New boiler makes and cost

[groovejet]

I am trying to get our old falling to bits combi boiler replaced with a nice new one, have had 2 quotes of approx 2K, we need a very long flue so the quote is a bit higher due to that(about £400 for the cost of the flue)

The 2 boiler makes quoted was for an Ideal Logic and a Baxi Ecoblue, does anyone have any experience with either make?

Have had a look online can't see much about the Baxi Eco, although some Baxi boiler models came out bottom in a Which review, Ideal seems to have very mixed reviews with some installers saying they won't touch them and others saying the Logic line are actually good, so much mixed stuff out there and my brain is frazzled.

Also is it worth me trying Worcester recommended installers, 2k was really our max budget but DH was expecting to get a Worcester boiler for that price but not sure if thanks to our flue that is going to be out of our budget.

In the Staffordshire / West Midlands area if that helps on if they are reasonable quotes or not.

South Yorks. We recently paid just under £1900 for a Worcester Bosch boiler, a bit of pipework, a condensate pump and 6 thermostatic radiator valves. 3 bed house. We found the fitter on the WB website.

I'd definitely look at a Worcester Bosch or Valliant, reliable & efficient which will save you money in the long run- both have lists of their recommended installers on their websites so it might be worth looking at them and getting one out.
When we moved into our old house the developer had installed a cheap boiler and it was nothing but problems from the start - which was expensive and a huge pain to deal with.
The price will depend on the size of the boiler required and how complicated the fitting is.
For example we have a huge condensing boiler for a big house and that costs £1500 on its own without fitting but a smaller combi might be about £800. Get some more quotes as this will be the best way.
www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/mobile/boilers/find-an-installer
Or www.vaillant.co.uk/find-a-central-heating-installer/

If you have the Which review handy, look at their top three brands, and see if there is an approved installer near you. From the websites, look at the warranty period, which may be longer if you use an approved installer.

A personal recommendation from a friend or neighbour will also be handy.

It will be easier to get a good installer, and possibly cheaper, when the warm weather comes and people stop caring about their boilers.

A few hundred saved by buying a poor brand will be a false economy.

thanks :)

The plumber who quoted for the Ideal Logic was recommended to me by a friend, but I am concerned by the very mixed reviews of the boiler.

Unfortunately don't have a Which review handy, but from looking online Valliant / Worcester come up top.

Going to try for a couple more quotes from the links wonkylegs posted and see what the price difference will be for a better boiler.

Another quote booked for a Worcester installer and have left a message for another who is a Worcester and Vaillant recommended installer so will see where I am after that.

Who knew choosing a boiler would be so difficult this was meant to be the easy part, sorting out the boiler before have the bathroom redone.

Doesn't help DH has a figure in mind based on when we had a whole new heating system done in our old house about 5 years ago.

the top three were Vaillant, Worcester-Bosch, and Viessmann.

Thanks PigletJohn.

I have a Worcester Bosch and so does my mum and my sister. It is guaranteed for 7 years and also has a remote control so you can set the heating from another room. It is brilliant and I would not consider anything else. Cost around 2k.

Just had a rough quote for a Worcester £2800/2900 gulp It did come with 7 years guarantee and servicing for that period.

Very confused about the condenser pipe, the previous 2 installers said that they could notch the floor in the landing to run it to attach under the bath, the man today said that it would be better to have a condenser pump run up along the loft and come down into the boxed in soil pipe from above and it is this pipework along with the flue length that is bumping the price up.

The boiler model quoted for today was a 34cdi classic.

Can't you put it somewhere near an internal drain?

A condensate pump should be avoided if possible.

Did you mean notching the joists? That is undesirable as it weakens them. However, it the pipe can be run between the joists, and parallel to them, it's fine.

Boiler is on the landing, bedrooms on either side so it seems it has to get to the bathroom in someway. Am sure they said floorboards but maybe misheard I know the second person who visited said the floorboards were running in the wrong direction and would need notching??

Have attached floor plan of our house, the boiler is in the cupboard on the first floor and we are attached along that side.

Thanks for your help Pigletjohn, I know you post a lot of advice on here and it is really useful to be able to have someone to explain some of the stuff that gets mentioned when having quotes.

if the landing floor is made of wooden boards like planks, which way do they run?

Where is the kitchen sink?

Is there a soil pipe inside the house? Where?

The kitchen sink is under the smaller window shown on the plan, soil pipe is boxed in on the corner of bedroom 1 next to the bathroom and continues down into the kitchen corner and the landing floor is made of planks that run vertically.

then the joists run from L to R so the condensate pipe could go between them towards the bathroom. No notching required that I can see, though some of the boards will need to be lifted.

Why don't you put the boiler in the kitchen though?

The new Ideal Logic is vastly improved and has a 10 yr guarentee, both myself and my friend have one with no (touch wood) problems. The old one apparently wasn't good.

Do you qualify for Government grant thingy?

No we don't qualify for a grant.

So would running the condensate pipe to the bathroom be a better option than having a pump? The 2nd plumber said it was borderline on the distance he would normally want to run the pipe.

As for the kitchen, not something that has been suggested by any of them considering 2 of them were mentioning the issue with the condensing pipe, would it be considerably more costly though to move it from the current location.

Have seen some info that says the same as you Buzzard but still some very mixed opinions on it.

the simpler the better. Water runs downhill with no need for a pump.

I expect your kitchen has gas pipes, sink waste, incoming water pipe so would be quite a good place to put it.

What are the negatives of having a pump?

extra complexity, might be noisy, something else to go wrong, if it does the boiler will stop working.

Thanks for your help, I do have one more person coming out next week (valliant and worcester approved) so will query that possibility so I can have some idea of the cost of moving the boiler, can always call back one if the other installers to to discuss that option as well. I do appreciate that having a good boiler in the best possible location will save money in the long run but unfortunately I do have to have a budget cut of point somewhere.

If we did keep it in the current location would running it under the floor be better than a pump even if notching the joists does turn out to be required?

I can't see that the joists need notching, if the floorboards run as you describe.

Running a pipe under the floor would I think be preferable to pumping.