Arse, my boiler may have died. Help <Oi, PigletJohn & others in the know>

[Fizzylemonade]

Right so my boiler is currently dead and I am hoping that the Gas Safe man coming soon can breathe some life back into it.

No pilot light, can't relight it, no fan going or noise coming from the boiler. Have checked all the usual stuff, fuse board, thermostat, timer, and tried to relight it following the instructions but to no avail.

If it is dead can anyone advise me of the best boiler to have. I should point out I have always been in smaller houses with Worcester Bosch combi boilers, this boiler is a 13 year old GlowWorm Ulitmate.

I live in a 4 bed house, with 15 radiators. I like a house that is toasty warm and I am a SAHM so the heating is on in the day when I am here.

Am looking at the British Gas website to give me an idea of cost arrrgghhhhhhh.

Just looked at its energy rating and mine gets a grey box with an X in it saying 68%, that's bad yes?

I can tell you from recent experience that BG charges are at least double what you'd pay a good local plumber - hope that cheers you up a bit

We had a small Worcester Greenstar combi fitted in April & including some replacement gas piping (size had to be increased from 15mm to 22mm) it cost £1900 - we're in a medium sized 3-bed mid-terrace with attic, bathroom & a shower room. It didn't take that long either, maybe 6 hours with 2 men? (I didn't time them!)

The higher price of a much bigger boiler wouldn't be a large percentage on top - maybe another £300?

I didn't get an itemised bill from the plumber but according to Which, ours (28i Junior) should cost around £830 - the 38Cdi Classic should be £1160

top tip

join British Gas Homecare then call them out to fix it

We have BG Homecare & they are v good IME but I don't know if they'd cover a 13-yr-old GlowWorm without inspecting it first...

Thanks for that, the engineer is here and tinkering away. There was a blown fuse inside but that usually blows for a reason, so says engineer.

Am trying to come across as non-airhead female,

replacement fuse has just blown again

You can't really join homecare schemes without them visiting first. I tried to get my alarm covered by an alarm company and because it was over 10 years old they would want to replace it first.

He's just gone back to his van again. Pants, I wanted it to be something really simple. I reckon my kitchen extension will be pushed back now

it still might be something fairly simple, Fizzy - the fuse will have blown because of a wiring fault or something & that might be fixable

fingers crossed

Ah Ponders I like your upbeat attitude

Sadly, he can't get the fuse not to blow, so 3 fuses later and a lot of head scratching, I still have no heating.

Basically the instruction manual does say "for troubleshooting" if neon light 1 is lit then X is the problem, if neon light 2 is lit... you get the picture. But he can't get the neon lights to light because the fuse blows every time.

So I have paid him £20 and have contacted British Gas. They are coming out tomorrow. They could have come this afternoon but I need to go out for the school run. Sadly I can't ask anyone to do it, as I am the SAHM I am the emergency pick up person for everyone else.

So, am thinking of erecting the boys teepee that I made in the lounge and using the gas fire which we never have on as a "camp fire". Is toasting marshmallows over the gas fire going too far? Must dig out the oil filled radiator from the loft to heat upstairs tonight.

quite likely to be a water leak dripping on the circuit board or some other electrical part such as the motorised valve or pump.

If you have to buy a new one, Vaillant and Worcester Bosch are two good quality and popular brands.

You do not have to change to a combi when you buy a new boiler, although it makes for a quick and profitable job for the installer. If you have more than one shower or bathroom in the house, a conventional boiler and cylinder will be more able to supply them.

For info - I called BG Homecare, joined and the very next day called them out. They don't care. They've signed you up to a contract, they're happy, you're happy!

The BG man is practically family around here - the kids come home from school and say "alright Barry?" - for a period of about three months, he was here all the time!! and no, I'm not having an affair (as my neighbour over the road suggested...) lol

I agree with poster above who said BG quotes are very expensive - we got three quotes and BG were three times the cost of the other 2!

Thank you all.

The original engineer rang back and said he had been speaking to another engineer who reckons it is the pump, but having already paid £99 to British Gas and then joined their homecare scheme and I happy with the decision.

Basically at the end of the day my boiler is 13 years old, highly inefficient and was only serviced by us, previous people had never done it. So I really do need cover in case anything else happens to it.

We are having a kitchen extension next year so I really didn't want to eat into any of our savings to replace the boiler but know it has to be done within the next 2 years.

PigletJohn yes, we just want to keep a traditional boiler so will be replacing it with a non-combi.

Kbear at neighbour

British Gas are calling tomorrow morning. Luckily the house is well insulated so temperature not plummeting!

Drum roll, it is the circuit board

Back tomorrow with the part, and he hopes, as do I that fitting that will solve all the problems. Because the boiler is 13 years old many of the parts are obsolete.

The thing was there was a funny smell in the store where the boiler is but it is also where we stash all tools, car stuff, paint etc so we couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from. It smelled like a cleaning product. It was clearly the circuit board frying.

I hope you are on a fixed-price repair? The circuit board is an expensive part.

Did he say if it failed due to age, or was there a water drip on it?

Thanks PigletJohn, he didn't actually say but then again I had just arrived home with my two boys in tow and I had left him fixing it whilst I did the school run.

I was on a fixed rate, it is clearly their way to get you onto their homecare scheme which is fine by me. I paid a flat rate of £99 for them to fix the "first" fault they come across. I now also pay £21pm so I personally feel I did well.

He may not have wanted to interrupt me cartwheeling around because I had heating