Repair or replace? Help!

Eh? Ours is 20 years old. I did the 'efficiency will pay for replacement' quiz for it online after getting a flyer through the door.

It said it would take 32 years to get ahead on the investment so I think we'll stick with it for now.

We had to have a new boiler earlier this year after our 15 year old one packed up. We had had it repaired a few times but were in a plan so it never cost us anything. We went with the same plan for the new boiler (hometree) and our payments only went up an extra £50 a month so we got a new boiler and a service/repair plan for around £65 a month. We did get lots of quotes but this option was the best for us.

If you own or are in a council house get a heat pump. Hot water 24/7, cheaper bills and way less maintenance (once a year). If you turn leave the heating off during summer etc. you still have hot water. If you don't have a guarantee or maintenance included with the old one

This.
Boilers should last about 15 years.
Has it been serviced regularly?

Just been in the same situation with my 15 year old Worcester. Plumber said could try and patch it up or get new boiler. He suggested Vaillant but that was only because he wasn’t certified to install a Worcester

phoned Worcester direct , cost £3.1k which was slightly more than their fixed price offering, as they needed to re do some gas pipes, came with 12 year warranty and is the same model the owner of the plumbing firm has got

booked in for 3 days later and done in a day. They do offer finance but it’s 10% so I went down another route

I really didn’t want it patch it up now for it to break in the middle of winter

Do you mean a Vaillant? What do you mean as good as premium brands? It’s one of the best?!

I replaced a 5 year old British Gas boiler with a Vaillant boiler a better spec one than I was quoted for as i looked online and saw a 7-years guarantee and I thought if paying £3k for new boiler/flushing the system/installation may as well pay an extra £300 for the next model up. Engineer hasn’t suggested it but said it was a good decision as instead of working potentially 80% of capacity it would probably never even get to 40%. 10+ years of boiler services never cost more than £80 so with that and the saving in fuel bills paid for itself in 3 years.

In another property with a Vaillant boiler 15+ year old kept having issues but was told to replace but called Vaillant themselves in for £200-£300 fixed fee repair and they did a major patch up and it was still going strong when replaced 5 years later.

What make boiler is it? If it’s a Vaillant or Worcester Bosch I’d keep and with former phone them they will do a fixed price repair not sure if latter. If it’s a cheaper boiler I’d replace.

May be worth checking free boiler replacements, which seem to be available for anyone with an older boiler. We got one but then moved house to one with an older one but not old enough for replacement bah!

NO, not British Gas. They quoted my mother double the price of a plumber for a replacement, even though the had one of their insurance/service contracts.

You could explore the cost of a new boiler. Ten years these days is considered oldish. Great deals around. £800 for a repair is mega and could easily go towards a replacement boiler.

I just googled heatline pump.

That will be for a stand alone pump, the sort of thing you had with a back boiler, not one that's an integrated into the boiler.

Get a second opinion. Pumps are well under £100, usually £50-60 plus about an hour to change.

@Happysinglemum72 i know you said you are getting a heat plate replaced, and I’m not sure of your economic circumstances, but in the event you need a new boiler, check if you are eligible for an ECO4 grant. I think you need to be in receipt of certain benefits and need an EPC rating for your house which shows energy inefficiency. Worth investigating. Hope you get it sorted, my boiler was out of action last week and it was bloody annoying.

Just be careful with the new boiler. British Gas told me I needed a new one because the existing one was “old” and they couldn’t see why is wasn’t working (there was a leak that could have been repaired). They told me that they would order a top of the range boiler. It cost £3500 through British Gas. I went ahead with it. An independent plumber came and took a look a year later and showed me my very “top of the range” boiler online for £1300.

If it's an old fashioned boiler with a hot water tank you would be able to get a grant to replace it with a combi boiler. More likely it's a combi boiler( heats the water on demand) these fail much quicker than older style boilers, and usually only last 15 years max- so a new one might be cheaper (£800 sounds a lot for a repair, a new one would probably not be more) or the same price in which case replace it. Heat pumps are expensive , and I don't think the technology is perfected yet so I would steer clear.

When we moved from the last house, our boiler was 22 years old and still going strong. It would have been installed in 1994.

Our boiler was 20+ years old and fine until had a not so great gas engineer fix one thing on it. The better person we got out to fix it quoted ~£800 for repair but also said fix wasn't guaranteed and if the first fix didn't work another part would also need replacing so we went with the new boiler - got it moved somewhere more sensible plus a new radiator fitted and a timer system and it was £4k. Wasn't the cheapest boiler option but good quality one with long guarantee. Can you ask around for recommendations of someone good to discuss the fix and also quote for new boiler? I would want to know cost of new boiler plus how likely £800 repair would fix it and how long it might last

Yes, I do the same thing. I pay £206 a year, and that includes the annual service. It includes replacing the radiator valves if necessary, and all sorts of other things, not just the boiler.

Have you looked into a maintenance contract? When our boiler broke down last year during the storms I couldn't get a local plumber for love nor money so reluctantly turned to British Gas. By taking out a contract for a year at the same time, they covered the repair as if I was already covered. Even if not covered, they say on their site the repair costs can be spread over a year interest free.

The weather is still not cold. You can actually manage for a week or two without hot water at this time of year. Best to get a good permanent solution now, because the worst scenario is for your boiler to break down in the middle of a midwinter big-freeze. So, don't panic. Settle down to look for good professional local support.
You can use a launderette for washing clothes, or a kind friend / neighbour / relative may let you use their machine. Have "stand-up, top-to-toe" washes with water boiled in the kettle - or, as you mention, if you're a gym member use their facilities. I'd echo people saying avoid British Gas.

Over the years, in more than one house, and also as a single (suddenly widowed & fairly clueless) woman, I found them to be expensive, often highly inefficient and frequently unhelpful and arrogant. You might try the Next Door website for local recommendations re: properly registered boiler installers/central heating experts.

By word of mouth I've found a number of excellent local plumbers and am now settled with a fantastically professional and speedy small business, who've rushed to my aid on more than one occasion. I found them via word-of-mouth recommendation from a trusted friend. Good luck.

It’s a lot of money but get it repaired this time & then look into an insurance that takes the pressure off. I pay £38 per month which includes a yearly service & covers everything. I’ve literally had an engineer out on Xmas eve before replacing a major part of the boiler. I see it as a peace of mind insurance, for the sake of under £10 per week I see it as worth it

This literally happened to us a few weeks ago!

£700 to repair was 13 years old and we had spent £400 on it at Christmas so got a new one , combi at £2700 inc fitting

we went with Glow green as they could do it a week earlier than British Gas , no regrets