Repair or replace? Help!

[Happysinglemum72]

Not sure where to post this but can’t sleep worrying about it! Boiler broke down yesterday, been quoted nearly £800 to repair it. They can do this tomorrow and I will have my hot water back. But the boiler is 10 years old…. Is this a waste of money to repair at this age? I’ve no idea what to do? I urgently need it back up and running as have no hot water. Been looking at the possibility of a grant for a new boiler but think this is just for a heat pump…. I’m totally lost and out of my depth. Can usually do this single person stuff but slightly overwhelmed and feel sick at the cost of it all. Have two teens who are at their dads this weekend and so can get by a few days with showers for myself at the gym but that’s a very very short term measure. So I guess my AIBU is to get it repaired? It’s an expensive possible short term fix…

Are you able to get to get a zero percent purchases credit card?

Not all suppliers will take credit cards but if they do it will be useful.

Mine lasted 25 years in my rental, and have just replaced it. The house in which I live, the boiler is 18 years old, and I will probably replace next time it goes wrong. 10 years is nothing for a boiler, but £800 is a lot for a repair, have you asked why it's so much?

Replace! Much more fuel efficient. There are options for you to spread the cost

Depends if it's a straight swap but I had an ideal combo boiler fitted around 18 months ago for £1900 from a gas engineer in the Leeds area. It came with a 5 year guarantee as well. Lots of installers will try and upsell more "premium" brands like Worcester Bosch, but our gas engineer who we've used for years thinks that ideal are just as good.

Boxt, very competitive, quick service (but not the next day the ad says), 0% finance over 36 months, a friend had one done and used top cashback as well. New wireless thermostat/programmer included in the price.

Just to update - it’s the heat plate and pump that need replacing. It’s the pump that’s the biggest cost £500….. so going with trying to just replace the heat plate and it that doesn’t fix it a new boiler 😬 the engineer thinks it could just be the heat plate but wanted to get the pump in case it was that as well so I’m going that’s the case 🤞

Just had our 34 year old boiler repaired and the fitter said the same thing. Modern boilers only last 10 years where as older boilers lasted for years (as ours is).

Find yourself a local, trusted gas engineer that won’t rip you off and get a new one installed. Have a look at the current Worcester Bosch range, some of them are not that expensive to buy anymore. Then it’s just negotiating a decent fitting price.

My plumber recommends using BOXT they offer reasonable fixed price boilers with pay monthly options. A new boiler makes financial sense rather than repair. You should be able to get a new boiler with up to 14 year parts and labour warranty on some models or 10 years on others providing you get it serviced yearly...

We have a combi boiler, coming up 11 years old and same thing happening. Been quoted £832 to fix or £2600 for new, including labour. Think we will go for that option as it will just keep breaking down as it's near end of life anyway. But it's painful!

I’d get a new one. It’s like the first big repair bill for an old car - they’ll keep on coming.

A new one will probably be more efficient as well, so might save a bit on running costs.

@Happysinglemum72 I am just looking into new combi boiler, got quote from boxt for 2.5K. Our boiler is 25 years old. Maybe get quotes for both repair and new one. Think british gas does interest free over e years.

I had this, went for a Vailant as plumber reckoned they are as good as the premium brands but cheaper. That was years ago and no issues since. I got a credit card with a years interest-free and just tightened the belt to get it paid off just before the interest-free time ran out. Having said that I’d be buggered if it needed replacing again as I’m now disabled and part time and the belt is already tightened as far as it can go!

I’ve just come through a similar situation. Luckily the fix turned out to be a minor part replacement, and the bill was under £100. An £800 quote would have made me think seriously about replacement.
BUT. My boiler is over 20 years old. 10 years is hardly end-of-life. What does the plumber advise?

ww had a quote from British Gas normally got a deal
on £2300 installed with free servicing and remote hive control

Are you sure it is a quote and not an estimate? Because I don't know how they can decide how much it will cost to repair before they have even had a look to find out what's wrong with 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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.