then that would get done first.

ps wwaswas your boiler is ILLEGAL.. the ‘gasman’ has to personally or personally supervise in his prescence the installation of all gas carrying pipework and appliances and safety devices ie the gas pipe the boiler and the water pipes ( as they maintian an operating pressure switch) sounds like you piad top price for a combi swap that sounds as though it was illegally fitted.. alike for like swap of a WB 24i would set you back 1250 in manchester done by a proper engineer.

totalshell – must be a minimum of 22mm for gas pipe, could need to be bigger.

spot on bear, i have had some good long lengths on 22 using a 24kw boiler but recently did a 40kw that was less than 5 meters from meter and had to step up to 28 to maintain pressure at the boiler.

You should try our problems, we’re trying to get a new back boiler fitted and we are having a really difficult time finding someone to give a quote, the problem seems to be that I can find HETAS installers a plenty for a new Stove, but finding someone who is HETAS wet registered is nigh on impossible!

**sucks in**

Gonna cost ya mate..

Thanks very much Totalshell. This is what I was looking for. If the £3500 fee is fair then I don’t have a complaint, but it is good to know if this is reasonable or not.

The biggest problem seems to be just getting people to turn up and give us a quote. I am hoping now the winter is over that heating engineers might be less busy and more keen to come around and price up the work

Yes it is a big boiler, and yes it suits the house (4 bed detached with a big family) The loft is boarded so no problems there, and there was no mention of upgrading the pipework already there, just extending it from the hot water tank up to the loft and along to the end wall. Gas supply will be a bigger job, but should be possible without taking up any floors as there is space all the way down the side of our chalet style house in the eaves of the building. Boiler will vent out the gable end so yes that is a pain. (high up and some cladding to deal with) Condensate will go internally down to the bathroom (no drains anywhere near the back of the house that it could run to (why is this better to be external?)

I am feeling that the £3500 is probably not unfair, but at the top end. I might have a word with the last guy and see if there is any work that I can do to help keep the costs down.

Thanks for taking the time to give me some ideas though!

Z.

If you can i’d wait until the summer ( even less work for plumbers then) i would nt do any work to reduce the costs as all you will do is reduce his workload and the reduction in money will not reflect that. i’d ask for the copper cylinder and pipework to be left ( they are yours after all and worth circa 120-150 scrap) i’d not pay a penny up front and of course ask for a ‘cash’ reduction ie circa 10% do all this before the work starts so eberyone knows what the final price is etc before any work is done. when you pay insist upon all the bosch paperwork/ benchmark documents be fully completed before you hand over any payment and ask to see the cleanser and inhibitor been put in the system when he does that during the installation.
pay 2750 and you’ll both of had a decent deal out of it. goodluck

Having the condensation pipe run down to an internal drain, means it is far less likely to freeze up!

During the really cold weather a lot of my friends who have oil fired condensing boilers were having major problems keeping the pipe unfrozen!

Is fitting the boiler in the bathroom a possibility? You’ll need an IP rated boiler which I believe is a little more, but probably less than all the costs associated with a loft install.

Many bathrooms have unused space on the wall behind the bog. Our last flat had the boiler there, and if we ever replace the ancient thing in our current house it will be going in the bathroom above the bog.

why are you having a combi boiler if ou have a hot water tank?

Convenience and never running out of hot water? Our hot water tank and the airing cupboard take up valuable space, making a double bedroom an ‘almost double bedroom’. If the boiler gets replaced, the airing cupboard will be ripped out 🙂