Boring question alert - combi boilers

[MrsMuddle]

OK, so my 22-year-old boiler has finally expired. I had British Gas round yesterday, and they quoted £3,500 for supplying and fitting a new one, taking away the old one, adding thermostats to the radiators etc etc. I know that it will probably be the dearest quote, but I really don't have time to hang about waiting for smaller local companies (most of whom I've experienced not turning up on other occasions) to give me a quote, then arranging time off to have it fitted. With British Gas, I'd be confident to let them in, go to work, and come back at night. They also guarantee the work, and give you a year's free call-out. DH, of course, wants to go for the cheapest option. I want to go for the least hassle. What would you do?

I would ask around friends and neighbours for a recommendations of good local plumbers and get more quotes. BGas probably charge twice as much and aren't necessarily the best either.

You've confirmed what I know deep down. It just seemed much easier to agree to the BGas quote and have the whole nightmare over with within a fortnight. Thanks

Ours was about £3000 for a fancy eco condensing boiler, system flushing, termostats, everything - big 4bed house too so quite powerful. Local boiler company who specialised in Worcester boilers so have good prices and guarantees etc.
We had no hot water for weeks and weeks waiting for another local boiler guy to give up on the old boiler. Wasn't so bad, we just went swimming a lot and bathed less - it's actually quite good for you!

When we moved into this house the boiler was shot and we got British Gas to put a new one in for us. We still had to wait 6 weeks before they had anyone available to do it. When we had the bathroom done we got a local plumber who told us that he would have done the boiler (same boiler, Worcester-Bosch) for half the price. We paid around £3000. I would shop around - get recommendations of good plumbers from friends. The British Gas bloke didn't even do a particularly good job - the pipework is messy and he dropped the old boiler and damaged the kitchen floor.

Sorry if it's not what you want to hear...

Vaillant is one of the best boilers there is (possibly better than Worcester Bosch but certainly equivalent) and the boiler itself costs c £1000 - replacing an existing boiler in the same spot can't be that big a job, surely?

Ours is an ancient Vaillant - 23 years old (beats yours, MrsM!) and still going strong, but on the way out - we have BGas service plan and for the last few annual services the engineer has sucked his teeth a bit and said it's corroding inside, but all the main parts are still available for it so it's a good make to go for.

Ask about timings too, one guy told us it would take 2 blokes 4 days but the guys we went with did it in 1 day with 4 of them! They had their own flushing machine so were able to clear the system in an hour or two.

Keston are good eco-boilers too. www.keston.co.uk

We paid a local plumber 3k for plumbing in a new worcester combi boiler, upgrading pipes for high pressure system, removing water tanks (already had thermostatic controls on radiators).
It was well worth it - our gas bill plummeted!
I would try to find an independent plumber - but just because BGas always seem to be in the consumer programmes/newspaper columns .

Oh, a subject dear to my heart! We have just had a top-of-the-range Worcestor Bosch installed - this very week - apparently it is "the BMW of boilers" according to the central heating engineer who did the work for us. He also put in a new shower that runs straight off the boiler, flushed out the whole system, and extended and replaced the boiler flue. The whole thing cost about £1500 - this didn't include buying the shower, DP got that at a trade suppliers.

Local independent plummer charged us £2000 for the works, B Gas quote was £4500 for the same work/boiler. Interestingly, our plummer gave us a breakdown of costs in his invoice - boiler and parts etc was about £1000 and labour the other £1000 (he took 4 days). Definately worth getting more quotes in.

British gas boilers more expensive but no better Get someone local as they are not so busy with boilers at this time of year.Slow and expensive in winter so a good time.Ask around and look in the local paper and ask for refernces you could save loads

Gosh, what a response! It's obviously not such a boring question as I initially thought. It was the Worcester Bosch BG quoted for (Muminbrum, I was told it was the Rolls Royce of boilers!), but the message that's coming through loud and clear is to shop around, so, on this occasion, I will concede that DH is right and I am wrong.

Yes, Worcester Bosch would be the RR - Vaillant would be the BMW (it is German!)

When we replace ours we will definitely get another Vaillant, our old one has been superb.

Yes I would shop around. I had to get a new combi boiler to replace my old one in my flat last year and the whole job (including new boiler, installation and removing the old one) was £1600.

Had a valiant - was £2000 all in but that was about 4/5 years ago. Agree £3500 sounds steep.

I left the uk 1.5 years ago. When I was there I worked (as an architect) for a firm that did high end home renovations and additions. Almost all involved a new boiler. We had nothing but trouble with worcester bosch. Wouldn't touch them with a ten foot (or 3 meter) pole. Their customer service is bad, sneaky and expensive and they pretend to have these great long warranties that turn out to have all sorts of small print that exempts all the bits of the boiler that are likely to break.

Back to the main subject. BG are very expensive and often much worse because it's just sub-contractors who don't really care. Get a recommendation of a plumber from a few friends or your local plumbers merchant.

Oh yes, I shall tell the heating engineer this re BMWs and RRs! I must say, our new WB is scarily hi-tech - when it goes on, it makes a series of James Bond gadgety noises, servos etc, and it has a soft blue light on at all times which makes it look intelligent. I just hope it doesn't start arguing with me ...

Had British Gas to fit the heating system at my old falt, a few years ago. My landlord thought as you did, that it would be the easy option as they are the most recognised name.
Unfortunately they were sh*te. The two blokes turned up, marched into the flat without a word, stuck their radio on full blast and grunted a few times before pulling up the floorboards/sawing a few in half, rucking up and folding the new vinyl to get access, which of course left it with a huge crack down the middle - we later complained and they eventually paid for new vinyl - and left us with a very wonky, loose floor, which wobbled every time someone walked on it and also had to be repaired several times.
It was truly shocking, I expected this sort of thing from a dodgy little firm out of the local free paper!
I'm sure it varies but God, be careful - big name doesn't always = good behaviour!

Old FLAT, sorry!

If you are in London, I can recommend an excellent plumbing firm. They aren't cheap, but worth every penny as they will do it right the first time. And are honest and clean and neat.

Thanks, everyone. I'm in Glasgow (North) so any recommendations would be appreciated.