Are British Gas ripping me off??????

[dafydd]

I have just moved to a new property and it is obvious that the previous owner did not maintain the central heating system. The system is full of black crud and the hot water/heating valve does not appear to work properly.

Please can somebody let me know what is a realistic cost for the flushing and inhibition of the system (13 radiators) and the cost for replacing the hot water/heating valve box. I have a Potterton Netaheat boiler. I have received a British Gas quote which seems unreasonable.

I have also been informed that the Potterton Netaheat boiler has limited spares availability. How true is this statement?

Finally, could somebody also let me know what is a reasonable cost for the purchase and installation of a new boiler and whether system flushing/inhibition would be performed as part of this job?

Thanks for your help

Dafydd

 

[masona]

I have received a British Gas quote which seems unreasonable.

Out of interest,can you tell us how much they have quoted you ?

 

[oilman]

Where do you live?
How far does someone have to come to do the work?
how much crud and how difficult is t to remove?
How difficult is it to connect to your system?
How many floors?
What size pipes?

I have been at properties for 12 hours doing the flushing and have not stopped for lunch, and it would have been quicker to take all the rads off the wall and install new ones.

How can anyone say from their front room/office/space under the stairs what is a reasonable cost?

 

[dafydd]

Oilman,

My property is within easy reach for a number of vendors including British Gas.

It was estimated that the system had not been cleaned for 10 years and that there was crud coating the heat exchanger. However, the central heating appears to be working fine although it is a bit noisy.

The system was categorised as being pretty standard wrtt pipe size and with easy conection access. The property has two floors.

Is a cost of £750 acceptable?

Any idea on the other questiions in the original note?

Cheers,

DAFYDD

 

[oilman]

Hmmmm see what you mean £750? Thats the cost of a boiler (plus a bit) You should be able to have a new boiler for between £1500 and £3000 depending how much associated work you want doing at the same time and including a powerflush if you are up the more expensive end.

I suspect you do not need a powerflush, It's justified whhere you have radiators with cold spots, but otherwise drain and flush, refill with system restorer, leave for 2 weeks, drain and flush, refill with inhibitor diy cost < £30 and a days work.

 

[ollski]

£750 for 13 rads off british gas?....must be having a half price sale!!

 

[maggie]

I've made some inquiries about flushing the system a couple of months ago. I was told it depends on the type: power flushing is more expensive than standard and hot/cold flushing seems to be somewhere in the middle. The usual price was about £150 for hot/cold. But this certainly reflets regional differences.

 

[dafydd]

Thanks Maggie,

Can you recall the cost of a powerflush?

Thanks,

DAFYDD

 

[sterose]

Ha... you would be lucky, normally, to get ONE radiator off Britas Gas for 'just' £750.

Let alone 13.

 

[oilman]

Dafydd, sorry you don't seem to have got the info fom anyone yet, a powerflush will cost anywhere between £200 and £British Gas (and more, I know of someone who deliberately exceeds BG prices and has plenty of work). A mode price would be £350 to £500 for your system, but cheaper is not always good. There are examples of powerflushing where a machine has been connected for a few hours, plenty of noise, but the flushing was not done properly. Having said that, expensive is not always good either.

 

[sifu]

BG usually charge about £500 for an 11 rad powerflush unless you're inside the M25. As you were quoted £750 either BG are too busy and don't want the work; your system needs an upgrade e.g. close-coupling; your system is in such a mess it's likely rads will leak; you're inside the M25; the engineer didn't like the look of the job. At a guess I would say that they're either too busy or your system is a right mess.

 

[dafydd]

Thanks for your message.

The only problem that I have with the BG quote is that I live in Wiltshire and I was tolf that the system is working fine and that the black crud is causing the system to operate more noisily than normal. There are no rad leaks and they warm up immediately with no cold spots. That is why I cannot understand how they have quoted such a ridiculous price.

By the way do you know if the Potterton Netaheat boiler is on a reduced spare parts list ort are these readily available?

Cheers

 

[oilman]

I could give a lot of sarcastic comments about why you have even had the suggestion that you need a power flush. In my opinion you don't, and I'm happy to sell a power flush where it's justified.

Get some system descaler/restorer, and it doesn't have to be Fernox or Sentinel, put it in run it for a fortnight, drain and flush, refill with inhibitor, bleed system, job done. As I said earlier, < £30 and < 1 day.

 

[Plumber Will]

Just noticed this thread I agree with Oilmans second post go onto www.screwfix.com and buy some heating system flushing fluid cat no 16307 CENTRAL HEATING SLUDGE REMOVER 1 LTR leave a couple of weeks and see if it works...it may be the best £3.00 you've spent this year?

 

[ChrisR]

Netaheat spares are all available though Potty make some of them darned expemsive. Your boiler usually dies through rust perforating the backplate - at which point you have a killing machine because of the dated way these boilers work.

If you replace the boiler, the new one will probably come with stipulations about how the system is cleaned. It may refer to the British Standard - which means a powerflush with full flow flushing points added to the system, etc etc. If your new boiler has troubles attributable to flow problems, such as noise, overheating and other things, the guarantee may not be valid. Some mfrs specify which chemicals are to be used. I have tried some of the cheap ones, and have had a couple of dismal results so don't use them now.
If you're unlucky you'll shift whatever grot there is but not get it out, so part of the system may not work properly.

I use Fernox "heavy duty restorer" or (better) Sentinel Ferroquest which is designed for same-day powerflushing. If there really is little sludge in the system it doesn't take long to do so I charge accordingly.

Sounds like you might want a new boiler £1100 - £1400, maybe plus vat, a quick powerflush, say £200 up, new controls (valves etc) around £250, plus any plumbing changes required . To comply with current building regs you'll also need TRV's on at least the bedroom rads.