Looks like our 20 year old boiler has packed up tonight. We have a newborn baby and it’s fffffrezing outside. Anybody got some advice as to what 24hour callout services are like or how long it would take to get a decent installer to fit a new boiler??

I would always try a local company, ie http://www.checkatrade.com, rather than British Gas.

Good luck, can’t be easy with a new baby. 🙁

Edit: I would also mention that you would pay cash!

Where are you? Take it there’s a fire in the house?

If you are a BG energy customer there could be a preferential rate and they might come out extra quick for you…

what is wrong with it?, and where abouts are you?

Good news – you need to get a new efficient boiler. Worcester Bosch best. You’re bills will probably be halved. It will pay you back in a couple of years.

It’ll cost a grand. Then in a few more years you’ve saved enough for a new bike!

– get some electric panel heaters, extra blankets, hot water bottles, sleep together. Visit friends and relatives while it gets sorted.

No fun with a baby. Been there, you think they will die of cold.

Good luck.

Has taken my friend 3 working days to get a new boiler after his packed up this week, same circumstances, new baby and all.

Who does you boiler servicing? Could you call them to come look at it? Any hot water/heating at all from it? In the meantime whole up in one room and find/beg/borrow from the neighbours a fan heater or something.

Where are you? Like for like swap can be done in a couple of hours.

Tell me what boiler you have currently and i’ll be able you give you a decent guide price

avoid BG. Get a local recommendation. They will fleece you. Can’t believe some of the money they charge little old ladies.

If you are a BG energy customer there could be a preferential rate and they might come out extra quick for you…

Yeah, like a week rather than a month.

You could get a new boiler fitted quite quickly, a normal gas fitter will leave people with repairs needing out on a limb while they take on a boiler job but if everything is 20 years old, be expecting a high quote. Some of the piping may need replacing to get it up to scratch and even radiators might need sorting. Newer boilers run water at higher pressure in the system, and they use wider pipes.

When our boiler broke, I nipped down the local pound shop and bought a couple of electric heaters. Cheap to buy, expensive to run but they kick out a lot of heat.

Worcester are not the best and your bills will definately not be halved! You would probably gain around 10-15% efficiency on a 20yr old boiler, depending on type and how recent the model was in 1990

Couple of hours for a boiler change, bloody hell i must be slow, or maybe more thorough! Even a basic flush with a cleaner such as X400 needs a minimum of 2 hours circulation.

And 20 year old boiler will not be like for like, it will need a condense discharge in all probability, also some of the system may need upgrading to meet minimum standards.

Also if it is a 20 year old boiler, it could be a fairly simple version so may be repairable in the short term.

funky, who are the best?

My old man had BG homecare thingy (he was seventy at the time) and when his boiler broke they said it was obsolete and they couldn’t get parts for it anymore and it would be TWO GRAND!!!!!!!! For a new one,
A mate who was a gas fitter went round the next day, got the part from the local spares shop and fixed it in less than an hour for fifty quid
Find someone local

stuff the bairn in your down jacket.it wont be arsed after that.

thanks all, the boiler is a Myson Orion 75si, it’s making a humming noise (fan?) but no pilot light. There are no controls to light the pilot (think it’s all automatic). I’m based in South Notts.

Worcester are not the best and your bills will definately not be halved! You would probably gain around 10-15% efficiency on a 20yr old boiler, depending on type and how recent the model was in 1990

Ours was older but the bills were more than halved. The old one must have been terribly innefficient. Replaced it about 3 years back, it’s easy paid for itself already. New boiler is great, it’s a pity the condensation pipe runs straight for 30 feet down the side of the house.

I had to replace a motorised valve last weekend to mend my boiler £25. Does your boiler feed pipes have silver topped boxes with a manual sprung lever stuck out of one side? Fixing these open might solve problem for a while. You can replace motor and leave vavle all plumbed in.

without being able to see anything to do any diagnosis its possible that its something to do with the pressure switch or the diaphragm. depending on the model it SHOULDNT be too costly a repair if you can get bits.

Im sure you have tried this but is there a reset on the boiler? if not try the old switch off,leave it a minute or two and switch back on,sometimes this can reset the boiler.

If the boiler is trying to fire,ie by the fan operating its not going to be able to be forced on by manually opening the motorised valve.

2-3hrs easy. Only 3 pipes and few cables on a heat boiler. Even if it’s a biasi combi and the pipes are in different positions, it’s not a big job to swap them round a bit. If i’m doing a swap, i’m normally put the x400 in at the earliest opportunity, usually the week before and let it circulate, i’d give the header tank a good scrub out first too. Then flush it out from each downstairs rad.

Best depends on your budget. Cheapest, not many options anymore, heatline have the best service.
Mid price, currently I prefer the Ideal Logic plus, 5 year guarantee. Vaillant have improved a lot in the last couple of years, not keen on worcesters, everybody I know with one has had problems.
Better quality, Viessman or maybe Alpha.

Is it a back boiler? If so, I think Baxi now do a A rated replacement. It’s a fairly big job taking one out and putting a wall hung in, not something you’re likely to get done before xmas.
On a boiler like that it’s more than likely a fairly easy fix, I wouldn’t get too hung up on ripping it out just yet.

Thanks for that FM, i,ll try a reset.

Baby’s doing ok though 😉

IMG_5751.jpg by Lodious, on Flickr

…apart from (ironically) a lot of gas!

As an interim, get round to Speedy Hire or something similar for a space heater and a gas bottle. our boiler failed last winter and a gas powered bin heater was brilliant though noisy… as a hire job we werent cluttered with loads of plug in electric panel heaters when it was fixed….

rickmeister – good thinking!

If you go for the gas space heater, buy a carbon monoxide detector at the same time. And don’t place the gas bottle near to a cellar or basement to avoid any leaked gas from accumulating.

Fan on , but no pilot light . Still could be a number of things . Gas train primary circuit failure, Air Pressure sensor failure. Noy sure if that Orions a combi , but there is an ignition circuit ( no pilot light ) just like a car HT system , and that might be borked.
There are normally ‘clockwork’ controllers and you sould be able to hear faint clickety clicks, if not the timer/controller might have burnt out.
Look for a reset switch inside. Isolate first, there are sometimes overheat preotection sensors on the hot water pipes. 2 wires and a 5p sized button.
Wouldnt buy a gas space heater for a house , too much CO . Get 2kw electric fan heaters Robert Dyas do some nifty ceramic ones.
Usual STW disclaimer.- Not Corgi reg gas engineer,but not a dullard either

Not easy to get people out at the moment….looks like it’s gonna be npower for £175 🙁

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=81596 🙁

Just paid 3450 for a repipe and fit of a Worchester Bosch 30si, two new radiators and a gigantic towel rail.
Took about four days, but the lad did it on his own, and was saying how busy he was, but because I had work with him before he was happy to do ours as his last big job before christmas.

We now have 20mm copper pipe fitted and lovely hot heating and to top it all off, he did a smaller 300 quid job he quoted for us last month in with the price. Told us at the end, he had the piping there, so he might as well do it anyway, wasn’t going to make much difference to the job time.

Is it a oil heater because we had a problem a year ago that some water got in the tank from outside and froze the pipes leading into the house and the boiler wouldn’t work

Loving some of the diagnosis on this thread!

I know what you mean. So many people without a clue, when it’s so really obvious to people like you and me eh? I feel warm inside now….

Thing is, with all the years of experience that I have, without standing in front of the thing, I’d be guessing. 15 minutes with my toolbox and a multimeter, I’d know for certain. Get a gas man round.

As above,Fixed mine.Worked out it wasnt getting any fuel.Tested the coil pack for the solenoid,It was blown,Borrowed one off an unused heater at work,Sorted.Ordered a new one.

Good news – you need to get a new efficient boiler. Worcester Bosch best.

My experiences of worcerster bosch has not been great. I had a new boiler installed and it only lasted a month before dying right in the middle of the last severe weather (early December). Luckily they guarantee the boiler but its been time consuming to fix.

Gas men aren’t easy to find at the moment!

Hi lodious fixed that boiler yet ? sounds like the fan is seized, to find out turn all on and go outside to see if a draft is coming from flue ,if none fan seized/sticking if there is air pressure switch stuck ,fan can be temp fixed (with case removal) with wd40/light oil i see it all the time best of luck

sounds like the fan is seized

It is! Thank you ever so much for that, I gave it a push start and it’s working! Do you know if these are a standard part? I can smell that there has been some electrical type arcing as it’s been trying to start the fan, so I think the fan motor may need replacing, but for now, it’s working.

Nice one…I owe you several beers!

Lodious i would conclude fan needs replacing the manuf part no you req is 309A732 available from hrpc (part of plumb centre)last time i brought one they where £300 plus which as fans go is very expensive but cheaper than new boiler ,glad to be of help