Conventional to combi quote.

[amfisted]

I appreciate that gas fitters will be reluctant to comment or speculate upon quotes provided by other members of their profession, not least because its impossible to provide accurate estimates from a distance, but I'm sincerely hoping for advice.

I live in a modestly sized 3 bed detached bungalow in Wales, and we have a Glowworm boiler on a conventional system with storage tanks, cylinder and six rads. I've asked for two quotes to replace the boiler with a Worcester 25i Greenstar combi. The existing boiler is in a kitchen cupboard over the sink, the new one will be installed in the bathroom airing cupboard which currently contains the hot water cylinder, pump and room thermostat sender, etc.

The quotes include removing storage and feed tanks from the loft, removing the cylinder from the airing cupboard, removing old boiler, fitting new boiler and all pipework. I've had two quotes: one from BG which came down to about £2900 after an additional discount and removal of some extras, and one from an independent engineer of £2500. I've asked the indy to quote for a cheaper boiler, but it seems to me that 2k plus has to be ball park for a boiler change nowadays.

Would the experts on this forum agree that the above are reasonable quotes?

 

[FiremanT]

I have not done heating for years and, as you admit, we cannot see the job. I will, therefore, not venture a quote or comment thereupon

BUT, you have had 2 quotes - £2.5K & E2.9K. So why do you think the ball park should be £2K?.

If you are convinced you are being over quoted by these two, surely the remedy is obvious?

 

[dilalio]

I wonder... Do BG have regional pricing?
Just curious

 

[amfisted]

I have not done heating for years and, as you admit, we cannot see the job. I will, therefore, not venture a quote or comment thereupon

BUT, you have had 2 quotes - £2.5K & E2.9K. So why do you think the ball park should be £2K?.

If you are convinced you are being over quoted by these two, surely the remedy is obvious?

Thanks for the response. I'm not actually convinced I'm being over quoted, which is why I'm asking the question.

I accept that it might be unreasonable to expect a quote under the 2k mark, but was merely asking for observations on those quotes, with the proviso that asking someone to assess a job at a distance is asking too much. It occured to me that the BG one is surprisingly low considering their reputation for overpricing (for example offering interest free credit but including the interest in the price) and the independent quote is IMO probably reasonable.

But its a long time since I had a new boiler fitted, and in case my judgement of those quotes is at fault, I thought I'd come here and ask. However, I will get two more quotes to be on the safe side.

 

[durhamplumber]

I appreciate that gas fitters will be reluctant to comment or speculate upon quotes provided by other members of their profession, not least because its impossible to provide accurate estimates from a distance, but I'm sincerely hoping for advice.

I live in a modestly sized 3 bed detached bungalow in Wales, and we have a Glowworm boiler on a conventional system with storage tanks, cylinder and six rads. I've asked for two quotes to replace the boiler with a Worcester 25i Greenstar combi. The existing boiler is in a kitchen cupboard over the sink, the new one will be installed in the bathroom airing cupboard which currently contains the hot water cylinder, pump and room thermostat sender, etc.

The quotes include removing storage and feed tanks from the loft, removing the cylinder from the airing cupboard, removing old boiler, fitting new boiler and all pipework. I've had two quotes: one from BG which came down to about £2900 after an additional discount and removal of some extras, and one from an independent engineer of £2500. I've asked the indy to quote for a cheaper boiler, but it seems to me that 2k plus has to be ball park for a boiler change nowadays.

Would the experts on this forum agree that the above are reasonable quotes?

Seems very reaonable to me...even the BG one...Are you just going to go with the cheapest quote? End of??..That could seriously be a false economy

 

[ianmcd]

Not getting on the Worcester slagging band wagon, but are you sure that a 25KW boiler will be suitable for your HW requirements

 

[amfisted]

Seems very reaonable to me...even the BG one...Are you just going to go with the cheapest quote? End of??..That could seriously be a false economy

No, I learned a long time ago that price is only one aspect of any potential contract. Most of the time I seek recommendations first, and take it from there. I've used BG in the past and can't fault them on the work they've done, but the independent is someone I haven't used before. So I'll be trying to find out more about his work, and that of any other engineers I seek quotes from, before making a decision.

 

[amfisted]

Not getting on the Worcester slagging band wagon, but are you sure that a 25KW boiler will be suitable for your HW requirements

I'm relying on the professional advice I've had so far from both BG and the independent. BG suggested the 25i, the independent was happy to quote for fitting the same. There are only the two of us here, and our hot water usage is relatively frugal.

Would you recommend something else?

 

[bernardgreen]

and our hot water usage is relatively frugal.

The amount of heat ( kW-hours ) required to heat the volume of water used during the day is not really relevant .

What is relelevent is the rate of heating ( kWatts ) that is required to provided an adequate flow of adequately hot water to the shower.

 

[ianmcd]

I'm relying on the professional advice I've had so far from both BG and the independent. BG suggested the 25i, the independent was happy to quote for fitting the same. There are only the two of us here, and our hot water usage is relatively frugal.

Would you recommend something else?

just a personal thing, I never quote for smaller flow rate boilers anymore, 25KW is way more than enough for your heating and you will never use that, your boiler will know that and will modulate right down so you are only using what is needed, smallest I do is 29KW and usually 30KW simply for better showers as more and more people going for fancy large head rain type showers these days, obviously water supply is a consideration too but if you have a good flow rate, personally I would have went for a larger boiler, simply my own opinion, maybe would have been a better idea to ask your independent what he would have recommended or did he actually recommend the Worcester too or just agree to quote for the same boiler as BG

 

[durhamplumber]

just a personal thing, I never quote for smaller flow rate boilers anymore, 25KW is way more than enough for your heating and you will never use that, your boiler will know that and will modulate right down so you are only using what is needed, smallest I do is 29KW and usually 30KW simply for better showers as more and more people going for fancy large head rain type showers these days, obviously water supply is a consideration too but if you have a good flow rate, personally I would have went for a larger boiler, simply my own opinion, maybe would have been a better idea to ask your independent what he would have recommended or did he actually recommend the Worcester too or just agree to quote for the same boiler as BG

+1 for that

 

[amfisted]

just a personal thing, I never quote for smaller flow rate boilers anymore, 25KW is way more than enough for your heating and you will never use that, your boiler will know that and will modulate right down so you are only using what is needed, smallest I do is 29KW and usually 30KW simply for better showers as more and more people going for fancy large head rain type showers these days, obviously water supply is a consideration too but if you have a good flow rate, personally I would have went for a larger boiler, simply my own opinion, maybe would have been a better idea to ask your independent what he would have recommended or did he actually recommend the Worcester too or just agree to quote for the same boiler as BG

Many thanks for those observations. The independent quoted for a Worcester because I asked him to, though he did mention another brand of boiler which has a 12 year warranty (I think it was an Ideal Vogue). We have a very good water flow rate here, and I've had to turn the supply down at the outside stop valve to prevent water hammer when the washing machine is in use.

The nitty gritty is that because we've had Worcesters before and they've been trouble free, I have to admit to being a bit fixated on the brand.

 

[ianmcd]

It is totally your choice which brand you choose, I would never try and dissuade anyone about their own choice, we all have our favorites

 

[FiremanT]

I had missed the 25Kw part, and I agree with Ian, there is rarely a good reason for fitting one, IMO.

As an aside, why are you changing from storage to combi? Is the infrastructure in good order? Do you need to save space?. If the cylinder and pump etc, is fine (and cylinder well insulated - what colour is it?) then it is cheaper to do a straight swap - and is often a better solution. WE have a large bungalow, with 2 of us. She has a bath daily, I prefer a shower (off the cylinder) We have it running for 2 hours a day only, timed before returning from work, to avoid cycling, and we never run out of hot water. Even when my son visits (showers) for the weekend)

TBF, I am a bit wary of making comments like this, because it will encourage Bernie - whom I am surprised has not started one of his ant combi rants yet.

 

[bernardgreen]

whom I am surprised has not started one of his ant combi rants yet.

I am not ant combi, they have their place, if I would rant it would be against the installers who sell combi's to customers when a combi is not the best solution for the customer's requirement but is a quick profit for the installer

My question would have been

As an aside, why are you changing from storage to combi?