Back boiler to combi. boiler

dpm_dpmartin · 28 Aug 2015

Good afternoon gents,

Last year I paid out for a combi. boiler swap out and it cost me around £1,500. I suppose that was a relatively simple swap, as it was just taking one boiler out and putting another in.

I am looking to buy a house that I've discovered has a back boiler system - one where the back boiler is behind a wall and there's a gas fire underneath it. It will be a project to do up, and either sell on or let out, and I'll need professional help - obviously - for any central heating and plumbing aspects. I'm curious about a) whether I should intend to replace the back boiler system with a new A-rated combi. and b) whether the job of swapping out a back boiler system for a new combi. boiler is a different kettle of fish entirely.

If we assume the answer to a) is yes... then, without seeing the system, does anyone know if it is a larger and therefore more expensive job to do this kind of swap? If a combi. boiler swap out in 2014 cost me £1,500 then is this kind of project also going to be "around £1,500" or "around another number entirely"?

I'd appreciate any insight into this as it will help me decide whether I should be going that far or not, I do have to keep an eye on the budget but I also do want the place to have pretty good facilities and be good for efficiency, but I've also heard that back boilers just run forever and they don't usually have any problems?!?!

Dan Robinson · 28 Aug 2015

£1500 will ensure a crap job.

A back boiler could be worth keeping, it could not be. Impossible to say without knowing its condition and history.

dpm_dpmartin · 28 Aug 2015

Well, at the moment I don't even know what it is, so condition and history are, admittedly, a bit beyond me.

The property that had the swap out to a new combi. is doing well and good. The thing that I got rid of was a Saunier-Duval Themaclassic and the thing I replaced it with was an Ideal Logic+ with 7 year warranty. Not that difficult to get a better outcome, if not the best outcome, granted. The occupants have given nothing but praise for the Ideal Logic+, this is after a year-and-a-bit and just 1 winter. I would not have initially chosen Ideal (from things read on the Internet) but I would again now.

endecotp · 28 Aug 2015

Have you considered where the new boiler would be located? How far away from the existing pipework (water and gas) would it be? How complicated would the flue and condensate drain be to route?

Dean744PiN5 · 28 Aug 2015

For an "average" conversion to combi you need to double your £1500 budget at least.

Agile · 28 Aug 2015

For a typical conversion to combi by telephone my quote starts at £2200, but usually with a back boiler involved that can be rather more.

Generally I would recommend fitting a new heat only boiler and keeping the hot water cylinder as that's far better hot water performance. The telephone quote price for that is about £1600 but usually more where a BBU is involved and the new boiler is a new location.

Think carefully.

Tony

FiremanT · 28 Aug 2015

Agile said:
F

Generally I would recommend fitting a new heat only boiler and keeping the hot water cylinder as that's far better hot water performance. The telephone quote price for that is about £1600 but usually more where a BBU is involved and the new boiler is a new location.

Typical BBU system: Cruddy old non lagged cylinder; gravity HW: Randall 103 timer:
OP: The answer to your question is - "around another number entirely". It is impossible to give a meaningful answer here, even with Tony's wicked famous crystal balls, certainly without a lot more info. Is the house smart or a pile of dung? If it is smart is there room to room laminate flooring upstairs? How far is it from the meter to the proposed boiler position?. If you are lyuck, you might find someone (a mug) to do a free quote if access can be gained. If you can't find a free quote, and if the cost of the changeover is a deal breaker, it may be worth paying someone for a quote. Personally, I wouldn't do it free, but I would offer the quote fee to be discountable against the quoted cost. But that is me.

Think carefully.

Tony

dpm_dpmartin · 28 Aug 2015

Thanks for the thoughts guys. The Heating Engineers I use for my GSCs and the boiler swap over last year have said "yes, it's a different number" but a starting assumption of around £2,000 for this kind of work - and putting in the same Ideal Logic+ boiler - would not be amiss, all subject to a site survey, which would be free. I re-visited the house today and have had the offer accepted but the Vendor also did not know too much about the central heating other than the back boiler is in the wall behind a gas fire, there's a wall-mounted controller located close by and there's a water tank directly above it [the back boiler] on the next floor... basically, it was one of those "it just works" answers.

I still don't know what it is. Now I will have to wait until the purchase goes through and I get the keys.

I understand it's unfair to ask how long a piece of string is, but the answer "it's a different number entirely" is good enough for me and I now know that the variables that will affect cost are things like location, existing pipework and flue etc..

Nige F · 30 Aug 2015

Sell on and I would just get it serviced and leave the cert. for the new owners. Let and I would definitely get rid of the fire/back boiler- I wouldn't want a tenant to have old ( in my opinion potentially dangerous) technology like that.

Agile · 31 Aug 2015

Most landlords I come across would never pay to replace a working boiler!

They might fit new kitchen units because they are seen but a boiler is unseen and has no effect on the rent they can achieve!

Tony

longdogs · 31 Aug 2015

Most landlords only replace stuff when the tenants move out.

dpm_dpmartin · 1 Sep 2015

I like to do things right, if possible... plus it would mean that I could get rid of the big tank upstairs and create some extra space in what is a rather dinky house. There is the choice of getting it serviced and given the OK, of course, but it's not my preferred course of action unless it's clearly cost-prohibitive.

dpm_dpmartin · 14 Dec 2015

Back boiler ripped out, water tank ripped out, pipework neatened-up, couple of radiators updated... Ideal Logic+ 30 installed, controlled by Nest, along with magnetic filter. Very happy with the new system.

FiremanT · 14 Dec 2015

Dare we ask what entirely different sum you paid

snes · 15 Dec 2015

As FiremanT above.

Thanks for getting back to us - always a nice gesture! - but we would love to have more details.

Good to hear you speak well about Ideal boilers - not often heard on here (with justification, I might add) so perhaps they have now improved their products.

diynot

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Back boiler to combi. boiler

Dean744PiN5

longdogs

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