AIBU to not want to spend £2k on a boiler that we wont get the benefit of?

[Mortgagedilemma]

Posting here for traffic as need to make decision by tomorrow morning.

Our house went up for sale this week. First viewings booked for Sunday. Today the boiler stops working.

The boiler is old and has been a bit dodgy for a while.

Plumber came round today to try and fix it. He thinks it could be the fan, or possibly the gas valve, but not certain. Fan would cost £300, bit then valves may also need to be replaced.

Alternatively He can replace like with like on Friday and replace whole boiler for £2k.

WWYD? It's a lot of money to shell out that we won't get the benefit of, so I'm loathe to do it, but there's no guarantee the patching up will work in time for first viewings.

In Scotland, when you sell a house, I think one of the standard clauses is that the seller is liable for any repairs needed to the central heating within x days of the entry date (7 days, 10 days, cant remember exactly). So if you only pay for a patch-up job which doesn't last long enough, you may have to shell out for further repairs after the sale. Worth weighing this up, I think, against the cost and possible selling point of a new boiler. The point a PP made about getting the benefit of the new boiler yourselves if your house takes a while to sell is also a good one.

Personally, if I paid out £360k for a house for a boiler on its last legs, I would be very unchuffed, unless the home report had identified it as an old system in potential need of replacement.

I'd replace .... (I was going to mention it might be worth updating an energy report -pity it is a home report and done...)

Age of boiler does put people off....especially if they are stretched to get a mortgage and then need to pay removal costs etc....and they factor in potential replacement cost - unless they are naive.
Which is what we were when we bought our first house - we knew it would need a new boiler but thought it would be ok for a year or so. It broke down after 3 months, was repaired then 6 months later died altogether. We had to live for 9 months (through winter, with a baby) with just a couple of electric heaters. Thankfully it was a hot water tank and the electric immersion still worked. But that with the heaters meant our electricity bill was huge ... so it took even longer to get the money together for a new boiler... never again!!
The only exception to that would be, as others have said - if it is a really old basic one - worth keeping as they are less complicated, more reliable and much longer lasting than modern ones...I would make that a selling point!
And actually IME they are not really more expensive to run - I think modern energy efficient boilers are a bit of a con.
My dad had an ancient one for 30+ yrs - it broke twice ...simple cheap repairs. Thinking a new efficient one would be cheaper to run he replaced it - has had two repairs in 5 years -and the service man was talking about needing to get a new one soon.... same thing happened to a friend of mine - replaced an ancient but reliable one and has had nothing but hassle since - and neither of them noticed the promised huge energy savings....
In fact I replaced a 10+ yr old combi (70% efficient) with a condenser combi (90+% efficient) just over a year ago - I have used about the same amount of gas this year as I have over the last few years- definitely not 20+% less ....

Repair only.

The home report is on an old boiler.

I'd just replace it - especially selling in winter, a new boiler when it's freezing outside is always a selling point!

I bought my house in October 2015 and whilst the house had an older boiler we had a list of things to do and since we thought it would be fine for at least that winter we put the boiler budget into other projects that needed dealing with sooner rather than later ... by the end of December there were issues with the alternator valve and a few other problems that weren't going to be cheap to fix. We decided that we'd just have to bring the purchase of a new boiler forward but since we'd spent that money on other issues we couldn't afford to replace it till the summer. The sellers are friends of friends so I got my friend to ask if the boiler had had any problems before and the seller admitted that they had had the same issue a couple of times themselves shortly before they sold the house ... but since it was "fixed" and wasn't broken when they put it on the market, they didn't think to mention it. If they had mentioned it, we would have known that it was a priority and it would have been the first thing we replaced.

Replace the boiler with something reasonably energy efficient. When I bought my my first house, I found new boilers, quality septic, and high amp electric service very attractive.

We bought a house which had a dodgy boiler, the surveyor picked up on it and we contacted the estate agent and paid 2.5k less for the house some 20 years ago now.

Go and price up the boiler yourself and you'll save loads by buying it and then getting someone to install it as they add on loads to the purchase price when most plumbers get for you.take pic if the one you have now so it's clear where the pipes go in and out and take pic of the plate with all details on so you can show in the suppliers.

engineersthumb Not always so, the exhaust gas temp is very low not quite as low possible as a condenser type but not that far off and far more reliable and cheaper to service and repair :)

I bet if i said would you like to pay a bit more rent for a modern boiler the answer would be no!.,

The point is modern boilers are much more economical to run. Holdingredients on to old boilers because they are cheap to maintain is fine unless you are landing someone else with the running costs. I'm luckily no longer renting myself but I would like to see strict rules on thermal efficiency for rented properties.

Fix, don't replace.

The home report has been done and the price reflects the fact it has an older boiler, so you'll not get the money spent on it back.

Slightly that people are talking about it being 'only' £2000 to replace it.

engineers like I said in my post -I'm with just a boy on this one.
The published figures might show modern boilers to be many times more energy efficient but that doesn't seemed to be supported by real usage data...
I said I haven't seen the 20+% reduction I 'should' be seeing (and I am talking Kw use not cost).
I think they might be like AAA rated appliances - the manufacturers stick a program on there that will give it that rating but when you actually use it you find that program is useless - it doesn't get clean dishes or dry clothes or rinsed clothes - so you routinely use the 'intensive' program or extra rinse feature ...which is not AAA rated....
Or like car manufacturers stripping cars down to a chassis to get the best mpg figure - a figure you would never ever be able to get in the actual car in a roadworthy condition.....

And even if you are talking about environmental impact - which is worse the manufacturer and transport of a new boiler every 5 yrs -or one that lasts for 40 yrs...

I think I'd discuss it with the EA or buyer and agree something. They'd need to know they might move in to a house with out a working boiler. But they might also plan to alter the area where your boiler sits, like a kitchen refit or something, or might be investors doing the property up... we had a patch of damp come up last year before putting the house on the market. We got the estimate and gave it to the EA who considered it in the price and discussed with buyers. Likewise, re the house we bought, a project was part way through completion and we agreed to pick up where it was left.

It would be helpful if all those posters in England merrily dispensing advice could at least acquaint themselves with how the buying and selling homes in Scotland works.

scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/finding_a_place_to_live/moving_home/selling_your_home/home_reports_if_youre_selling_a_property

The home report- that has already been conducted on the op's home - contains a valuation and an energy efficiency evaluation, both of which have been set on the basis of a boiler of a certain age.

Unlucky and boy,
Your anecdotal doesn't really hold up. No boiler manufacturer would build an inferior product deliberately when they could build a market leader. Cast iron heat exchangers, non condensing boilers and open atmosphere burners are reliable they are however appallingly inefficient. If your new boilers are really burning the same amount of gas I'd certainlying be looking at the boiler and system settings. Are you suggesting that it's all a conspiracy... let me guess was it all started in Brussels?

hopefully sell at around £360 In that case the boiler will cost more than the house - assume you meant £360,000?

This happened to us and we just replaced it. No one is going to want to buy a house without a boiler. And surely if your sale doesn't go through or you decide to stay put you'll need it for yourself anyway? It's an essential fixture I'm afraid!

Well win they just need to repair the boiler in the most cost efficient way.

engineers I am the boring kind of person that has kept records of my energy usage (in a spread sheet!) for the last 15+ yrs ...and I have been constantly trying to reduce usage (for environmental reasons)- improving insulation, draughtproofing -I've even insulated under the floorboards and have been managing to get it down more or less year on year - apart from say a spike a few years ago when it was a really cold winter... I am pretty much on top of my energy usage...
So when I replaced my boiler last year (and bear in mind it was a mild last winter) with a more efficient condensing one - surely I should expect my usage to decrease compared to the previous year?
It did - by 2%.
But it was higher than the year before. And we are not noticeable warmer in the house - have the same radiators, same system... it has had less of an effect than when I insulated under the floor boards ...which was mainly to make it feel warmer rather than save energy...
Do I think it is a mass conspiracy? No ...not really - but I do think that we are getting things wrong when trying to reduce our environmental impact? Yes. Most definitely.
The cars without even brake discs and mpg figures are an accepted 'scam'

I am dubious about the energy rating system for appliances...generally the higher energy efficiency rating an appliance has, the more expensive it is plus consumers want to pay less for their energy too - so of course manufacturers try and get the highest rating possible.

I don't agree with all of this article and am not really a Dyson fan but this makes interesting reading
www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/05/dyson-asks-european-court-scrap-eu-energy-labelling-law
Specifically this bit
Last month, Dyson launched a separate suit against its competitors Bosch and Siemens, alleging that their cleaners used more than 1,600W of power in a home setting – 850W more than their rating. This was because their machines ran at lower power settings in EU tests, Dyson claimed
I have a new dishwasher - it has a high rating ....you can change the factory settings so it dries better - which of course increases energy use -I doubt on that setting (which is what it needs to be at really) it would have the same rating ... the list is endless.
So why should boilers be any different?

I'm a little worried about hijacking this thread - sorry op!
As far as might goes there it a bench mark for comparison between cars not necessarily a commitment of the milage you will get when driving. When you think of it there are so many variables that you could never quote an mpg figure in any other way. One ting is for sure cars are much more efficient than they were even 10 years ago.
I'm impressed that you monitor your energy the way you do but I do think that there is something not quote right. Perhaps it's not a like for like comparison, for example immersion vs combi, hot water settings different, dissimilar btu rating, difference in timer settings or an issue in the set up of the boiler.

Or fix it if possible! Our boiler was beyond repair and we had no choice but to replace it.

I agree with you about energy ratings. My dishwasher has an eco setting which means nothing is dry. It's crap I never use it. I expect the setting I use uses far more energy than the rating suggests.

I'd fix the boiler and get a second opinion. 600 is a lot less than 2k

If I'd been the seller I'd have said the house was priced to reflect the age of the boiler and refused to reduce the price.

That only holds if the market agrees that you've priced it in, and it is indeed that much cheaper compared to other properties.

For me, a new boiler is a big selling point, and can be a contributing factor in which house I'd go for if I were choosing between a couple of places. Old, limping along boilers make me wonder what else hasn't been maintained/replaced/upgraded in a timely way. I factor in the cost of replacement and the hassle factor - which vendors don't tend to price in (and neither do they price in their old central heating, no matter what they claim) and as it's important to me, In influences my decisions.

That said, in OP's position in Scotland under that system, with the boiler in the survey, I'm not sure I'd get a new boiler, unless she isn't getting many viewings or needs a quick sale.

Sorry about hijacking too OP - - last one honest!

There really is no obvious difference - honestly. And I have also been aware and tried to avoid the train of thought - 'it is so efficient I can use it more' (which is what I think is also a problem with people being told things are highly efficient). My boiler was about 13 yrs old, but not a condenser. Both my dad and my friend who replaced their ancient ones are disappointed with 'not noticeable' energy savings...and higher maintenance costs ... stopping myself now before I move into my renewables rant...and again apologies for hijack...

Replace. You cant sell a house with a none working boiler unless its massively reduced. New boiler makes excellent selling point. Im not sure if anyone can get a morgage on a house without a working boiler as it was something our morgage survery (waste of money) checked.

It isn't replace or no boiler! It's fix the boiler or replace with a new one. Either way there will be a working boiler.