Quote from British Gas - Outrageous?

[danstevens]

Hi,

I've just had British Gas quote me £3,203 for the installation of a new boiler. The boiller they said i should go for is the worcester bosch 28i. I have just moved into a very small terrace house with 2 and a half bedrooms and just 5 rads. 1 Bathroom. The salesman said the boiler has plenty of capacity if i want more rads or build and extenstion etc. None of which i want to do. I know little about this subject but am i being sold something that i really don't need?

Talking to friends and family etc they are saying around £700 for a boiler then installation. So i was thinking £2000 max. It is a straight replacement onto the same pipes the old boiler is sitting on. I've been told be other people that with British Gas you are paying for customer service etc but the quote just seems way over the top.

Any advice here appreciated. Can i just buy the boiller and find someone reliable with all the correct certificates to fit it and save myself a lot of money?

thanks

Dan.

 

[jonseyrs]

Go on the corgi-gas website and look up some local companies and get some more quotes. British gas can be quite expensive

http://www.trustcorgi.com/consumers.htmx

 

[croydoncorgi]

But note that 'Trust CORGI' may be misleading as a general policy!
(although most CORGI REGISTRANTS are trustworthy!)

 

[Agile]

You can certainly buy a cheaper boiler for £700 but not a Worcester which is likely to be much closer to £1000.

The way that you are speaking you seem to expect the installation cost will be a lot less than the boiler. Thats true if you use an unregistered East European as they do it for about £200 but for someone doing it properly and giving a full guaranty as BG do then its likely to be £600-£900. We would charge £840 for example.

I dont understand why you and others think that you will "save money" by buying the boiler yourself. The installer needs a certain amount to cover his work and this is either a pure labour charge as we do or some labour and some markup on the boiler price. Since BG add about 100% markup, I am still waiting to hear how BG respond to someone wanting them to fit a boiler they have bought themselves.

If you buy the boiler yourself then be aware that if anything goes wrong then you will not get any support from the installer as he did not supply it.

Tony

 

[chr15]

Yes the 28i greenstar will cost £1000 say with a programmable room stat,but its a lot more involved than what you think to swap the boiler-you may need to have the gas pipe upgraded,you will definitely have an extra pipe to plumb in -the condensate drain and although the boiler is going in the same position,it almost definitely will need the pipes to be altered as they won't be in the same positions so with these things in mind the price could very easily start rising towards the figure you have been quoted,as Tony said you can get much cheaper boilers but in my opinion you do get what you pay for to a certain extent.

 

[ChrisR]

Bear in mind BG may subcontract the work out to any old plumber (like me!) for the not very princely sum of £200 including everything.

 

[Agile]

Actually the BG price to installers is quite fair and based on about £25 ph in most cases.

The problem is that its based on a fixed BG assessment of the time taken to fit it. If problems arise because BG failed to notice its a plasterboard wall for example or the flue will not fit into the space available then there is no extra to cover contingencies.

They also supply the parts they expect to be needed but whilst there are often bits left over there are sometimes not everything supplied and the contract installer has to go out shoping at his cost.

Tony

 

[danstevens]

thanks for your advice guys, i took this advice:

"Go on the corgi-gas website and look up some local companies and get some more quotes. British gas can be quite expensive

http://www.trustcorgi.com/consumers.htmx"

I have someone corgi registered coming round at 5pm this evening to give me a quote.

i'll let you know how much it is.

Dan.

 

[gas4you]

Actually the BG price to installers is quite fair and based on about £25 ph in most cases.

£25/hr fair I wouldn't get out of bed for that

 

[gas4you]

I take it (because I don't know wb very well) that you are all talking about the Greenstar junior 28i?

OP, if this is correct then you will need this power boiler to get a decent hw flow from a combi.

I would have thought in the approx region of £1800 - £2000 + vat for a simple change over including new programmable room stat and trv's fitted to rads.

 

[Dan Robinson]

What boiler does the OP have at the moment? Where is the gas meter in relation to the boiler?

 

[DP]

It is foolish to slap a new boiler onto existying pipes. If you want ongoing problems be my guest. System sediment will soon force you to have cold/ hot showers.

Things to consider when replacing boiler.

Powerflush/ chemical treatment.
Gas line bore and length
Is the system able to withstand higher operational pressure
System controls compliant with BC requirements
Correct installation of condensate discharge pipes (so easy but seems hardly anyone cares to do it right)

When above have been addressed and the installer will be servicing the boiler thereon, you will not get much change from £2500.

WB? Not a boiler I would be going for. I am at present fixing a botched job on a Greenstart 40 conventional boiler. Not very impressed with build quailty compared to Vaillants.

 

[ChrisR]

Actually the BG price to installers is quite fair and based on about £25 ph in most cases.

Bet you wouldn't do it for that, bearing mind that at the minimum you have to powerflush and fit the boiler in the 8 hours.

 

[Agile]

I expect they give them 16 hours to fit not just eight.

All I can say is that I have met several who do fit them and they say that its steady work with no hassles like not getting paid.

Tony

 

[corgiman]

Actually the BG price to installers is quite fair and based on about £25 ph in most cases.

Bet you wouldn't do it for that, bearing mind that at the minimum you have to powerflush and fit the boiler in the 8 hours.

course he would not

he would do it "a little bit cheaper" say 24.5 PH and in a little less time say 7.75 hours