Does It Really Matter Who Installs Your Boiler ?

[rideforever]

Hi there, I am looking at getting a new Glow Worm Ultimate ... it's more or less a 1 for 1 replacement.

I have quotes at £2500 - £3000 ... and another quote at £1800 which seems more reasonable.

My question is ... as long as they have been in business for a few years, seem knowledgeable ... and are certified gas safe ... then does it matter much ?

I don't know ... but doesn't the boiler come in complete form, so you just screw it to the wall and connect the pipes ... even if the pipes are a bit wonky you could fix it later. There is limited scope to screw things up (because it's not as if they are assembling the boiler is it).

Is that about right ?

Thanks

 

[bernardgreen]

Is that about right ?

NO

If one of the "pipes" ( the one that is about 4 inches in diameter at the top of the boiler ) is not installed correctly then you may suffer carbon monoxide poisoning, often fatal.

 

[ianmcd]

Oh I love this site

 

[rideforever]

NO
If one of the "pipes" ( the one that is about 4 inches in diameter at the top of the boiler ) is not installed correctly then you may suffer carbon monoxide poisoning, often fatal.

Thats a good point, although it also doesn't seem hard to get right and you could get a CO2 monitor.
Problem is even reputably and expensive contractors sometimes screw things, my neighbours have this experience with several pricey people ... the kinds of prices people want these days seem ridiculous, then they come along and finish the job in half day and give you wink as they take the cash. It's pretty dirty stuff, and that's the market.
Co2 I suppose you can get a meter for £25 and plug it in next to the boiler for a few months to check - most people don't do that do they.
Checkatrade is a totally corrupt site these days, with bad reviews being deleted and everyone getting 9.999% or a triple A star star star. Just the way things are.
Had some recommendations on the weekend for contractors, one charged £125 per hour, the other £20 per hour - seems most people are not really thinking or noticing the difference - some of my neighbours get ripped off with every single piece of work they get done.
Very insincere world these days.
But ... with a few caveats fact is the machine is assembled and the pipework/system is in place so the scope of error is relatively small, but I have some options so I can do some more checking between them.

 

[bernardgreen]

get a CO2 monitor.

CO2 Carbon Dioxide

CO Carbon Monoxide

 

[rideforever]

CO2 Carbon Dioxide
CO Carbon Monoxide

! Yeah sorry was just looking at the new Michael More documentary about global warming !!
Anyway can get a CO detector wired in at same time, £15 ish for the units.

 

[ianmcd]

Again Adam ?

 

[oldbuffer]

A good installation of a poor boiler - will probably last 8+ years.
Bad installation of a good boiler - problems within a year or two. And when you try and claim on the warranty, maker says "not installed to correct standards, sorry!"
Your choice.

 

[rideforever]

A good installation of a poor boiler - will probably last 8+ years. Bad installation of a good boiler - problems within a year or two. And when you try and claim on the warranty, maker says "not installed to correct standards, sorry!"
Your choice.

Which problems could realistically happen ?
Well it's not my choice, as you never know what you are gonna get even if pay top dollar. If it's Friday, or if they send a "boy" round or just can't be arsed. I've seen it all before.
But the fact is ... it seems to me ... it's already assembled so how far wrong can it go assuming the engineer is generally competent.
I'm not convinced that paying double is any better, probably it stems not from skill but from greed.
But I'd be interested to hear of any particular things that can go wrong... yes getting a CO meter is a good plan, but basically if it works and the water is going round alright ... how many pipes are connect 6 ? Could be worse. If a pipe leaks you can sort it out, that's about it really.
Any specific things that could go wrong ... ?

 

[gas112]

Expensive doesn't mean good as much as cheap doesn't mean rough

 

[muggles]

Quite a lot can go wrong. That's what we have gas regs and an Unsafe Situations Procedure for. Yes, you could get it launched at the wall by a man on a horse, and put a CO detector in to protect yourself, but wouldn't you rather the job was done properly?

Installers' labour charges are very rarely related to greed. Running a legitimate heating business is expensive, with thousands of pounds in annual overheads, which must be recouped through the labour charge.

 

[StephenStephen]

It sounds like you really want to find a gas engineer who is skilled and trustworthy enough to do a good job installing your new boiler, and who is cheap (or at least not overly expensive).

I personally don't think there's a better way to complete this task other than to trawl again through all your local contacts - friends, colleagues, neighbours etc asking for their experiences - ideally of people they've had doing work for them over a period of time. You might want to particularly consider asking other tradespeople you know (electricians, builders etc) if there's anyone they'd use or avoid.

It's also worth bearing in mind that it's not just engineer competence that will effect you - there are a lot of other things like: do they answer the phone, or get back to you? Do they answer your questions? Can you get on with them? Will you have someone who knows the system coming back to fix any problems and service the system?

 

[Mottie]

Quite a lot can go wrong. That's what we have gas regs and an Unsafe Situations Procedure for. Yes, you could get it launched at the wall by a man on a horse, and put a CO detector in to protect yourself, but wouldn't you rather the job was done properly?

I think that’s what the OP was saying - if he got a gas safe registered engineer to do the install, how would you know it’s been done properly? You could pay top dollar and get a crap job and you could accept the lowest quote and get an absolutely fantastic job. You just don’t know.

Are there’s different levels of gas safe qualifications that would indicate an engineers ability?

The unsafe situations procedure seems to be a handy guide rather than a compulsory requirement for a gas safe registered person.

 

[rideforever]

I personally don't think there's a better way to complete this task other than to trawl again through all your local contacts - friends, colleagues, neighbours etc asking for their experiences - ideally of people they've had doing work for them over a period of time. You might want to particularly consider asking other tradespeople you know (electricians, builders etc) if there's anyone they'd use or avoid.

In fact I did that on the weekend.
I got a recommendation and an engineer said he would come out on Saturday; I checked his website and he charges £100/hr before 17:00 and £125/hr after (Sat rates). Anyway I called him early and he delayed and delayed, at 17:01 he calls me up says he's ready to come and he wants to email me the contract, so what's my email. I said ... never mind.
And that's a recommendation ... in fact 3 different people recommended that guy.

Another recommendation was for an independent local guy, who came out, diagnosed a leaking expansion vessel charged me £20 and will repair it this week for a reasonable rate. Old school kind of guy. (still think I need a new boiler soonish though)

So ... recommendations ... you know, people want different things. One of my neighbours, a nurse who was retired, had her whole flat ruined by a very expensive and top rated contractor and had to sell after a year ... lost a lot of her pension on it.
Anyway, I have to make a decision so ... I will, but the thing is with an assembled unit going into the same space with the same plumbing, there seems to be a limited scope.

Like I said, the Checkatrade type sites are just a joke these days. Everything is concealed.
I also had the experience once of getting a recommendation and I was sent a teenager to do the job. Same price.
Well ... ~&%$ !

 

[CBW]

You could pay top dollar and get a crap job and you could accept the lowest quote and get an absolutely fantastic job. You just don’t know.

That same logic applies to a whole host of trades: construction, motor, landscaping.