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Original poster

how long does it take to put in a totally new central heating system?

31 replies

jumblies · 04/10/2009 09:25

Hi,

I am 6 months pregnant and we live in a town house which at present has warm air heating. We have been meaning to change this for some time but didn't get round to it. We just had the boiler serviced and it was deamed unsafe. Therefore we are looking at putting in central heating and a new boiler.

We are getting some quotes soon but I just wondered if it is feasible to get a new central heating system up and running before christmas (and the baby arrives)

Anyone know a rough time frame for this kind of work?

OP posts:
HerHonesty · 04/10/2009 09:45

doo you mean putting in new radiators in new places as well?

The boiler itself can be replaced in 2-3 days if it is a combiboiler (i was told they could do it in my flat over a weekend) but if you have a seperate water tank i suppose it would be 3-5 days. not sure if about radiators too as it completely depends on the size of your house and how much would be disrupted getting pipes in the right places....erm two weeks? if you are not in thousee so they can just get on with it ... but thats a bit of a finger in the air figure.

Original poster
jumblies · 04/10/2009 09:57

thanks for the response herhonesty, yes I mean new radiators, pipes everything. The house is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms. We also have a separate water tank.

I'm just wondering how messy this is all going to be...am already in nesting mode and this is going to be very stressful

OP posts:
somewhathorrified · 04/10/2009 10:01

It takes 2 days to put a full heating system in...well both times I've had it done that's how long it took (3bed and 4 bed houses). We did do all the fixing of walls and floors ourselves afterwards though. The trick is to make sure that you clear the rooms/pathways for the pipework including lifting carpets, remember that they cut the floor to the joists so when I say 'path' it needs to be a good 3ft path.

Original poster
jumblies · 04/10/2009 10:25

thanks somewhathorrified, sounds like a lot of upheaval but totally doable within a small time frame.

OP posts:
HerHonesty · 04/10/2009 11:03

i think sw is right, the heating stuff itself doesnt take long, its all the stuff around it. good luck. i was shouting at builders when i was 37 weeks which was erm interesting! but they got it done in time!

nikos · 04/10/2009 14:58

I'm really interested in what quotes you get for this as wehave the awful vented air and want to change it to gas radiators. How do they do it on the groundfloor where we have cement floors? Can't quite getmy head round that one.

Original poster
jumblies · 04/10/2009 15:08

I will keep you updated nikos as we also have the cement floors!

I might pop round to my neighbours as dh said they had it done a couple of yrs ago...of course he didn't ask any important questions so I guess I will have to do the nosey thing and grill them myself

OP posts:
Original poster
jumblies · 04/10/2009 15:11

herhonesty, I am naturally shouty so you'll probably hear me 3 counties away especially as I want a homebirth!

OP posts:
HerHonesty · 04/10/2009 15:24

funny i was exactly the same, unfortunately HB didnt work out but i like to think it put a rocket up the nethers IYKWIM...

goodluck. def need good supply of hotwater then - consider a megaflow tank it is amazing.

somewhathorrified · 04/10/2009 16:22

Heating systems/ pipework is all sourced from the void between ground floor and first floor...pipes go down to ground floor, or up through floor to first floor. You have to mounting options with pipes to ground floor; First to have the pipes sunk into the walls, this means channelling the plaster out and plastering and redecorating afterwards...I wouldn't recommend this as plaster dust can take months to settle! Second option (which is what I went for) is wall mounted pipes, if you have your radiators placed beneath windows (as is the norm) you will have curtains to hide the pipes, you can also paint the pipes the same colour as the walls so that you don't notice them.

Sixer · 10/10/2009 00:38

I would get second thoughts on the boiler first. Especially if it was British Gas! It's easy money to say it's unsafe! This could cost you alot of money, when maybe all that's needed is a part! Get someone else to have a look, and not BG, They are sales men!

dexter73 · 14/10/2009 20:02

The only thing with getting someone else to have a look is that very few workmen have the warm air certificate. We have a warm air system at the moment and I cannot find anyone who is qualified to look at it except BG.
We are looking to replace with boiler and radiators and are getting a quote on Tuesday so will post how much it is.

dexter73 · 20/10/2009 15:02

BG man has been round. He gave us a quote of £5500 for combi boiler + 6 radiators.
He said it would be quite an upheaval for a few days (floors and carpets up upstairs). Also said that pipes cannot be sunk into cavity walls so would have pipe coming out of radiator in living room and going up the wall to the bedroom which would look pretty awful!
He is getting a company who do warm air systems to come and see us as he said it would be a lot easier to replace that than get new system. Will probably cost about £5000.
I am keen to replace warm air system as it has worked so well for us previously.

nikos · 20/10/2009 15:56

Would it still be as much as £5000 if you are just getting a new boiler?
Also do you mean the pipes can't go through cavity wall insulation or just any wall upstairs?
Am dreading ours packing in as not sure what we can replace it with.

dexter73 · 20/10/2009 17:12

He said that the pipes going upstairs couldn't be put into the walls and would have to run up the wall. I suppose this is to do with the pipes being hot maybe!
It would be cheaper if you were just getting a boiler.
The man from the warm air company has just phoned me and is coming over on Thursday to quote for a new system. I think we will have the warm air replaced as we really like it (instant heat, no radiators) and it will be so much easier.

nikos · 20/10/2009 17:14

Is your boiler electric or gas?

dexter73 · 20/10/2009 17:19

Our warm air system is gas. We don't have a boiler. We have a separate immersion tank (electric) for heating our hot water.
The British Gas man said that the new warm air system would cost around £5000 to replace. I think the unit costs around £3500 and then there is fitting and a new flue.
What don't you like about the warm air heating? It works for us as our house is quite small (3 bed terrace) and we find it is very economical.

sherby · 20/10/2009 17:21

DH is a boiler/heating person and he says 2/3 days. And that you won't notice the pipes once you paint them.

He also said he wouldn't get the warm air replaced because it is utterly inefficant and there is a much higher risk of carbon m poisoning and that is why it is being fazed out.

dexter73 · 20/10/2009 17:37

This is quite an interesting thread about warm air systems.
This is the company who are quoting on Thursday.

dexter73 · 20/10/2009 17:46

Also British Gas man recommended that we get the warm air system replaced rather than installing a combi boiler so they can't be that bad?

nikos · 20/10/2009 21:08

We've got a dinosaur of a boiler, it's a massive thing which takes up the space of a small cloakroom. It is also electric so quite expensive nowadays. The property we have it in is rented out now. I'd assumed when it broke we would have to put in radiators. But now I'm thinking we could just renew the boiler.
Because it is an old boiler we never felt the house was warm but maybe a new boiler would solve that. But not 5000 for a new boiler surely? Also a new boiler would be a much neater job than a whole new pipework system, especially with tenants in.

dexter73 · 22/10/2009 11:09

I have just had the plumber round and he has quote £2284 for the new warm air system which is a lot less than the British Gas man thought it would be. It will take about a day to fit. He said the new systems are really good and we will really notice a big difference seeing as our old heater was over 30 years old!

nikos · 22/10/2009 15:18

That's very reassuring Dexter. Is that price justfor a new boiler? Ours is even older than 30 years, so the whole system might be much better than a new boiler.

tvaerialmagpiebin · 22/10/2009 15:31

Well done Dexter. British Gas always quote at least 25% more than any other plumber. I am intrigued by your warm air system.

Nikos I have just had my 20 year old boiler replaced. I have a strange central heating system that gas men always suck in their teeth about, but instead of having the upheaval of removing the cylinder and changing all the pipes, I just had a new condensing boiler and it cost £2000 and took the plumber one day. I am hoping that a more efficient boiler will save me money on gas this winter. If your boiler is older than 30 years it is bound to be worth replacing for efficiency reasons, if you can afford it of course.

dexter73 · 22/10/2009 15:58

That price is to install a new gas warm air heater. Our water is heated is by an electric immersion heater that is separate from the heating system. We can have a water heater installed that runs with the warm air heater and we might do this in the future.

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