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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Power flushes

16 replies

treesntrees · 18/01/2013 21:03

AIBU to expect my seven year old central heating system not to need a power flush yet.
BG serviced it today and said it needs a power flush. This will cost £500. I have been saving for a new garden path because the old one is dangerous but if I really need a power flush I can't do both. On the other hand if i trip up on the dangerous path I could break a hip. Help me make my mind up

OP posts:

reliablemillipede · 18/01/2013 21:16

Get another heating engineer in always best to get a 2nd or 3rd opinion !

DeafLeopard · 18/01/2013 21:20

DH (Gas Safe) said "absolute bollocks, British Gas are rip off merchants" and then said what reliable said

DeafLeopard · 18/01/2013 21:21

Oh and if it is not a sealed system and you know what you are doing (as regards draining down a system) you can buy a flushing agent for about £50 that you leave in the system for a week and then empty and refill which should do the same job

sukysue · 18/01/2013 21:27

I know it seems like a lot of money and we grizzled and misery gutsed about it when we had a new boiler but when my bf had her boiler changed she dint do it and she had trouble afterwards with her system being full of debris I forget how much it cost her but I was glad we had it done in the end.

manticlimactic · 18/01/2013 21:30

My mum(82) called BG out because her boiler was playing up. They sorted it but also suggested a flush. Luckily I was there and when he said that it was needed I questioned it as the boiler was less than 2years old (same age as mine) and had had a full flush out then. I don't think he liked that I was there not allowing him to fleece an elderly woman.

gobbin · 18/01/2013 21:31

I had a magnaclean unit fitted when I had a new boiler. It sits as part of the system in the airing cupboard and collects all the metallic bits of crap as they float around the system and gets cleaned once a year at the boiler service.

WhatEverItIsIDidntDoIt · 18/01/2013 21:31

DO NOT pay £500 for a power flush that is a rediculous amount of money for what it a really quick and easy job! Definately get a couple note quotes!

discorabbit · 18/01/2013 21:32

ooh you need pigletjohn's advice, maybe post on household advice, he's (or she!) is really knowledgeable) but have also heard that some companies recommend this when it isn't needed.

WhatEverItIsIDidntDoIt · 18/01/2013 21:32

More not note

prettysunset · 18/01/2013 21:39

Watching this thread with interest! We are on British Gas homecare plan and have a yearly service. Approx 3 years ago, just before Christmas we were advised that our then 5 year old system needed a power flush as the builder (new build house) didn't perform this at the time of fitting...Quoted £500 and we said 'not happening this side of Christmas'...

They led us to believe that if the system lasted until after Christmas when we could afford to get it done it would be a miracle, also led us to believe that it would pack up any minute and that sorting it out would be thousands and that we would not be covered on homecare plan...

Our system is perfect- no issues at all but 2 more yearly checks and the same threat...Check booked for Feb so will wait and see...

Bunbaker · 18/01/2013 21:43

"I know it seems like a lot of money and we grizzled and misery gutsed about it when we had a new boiler but when my bf had her boiler changed she dint do it and she had trouble afterwards with her system being full of debris I forget how much it cost her but I was glad we had it done in the end."

We had our system cleaned out when we had a new boiler installed 18 months ago even though BG had flushed it out 6 years previously. There was a lot of rubbish and I'm glad we had it done. You can tell if there is rubbish in the system when you bleed a radiator and the water is really mucky.

The water that now comes out of our radiators is clean.

Original poster

treesntrees · 18/01/2013 21:55

when I bleed the radiator in the bathroom (which is the only one I have to bleed) the water comes out clean. Am thinking I will ask for other central heating experts opinions/estimates.

OP posts:

Lindsay321 · 18/01/2013 22:09

Oh! "Power flush"! I thought this was a thread about severe menopausal symptom .

We rent and our system is about 10 years old (!). The boiler packed in today. It makes a lot of strange sounds anyway but would a power flush help with this?

PigletJohn · 18/01/2013 22:51

BG make lots of money out of powerflushes at some £hundreds a go.

Is your system seven years old from totally new, or is it a seven-year-old boiler on existing, older, radiators and pipes?

does it have a pressure gauge on the front of the boiler, reading about 1.5bar, or does it have a "header tank" feed and expansion tank in the loft?

How often do you have to bleed the radiators?

Can you do basic DIY plumbing?

Do you or your friends and neighbours know a local, well-recommemded plumber? (what I have in mind does not require a gas-safe boiler engineer as it does not touch the boiler)

Why isn't this in property and DIY?

flow4 · 18/01/2013 23:32

Lindsay, so did I!

When my boiler was 6 years old, I thought a maintenance contract might be a good idea, and BG came out to inspect it. They refused to give me a contract (my boiler was a French model not on their 'approved' list) but they recommended a power flush... I declined.

My boiler lasted another 7 years without problems, then it's PCB failed and I decided to get a new condensing boiler rather than replace it. When the plumber drained the system, he commented on how clean the water was...

Maybe I was just lucky. But I tend to think they're not needed anything like as often as they're recommended.

evansthebread · 18/01/2013 23:47

As an ex-BG employee, I can honestly say that they make a lot of money out of everything!

They get excellent commission for every extra service they perform on top of normal plan stuff. They also get a whopping commission for every new boiler sold. I was dreading them coming to my rental house to do a check...

CO monitor had gone off so I had my usual plumber round at 9am the following morning to do a full check, but tenants also called out BG - and are apparently billing me for the second check - which also showed nothing. Monitor went off again while BG man was waving his snooper around so he binned the monitor proclaiming it faulty. When my plumber suggested this, tenant refused to believe him.

Anyway, was fully expecting the system, although declared in good working order 30 minutes earlier by an independent, to have been condemned, but amazingly, it wasn't. BG bloke said it was in good order. Can't help wondering, though, if it was more my mention that I'd worked for them! Or maybe I just had one of the rare decent ones.

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