Is this really an economical way to install a combi?

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British Gas installed a Worcester Greenstar 24i/28i junior combi boiler in my kitchen in April. When I run the water it heats up quickly but takes a long time to come out hot in the sink. I found out that this was because they attached it to the existing pipework, so the heated water goes from the boiler to an upstairs bedroom, along the upstairs floor, then comes down pipes on the other side of the kitchen, under the kitchen floor and then out of the kitchen tap. The boiler is right next to the sink yet I have to fill a whole washing up bowl with water before it begins to be hot. The same problem occurs when I run a bath even though the boiler is mounted on the dividing wall between the kitchen and the bathroom.

I called out the site engineer who explained that this was standard practice with old terraced houses like mine. He explained that it would be possible to connect the boiler directly to the sink and the bathroom but this would be an extra day's work which I would have to pay for.

The way they have done this doesn't seem very ecological or economical to me. Is it true that this is "normal practice"? Does anyone think that I should try and get British Gas to put it right? It cost me nearly £5K to get this work done in the first place....
 
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Well there's your first mistake, you payed british gas 5k! yes 5 thousand pounds!!! to fit a combi boiler..... didn't you think that sounded expensive :confused:

A local independant installer would have by the sounds of it done a better job for a third of the price!
 
Yes it was certainly a mistake. I mistakenly thought that British Gas would be reliable, trustworthy and economical.
 
they are reliable, and trustworthy and will be here next year and for years to come. That said they are extortionate on install prices.....and to be honest most installers would have just connected to the existing hot water run........if you had shopped around i bet you could have shaved 2k off your price at least
 
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Yes it was certainly a mistake. I mistakenly thought that British Gas would be reliable, trustworthy and economical.
rofl5.gif


one born every minute :cry:
 
Yes it was certainly a mistake. I mistakenly thought that British Gas would be reliable, trustworthy and economical.

Would you jump in the sea if the boat was surrounded by sharks.

The only thing BG are good at is ripping old people of Big time.

Sharks and con men.
 
....It cost me nearly £5K to get this work done in the first place....
Holy djeesus, you have been more than just a bit ripped off.
I do a 37CDI complete with topnotch wireless programmable roomstat and trv's for about half that. And that is at London prices.

It is common practice for ****ish gas to do the job as quickly as possible, and that means the quickest, easiest way to connect the pipe; they don't care if it takes ten minutes and 200 litres to get your tap hot. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
 
Thanks for the lively and colourful responses. I realise now that apparently, I was ripped off. Big time. Next time I'll get a "cowboy" to do it. :oops:
 
Done is done, and can't be undone.
What you can do, is get the most out of it.
Make sure that your warrantee is registered and validated for at least 2 years.
Make sure that you call them out the very moment there is something that could be a warrantee issue.
Shop around for your gas and electricity bills, and get the cheapest deal you can possibly get; there is no difference in quality in this respect.
 
Unless you frequent these forums you may not be so wise about our friends in blue vans. Yes, they have their uses, but as said they'll take the quickest route for ease of installation. They made an appalling job of my parents installation, but for my sanity and my dad's health we agreed I'd stay well away from getting involved there....

May be worth finding a reputable local independant contractor, and get a quote to divert the hot water pipe to bypass the excess pipework between the boiler and sink. The disused will pipework will also need decommisioning to prevent bacteria build up. Whilst this may involve an initial outlay, I would think this would be recouped by lowering gas consumption, as you will not be leaving a pipefull of hot water to cool each time you shut the tap(s) off.
 
One of the best and most expensive ways to pipe hot water is to run in a star from a combi boiler to each hot water outlet.

In your particular case the situation is probably one of the worst possible.

I would still take the view that you have a justifiable complaint that they did not explain the situation to you at the quote stage. You could have then decided what to do ( which would have included giving the job to someone else ).

Paying a premium price you will have expected that thye would have done the best job possible and NOT the cheapest. I would recommend a written complaint !

Tony
 
Thanks for the lively and colourful responses. I realise now that apparently, I was ripped off. Big time. Next time I'll get a "cowboy" to do it. :oops:

alot of people on this forum are good private rgi's but dont like bg so ya likely to get alot of people slagging um off!
as for being "ripped off" bg gave ya a price what they were willing to do it for and you accepted. i think its ya own fault for being to idle to get a couple of quotes to get a idea of competitive prices. it is common knowledge ya will generally pay more for a install if ya use bg
 
...as for being "ripped off" bg gave ya a price what they were willing to do it for and you accepted...
Isn't charging a lot of money for a pi55poor job the definition of a rip off?
It is not just the high price, it is sticking a small junior in, rather than a full size CDI, and not spending an extra hour to reduce the pipe to the kitchen tap from 20 metres to 3.

If I would go there tomorrow, would I really measure less than 1mbar drop? Would I find a really nice and clean system? All properly balanced with a flow and return differential of 20K? Would I find a user who had been properly explained how all the controls work?

I wouldn't call it slagging off, I call it: exposing
 
The way they have done this doesn't seem very ecological or economical to me. Is it true that this is "normal practice"? Does anyone think that I should try and get British Gas to put it right? It cost me nearly £5K to get this work done in the first place....

'Wow' is all I can say. A friend of mine moved to an 80's built bungalow and was quoted £3500 by BG for a similar boiler hooked onto a microbore system which tbh was completely naff. I fitted all radiators, fitted all new copper pipe(not one pushfit fitting anywhere), new balanced hot/cold feed to kitchen and bathroom and its with a 24kW Atag combi. To say he was chuffed was an understatement and I was impressed at the flowrate from the shower with that power of boiler. I would have usually fitted a 35kw but that was another £300 and would have cost a fair bit more in an new gas supply. Hot water appears at the bathroom 12 metres away in 7 seconds wasting around a cup of water.

BTW, if you want the pipework upgrading add me as a friend and send a private message and I'd be happy to advise.
 
...as for being "ripped off" bg gave ya a price what they were willing to do it for and you accepted...
Isn't charging a lot of money for a pi55poor job the definition of a rip off?
It is not just the high price, it is sticking a small junior in, rather than a full size cdi, and not spending an extra hour to reduce the pipe to the kitchen tap from 20 metres to 3.

If I would go there tomorrow, would I really measure less than 1mbar drop? Would I find a really nice and clean system? All properly balanced with a flow and return differential of 20k? Would I find a user who had been properly explained how all the controls work?

I wouldn't call it slagging off, I call it: exposing

so its a pi55 poor job because the fitter has tee'd into the original hw circ's? the majority i see are installed like that and before ya ask no they are not bg installs :LOL:

if ya went there tomorrow, i've no idea what you would find neither do you so ya shouldn't speculate.

and i still call it slagging off :LOL: do you not agree its common knowledge bg cost more on installs? and iam willing to bet the op accepted the 1st price he was given!
 

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