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Original poster

Tell me the truth about putting Central Heating in

18 replies

CaterpillarCara · 07/01/2014 14:40

Has anyone put central heating in where there was none?

How much did you pay? How disruptive was it? Did you have to move out? Did you have to put all your belongings in storage? How long did it take?

We're eyeing up a property, but there is no central heating and we're unsure if that should be a show-stopper.

Please help!

OP posts:
Janek · 07/01/2014 14:56

Fitting your own heating is brilliant as you use someone you trust and get it done properly, you don't have to rely on someone else's 'that'll do' attitude.

We had ours fitted 12 years ago (and the gas!) it cost £3500 for a boiler, 5 radiators and a shower, and it's still going strong. It didn't cause much disruption, but we'd only just moved in so didn't have much furniture...

sleepyhead · 07/01/2014 15:01

We had gas ch installed a couple of years ago in our 1 bed flat. Combi boiler, 5 rads and installation came to about £3500.

There was no boiler previously so the whole thing was being done from scratch, but although the floors had to come up in places it wasn't too disruptive. We certainly didn't have to move out.

Whole thing took about 7 days but that was because it turned out we had double joists in the floor which were a lot more trouble for the fitters than they were expecting. It added a couple of days to the job.

I certainly wouldn't let it put me off buying a house without it if the price was right. You get to decide where the rads go for a start which is a big plus. Our new place is driving me nuts with the crazy places they've put them!

Madmog · 07/01/2014 15:01

Had ours done about 14 years ago over the course of a week - we only had seven radiators put in though. Engineer often finished early to he had to attend to breakdowns which I understand. Other than the fact I was sat in a cold house with the doors being constantly opened, it didn't go too bad. We paid £1800 at the time, but he was a friend of a friend short of work (although Corgi registered). We got what we paid for though, a cheap boiler which broke down on average once a year before totally packing up two years ago at start of winter.

We now have a Worcester Bosch boiler with a 7 year warranty which is much quieter and so far more reliable. We did pay £2400 for this to include power flush, limescale reducer/collector (not sure what's it's called), but chose most expensive quote. Asked neighbours about one engineer and two said he was awful (so do ask around), one wouldn't give me a written quote and the other did the job.

Original poster
CaterpillarCara · 07/01/2014 18:14

Thanks - very reassuring. The price is definitely right, no-one is looking because there is no central heating and it is very dated. So it could be a good win for us if we were prepared to do the job.

OP posts:
shazbean · 07/01/2014 18:20

Combi boiler, 7 radiators was around £5000, 2 1/2 years ago.
It was good because we could choose where everything went. It was messy but not as bad as I thought it would be.

shazbean · 07/01/2014 18:20

But forgot to say there was no gas in the village we live in so that included connection to the mains.

Chopsypie · 07/01/2014 18:31

We did it over a week. But we had no carpets etc so was easier for taking up floors.

Cost was £1700 but we didn't pay for fitting as DH is a plumber.

2plus1 · 07/01/2014 18:56

I brought a house like this and added the central heating. The installer was local and very competitively priced. It was a worcester bosch boiler and 7 stelrad radiators with thermostatic controls costing £3500. Before I bought the house I checked that I could get gas piped to the house and at what cost. Installation was over a week with some carpets up for lifting floorboards to position pipes. There was also a 'hot' pipe smell that lingered a little from the heat sealing of pipe sections. I was at work on a couple of days so didnt affect me too much.

lljkk · 07/01/2014 19:03

DH did ours in old house (3 bed semi). Found it exhausting, he used plastic rather than copper pipes & had to get Corgi engineer for the gas fitting.

Cost wise I think it was £1200 for materials + £800 for combi boiler, but that was 15 yrs ago.

He has no interest in ever doing it again. I remember him burning out the drill motor on one of the floor joists. And one spectacular brief flood (but only the one flood).

I know several men with similar stories; did one house & never again.

Original poster
CaterpillarCara · 08/01/2014 13:48

Thanks again everyone. Very helpful.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 08/01/2014 14:35

You are unlikely to be offered microbore piping (the size of a pencil) but if you are, don't have it.

Madmog · 08/01/2014 14:45

PigletJohn, can I ask why microbore piping isn't a good option? We are trying to sell our property and have noticed the house we're interested in has very narrow piping.

PigletJohn · 08/01/2014 14:48

Very difficult to extend, almost impossible to clean out sludge and sediment. Very limited availability of TRVs to suit.

Used to be offered as a cheap job as they ran it on surface and not under floors.

Madmog · 08/01/2014 15:05

Thanks, that's something I didn't know and always worth bearing in mind.

PigletJohn · 08/01/2014 15:07

It is (probably) quite old and you might budget for replacing the entire system if so.

PigletJohn · 08/01/2014 15:07

It is (probably) quite old and you might budget for replacing the entire system if so.

PigletJohn · 08/01/2014 15:07

It is (probably) quite old and you might budget for replacing the entire system if so.

PigletJohn · 08/01/2014 15:08

Bloody Hudl.

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