75ZT Community

We had a gas back boiler, 30 years old working perfectly, only problems in 30 years pilot light went out twice. As we have a service contract with British Gas and they keep telling us at every service that spares are getting difficult to obtain and we would save a fortune with a new boiler we decided to get a quote for a new Combi boiler. So ask B.G. to quote to get a baseline figure. The guy from B.G. arrived, only looked at the incoming gas pipe and quoted £4,790. I thought it would be expensive as the boiler was being moved from a fireplace downstairs to the airing cupboard upstairs. The guy told me I'll get the money back in 14 years! I'm 67 and not a betting man! I then said how long do these boilers last? He said about 14 years? mmmm? So I get my money back in gas savings in 14 years just in time to buy a new one? Yes, but the beauty of dealing with B.G. is that the quote is fixed, whatever we find we have to do, the price is the same. Oh yippee!.
Contacted a local heating engineer who was recommended, he looked in the loft at tanks, examined pipework in airing cupboard and fireplace and quoted £2,350 for the same boiler! I then had the difficult decision which one to choose? Ha Ha.
We now have a new boiler and are wondering what to spend the spare £2,440 on ? Be warned!

Someone has to pay for those inane 'your world' and 'penguin' adverts......

and the employees commission for flogging you a boiler you do not really need.

PaulT wrote:and the employees commission for flogging you a boiler you do not really need.

Ahh but I'm putting a log burner in the fireplace where the back boiler was and as I can get free logs that should mean my gas savings could mean I get my money back in 4 years. Mind you what I have heard about Combi boilers is that 8-10 years is more like their lifetime!

My MiL is on her second combo boiler in less time than our 17 year old standard gas boiler. Going to have to replace ours sometime soon though. The real pain is going to be the new gas pipe since at least part f the existing one is 15mm and its buried in the floor.

Duncan wrote:My MiL is on her second combo boiler in less time than our 17 year old standard gas boiler. Going to have to replace ours sometime soon though. The real pain is going to be the new gas pipe since at least part f the existing one is 15mm and its buried in the floor.

Yes we were lucky on gas pipe size,+ wooden floors, the gas pipe was the only thing that British Gas looked at to give us a quote. My brother in law moved into a new build house 2 years ago, combi boiler fitted, replaced one year later and just replaced again? I would get a quote from BG just for the laugh. Then find a local guy who's recommended.