new boiler advice please

[gaz2010]

i have a powermax 155x,9 years old and the hot water as more or less failed.
i am in norfolk and its a real struggle to find a fitter for powermax.
it seems i need a blender valve and heat exchanger costing around £300 plus vat then add the labour.
it has not been serviced for around 6 years,as the only person that worked on them moved abroad.
so im guessing its timefor a new system.
we have one bathroom and one ensuite.
its a 4 bedroom house.
the radiator pipework is all small bore plastic,id say about a 10 to 12 mm bore.
the boiler is situated upstairs in a bedroom airing cupboard.
what options do i have?
what is a good boiler for me?
where should i buy it?
roughly how much is reasonable for fitting?
im a floor and wall tiler so i meet a lot of plumbers,but most are not heating engineers just bathroom plumbers really.

i have a chap coming to look tomorrow to have a look at the powermax,he is not gas registered but says he can work on the water side of the boiler,this would be fine but the price of the parts puts me of this route.
can i have some advice please lads.
and if you know anyone in the mid norfolk area,recomendations would be helpful.
im only looking to spend a max of £1000 on the boiler.
thanks gaz..........

 

[clf-gas]

Contact Dave, Gas4you.

http://www.drlgas.co.uk/

 

[maddog1964]

baxi charge £289 inc vat payable over 10 months and they will fix your powermax and insure it for repair for 12 months

 

[dfaz]

If you are definately wanting to change the boiler then i would be looking at a viessman,the do a direct replacement storage boiler twice the quality of the powermax and a whole lot easier to maintain,your other option is the worcester highflow ,not a fan of worcester myselfe but quite relable good performance of hot water and getting someone to work on it sholdnt be a problem.

 

[gaz2010]

thanks lads great help.
gaz.....

 

[Agile]

The Viessmann is a completely different unit and stores about 200 litres. Its pretty directly comparable with the powermax but just far more reliable and better engineered. Quite expensive but a very nice unit.

Then Worcester HiFlo 550 is about 55 li storage although I think the underlying boiler power output is a little higher.

You would get comparable performance with a seperate boiler and unvented cylinder for rather less if you have the space.

Tony

 

[Razor900]

A powermax is a very specialised sorta beast.

Not one I'd let a plumber loose on even the water side unless he was used to them they hold an awful lot of water that likes to escape!

Another vote here for Dave (Gas4You)

 

[gaz2010]

baxi charge £289 inc vat payable over 10 months and they will fix your powermax and insure it for repair for 12 months

thanks maddog,
do you have a link for this?
gaz.....

 

[gaz2010]

A powermax is a very specialised sorta beast.

Not one I'd let a plumber loose on even the water side unless he was used to them they hold an awful lot of water that likes to escape!

Another vote here for Dave (Gas4You)

thanks razor,
the chap has come recommended,he is an engineer as well as a plumber.
met him yesterday and he seems very knowledgeable,he has not worked a powermax before but stated flushing the heat exchanger and flow valve is really no big deal.
what do you guys think.
gaz.........

 

[maddog1964]

baxi charge £289 inc vat payable over 10 months and they will fix your powermax and insure it for repair for 12 months

thanks maddog,
do you have a link for this?
gaz.....

We also offer the option to include a year's boiler breakdown cover with your repair. You can spread the cost of this plan by using our direct debit payment option. Call us on 0844 871 1545 to arrange.

 

[gaz2010]

baxi charge £289 inc vat payable over 10 months and they will fix your powermax and insure it for repair for 12 months

thanks maddog,
do you have a link for this?
gaz.....

We also offer the option to include a year's boiler breakdown cover with your repair. You can spread the cost of this plan by using our direct debit payment option. Call us on 0844 871 1545 to arrange.

thanks maddog,
i will give you a call tomorrow,if you have a personal or mobile number maybe you can PM it to me,id sooner talk to a fitter rather than maybe a sales of some description.
gaz......

 

[gaz2010]

baxi charge £289 inc vat payable over 10 months and they will fix your powermax and insure it for repair for 12 months

thanks maddog,
do you have a link for this?
gaz.....

We also offer the option to include a year's boiler breakdown cover with your repair. You can spread the cost of this plan by using our direct debit payment option. Call us on 0844 871 1545 to arrange.

maddog,
ive done as you advised and gone for the said deal.
plus a service for £59 down from £147 when taken with the 12 month cover plan.
thanks for advice, hopefully this will work out.
gaz.....

 

[maddog1964]

baxi charge £289 inc vat payable over 10 months and they will fix your powermax and insure it for repair for 12 months

thanks maddog,
do you have a link for this?
gaz.....

We also offer the option to include a year's boiler breakdown cover with your repair. You can spread the cost of this plan by using our direct debit payment option. Call us on 0844 871 1545 to arrange.

maddog,
ive done as you advised and gone for the said deal.
plus a service for £59 down from £147 when taken with the 12 month cover plan.
thanks for advice, hopefully this will work out.
gaz.....

good choice as they will check flue and they may replace the flue collector if its plastic as they have had trouble with them you can call them out every 28 days for no charge so that gives you a bit of time before you need to replace
john

 

[gaz2010]

john,
they do seem to be doing things a bit odd.
they will repair tomorrow and service on the 30th,is this normal,id have thought they would want to do it all at the same time,although the services men are busier they said.
but heh im only a floor and wall tiler,so i know nowt about boilers.
it seems a good deal really,next year would be about £130 for the cover,so i may do that as well,i will see how this goes.
gaz.......

 

[gaz2010]

heat team arrived 845am left 230pm.
replaced heat exchanger,flow valve,8 turberlaters and a water pump for the hot water.
he had a bit of a mare with it all,but got there in the end.
he also done the service at the same time.
ok so it cost £350 with a years call out.
the bits would have cost a lot more than that,so im very pleased.
i must add that the fitter was very efficient and although everything that could have gone wrong did,he still persevered and got the job done.
thanks maddog for the advice you gave me.
gaz.............