Replacing a combi boiler

[madrich]

Hope someone on here can help.

I have a Worcester 9.24 combi boiler in my 3-bed end-terrace house. This does me for CH and HW. It's working, just, but it's erratic, and costing me a few hundred pounds each year in repairs. It's also very inefficient: 65% according to SEDBUK. I'm using 18,000 kWh of gas per year, although this has varied wildly from 14,900 to 24,000 over the last 5 years.

So I've been getting quotes for a replacement. The first of 4 quotes is in:

• Vokera Compact 29kW + 5 year guarantee
• Flush Central Heating
• Install Magnaclean
• Wireless thermostat & timer
• Make good brickwork around flue

£1685 inc VAT

Or, for £2148 I could upgrade to a Vaillant Ecotec Pro 28kW with a 7 year guarantee.

How does that sound? I haven't asked for a discount yet, but I presume there's room in there to take something off. Especially when I mention his competitors.

Magnaclean? Don't know much about it, but opinion seems divided on the internet as to whether it's a good investment or a complete waste of money! He did seem very keen to tell me about the benefits(!) This isn't itemised separately, but their literature quotes £189+ VAT for a separate installation.

Servicing. To get the guarantee, I would need to get an annual service at ~£60. One installer told me this was essential never mind the guarantee, but I've always thought boiler servicing was a bit of a snake oil scam. £420 over 7 years, so it's not an insignificant sum if I can get away without paying it.

Thermostat - My current setup has no thermostat other than TRVs on the rads. As I understand it, this means that once the house gets up to temperature, there's nothing to tell the boiler to stop. So it's just merrily chewing through gas and pumping heat out of the bathroom rad (the only one without a TRV). Have I got that right?

As well as a thermostat, I've been looking at the British Gas HIVE system, which gives remote access to your timer and thermostat. Given how irregular my comings and goings are, this could be really useful. Switch on the heating from my iPhone half an hour before I get home, rather than heating an empty house. It seems it's only available through BG - either for £199 fitted to an existing boiler, or as part of a new install.

Wow. That was a long post. Any thoughts would be gratefully received. I realise it's going to be a while before this saves me any money.

 

[ALEC1]

the magna clean is not a complete waste of money, but there are better ones out there such as the spirovent dirt separator

Beter to call it servicing and inspection, it is not a waste of money if done correctly..expansion vessels need checking, and replenishing, condensate traps emptying and combustion analysed. May be that boiler needs a bit more.

for £60 you just get the flue analysis I suspect... I would be looking to pay twice that, then it will get done properly

BGs latest gimmick is the remote switching.. a complete waste of money but easy to understand..

How many apps have you given up using over the past year... this will go the same way very shortly!

 

[DP]

If system properly cleaned and configured correctly, Megnaclean you can do without. Often Magnetic filters are fitted to catch the dirt that drain down leaves behind.

Setting can and do drift, so service mandatory if long warranty to be effective. Some boilers give you 10 years warranty

If someone offered me £60 for a service, I would tell him to go climb a tree. £60 probably gets you an operation check but not a service.

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

I have a magnaclean demo jar in my van. Most times I show people it I sell a Magnaclean. Where a system is reasonably clean beforehand I might suggest something cheaper in a 'horses for courses' style. Other makes usually have the benefit of being more compact and easier to fit but on a really bad system a Magnaclean is the best IMO.

Servicing is the real price everyone pays for the extended guarantee and the manufacturers depend on people not getting it done to get them out of their warranty liabilities. This would sway me towards the lesser guarantee option.

There is an alternative to the remote switching you were on about. I dare say it might even be the same piece of kit. Sold by Salus it's called the IT500 and as someone who keeps irregular hours it would be a boon to me too but atm it doesn't have a windows phone option, although the rep did say they were working on it.

 

[madrich]

Thanks.

I will ask what's included in the servicing. I'm guessing it's geared towards complying with the manufacturers specifications, more than any preventative maintenance! My instinct was also to go for a shorter warranty and not tie myself into annual servicing.

Magnaclean - How do I know if my system, is reasonably clean. The water looks a bit mucky when I bleed my rads but beyond that I'm relying on expert opinion. I know it's at least 10 years old, probably 15, and I haven't had any work done on the pipework in 10 years.

I'm not convinced the remote switching is a complete waste of money though. For somebody who is out at 0800 and back at 1800, maybe, but my schedule is pretty erratic.

At the moment if I can't guess what time I'm going to be home, I have to choose between coming home to a cold house or watching my bank balance shrink as I heat an empty house I'm not coming back to until tomorrow.

I've been quoted 'about £100' for a wireless thermostat & programmer by one installer. If this is only £100 more than that, it seems a pretty good deal. I will check out the Salus offering.

 

[madrich]

I will check out the Salus offering.

I've just checked them out and it looks good.

One thing which concerns me is that the service presumably relies on software running on a server somewhere. What's to stop them introducing an annual fee for this (or indeed going out of business, leaving me with a useless app)?

The same's true of the BG offer, of course, but I imagine being a bigger name, there would be a fuss kicked up by somebody!

 

[ianmcd]

I have the Salus one in my home got it free and it works a treat, as far as I know it does not use a server all the software is in the receiver unit which connects with your router over wifi

 

[madrich]

Free? I like free.

I'm guessing there must be some kind of server somewhere. Once the thermostat has talked to the gadget plugged into the router, it has to find its way over the internet to link up with whatever phone/ browser you will use to control it.

I've emailed Salus to ask them.