oh no! Think we need a new boiler..............

[HRHQueenOfQuotes]

we've had problems with the heating,water pressure, water temp etc etc since we moved in here but each time it's been fixed (very cheaply) and it's continued working. However the other day when the bloke came to fix another problem he commented that it was a really old boiler and that if he was really honest there wasn't a lot he could do other than keep patching up the problems. well DH has just come upstairs to me and told me the reason it's so cold is because the boiler isn't working.

Plans for a replacement fridge for my dying, but not yet dead, fridge freezer will now have to be put on hold, and a new boiler got - does anyone have any idea how much it's going to cost us - and can I have lots of sympathy please..........I was really looking forward to my new (bigger) fridgefreezer.

Thank the Lord, a thread not about milk or Heather.

Though I don't have much by way of comfort, QofQ. When we moved into this house we discovered the boiler had had it...and it cost £2000 for a new one and for all the pipework to be replaced.

You might want to get a second opinion. I was convinced our old boiler needed to be replaced and the nice bloke came and fixed one thing after another. Then one day when he couldn't come I got another bloke, younger, brighter, firmer of buttock, and he fixed it properly and assured us we'd be crazy to get a new one.

What sort is your boiler?

Lots and LOTS of sympathy. We too need a new c/h system and are having amazingly diverse quotes at the moment.

Boilers are funny things: get a few different people in for advice. One person's "you need a new boiler let me do the very expensive job for you" is another person's "this one will keep going for years with a bit of TLC."

Worth shopping around anyway, because a new boiler can be an expensive business. Good luck.

well actually his is the 2nd opinion - the British Gas bloke that first serviced it when we moved in commented how old it was and quite dated (previous owners 'did up' this house - but just 'patched' things rather than updated).

For starters (even if it switched on) the pressure just isn't high enough on it, BG suggested we had the pipe replaced for a bigger one -but even the 'maximum' pressure we'd get from a new pipe would still be pretty pants.

The radiators and pipework are all ok - in the moments (rare be it atm LOL) that everything is runningly smoothly it works pretty well - so it's Sonly the boiler - please don't tell me £2000 is for a new boiler !

TWO GRAND ours is slowly dying too... that would be crippling!!!

pony - I'm sure this bloke would't do that - when he came and fixed some stuff last week I asked him how much it'd be (full service in December he charged us £35) and he said "nothing" - I did eventually manage to persaude him to take £10 - but he's certainly not been one to make us spend money needlessly - he's our (elderly) next door neighbours gas man and been servicing his CH for years - and next door neighbour (and his sons who are often there) are by no means the type to get ripped off.

You have my sympathies. It's like invisible money isn't it going on something like this. Oh, just think what two grand could buy in terms of decorating.

No, that was all the pipework too - we had the wrong bore apparently. Definitely shop around for quotes. We went with British Gas and were told later (by the plumber we had in to do our bathroom) that we could have had it done more cheaply.

2k could could replace my aging washing machine, hoover and fridge freezer and get the ones of those I really want. Glad to here it's not 2k for the boiler though.

British Gas gave us the most horrendous quote. The pompous BG bloke came in, looked at me with disdain, decided we couldnt afford his quote and couldn't get out quick enough. His was for £4,500... Have had quotes since for £2,500 or thereabouts. Still looking.

Well, I think it's great if you think you can trust him. IME, if you find a tradesperson that you can trust then hang on to them, they're worth solid gold. Maybe ask him for a quote.

We had a boiler-servicing person like that in our old house, he kept our rather elderly boiler ticking over for several years. When the BG man turned the mains off to diconnect our cooker the day we moved out, the woman buying the house couldn't relight the pilot and later rang me for a ferocious rant because she'd had to buy a £1000 new boiler because it was buggered. Stupid cow fell for a line, if you ask me. There was nothing wrong with it. But she was a complete cow, so I failed to have much sympathy for her. Moral of the story? Always Shop Around!

pony - he's definitely a good find - not always "on time" (and not great at remembering to call when he's going to be late) but we let him off for that as if he can he'll come out on the same day, is ridiculously cheap and prevented us paying out loads of money doing stuff that British Gas said "needed" doing (turned out they would't really make a difference to it's performance).

Ignore British Gas
If absolutely necessary a new boiler (on its own if the system i.e. pipework and rads are adequate) should leave you change from £1000.
Nowadays you have to get condensing boilers which are more pricey, but are more energy efficient which is useful when gas prices set to soar. My grandmother is having a nightmare because her loiler is on its last legs, she lives in a listed building and the current boiler position means theres no external flue (a necessity with a condensing boiler).
Most corgi registered fitters have their own favourite brands, which are the ones they fit most often.

yay - goodnews - the bloke popped round again today (didn't charge us a penny either ) and got it started again - discussed 'new boiler' option and he told us there was no need to replace it yet -

and at the prices he charges us (or doesn't!) it's going to be a long time before we've spent the price of a new boiler (£1000) keeping it going.

That means we've ordered my new fridge/freezer today

Good news indeed! :)