New boiler needed? Any opinions please?

The UK goverment do a boiler grants.

www.boilergrants.info/

I’d get a second opinion.

I thought about boiler grants but thought you had to be on benefits or something to qualify. I’ll look into it. I’m tempted to get a second opinion but is it not just throwing more money at it?

Pantglas2

I’d get a second opinion.

Hear, hear

I'd get a second opinion too. 40 years does seem exceptional to me though. I think like everything else, they are not made to last as long these days.
We have an Ideal brand boiler and it's very good.

Apparently newer boilers are more efficient and marginally cheaper to run.

My present boiler was fitted around 2009 but it has problems so I was thinking of changing mine but it would be like for like because of where it is situated.

October is the month I have in mind and £2K appears to be the going rate. That will hopefully "see me out!"

Definitely get second opinion. My Worcester Bosch is ten years old and is perfect, never missed a beat. Our engineer only fits these and he gets very few problems.

No, not eligible for a grant.

My boiler was old and kept breaking down, and I was told by several different engineers that parts were hard to obtain. There is never a good time to be without heating and hot water, and I was fed up.

My new boiler has been brilliant. It's not actually what you would call "new" now, but much more efficient than the old one, much cheaper to run, and I have never regretted getting it.

One word of warning - get 3 quotes, as I had 3 including one from British Gas - all of them recommending the same boiler, but the BG quote was double the prices of the others.

It's true that modern boilers aren't as robust as older ones as there's built-in obsolescence to contend with.

The modern types lose pressure on a regular basis as it 'goes with the territory' which can be a damn nuisance for the householder. Do your homework. Mine was a right old fiddle but the plumber changed a part (for a price) so all I have to do is pull down a lever which is a game changer.

I never had so much trouble with the older ones.

Thanks Wibby that info has been so helpful for me. I've been without heating for months, can't afford new boiler and didn't know that there are grants 'out there'. I do qualify, such a relief. Wouldn't of known if I hadn't read this thread.

Same here Sparklefiz with the quote for same boiler from British Gas and what we paid the bloke down the road was a difference of about £1.400. (Neighbour is qualified etc and works for himself)

have you tried to raise the pressure yourself, it is very easy and all boiler owners should know how to do it. All boilers lose pressure over time

Underneath the boiler are various taps, find the correct tap, it should be pretty prominent and give it a tweak, you will hear the water flow immediately. If you don`t hear it then it is not that tap and just move it back to where it was. Keep an eye on the pressure dial, without ch on the pressure will be around 1.3, the water expands when the ch is on and will reach about 1.5

Sounds like a bit of `selling boilers stuff`. My boiler man explained that the most call outs are for low pressure and that some use that to make loads of money. He showed me what to do and I am in anew build and have increased pressure slightly 3 times

boheminan

Thanks Wibby that info has been so helpful for me. I've been without heating for months, can't afford new boiler and didn't know that there are grants 'out there'. I do qualify, such a relief. Wouldn't of known if I hadn't read this thread.

Your welcome Boheminan, pleased to hear you qualify.

We had a new boiler fitted day after lockdown, it’s an Ideal. Just over 2k.

Our old boiler was 15 years old, needed a new part, just as plumbers outlets were shut down. Also needed a new flue, obsolete, so meant having one purpose built.

So we bit the bullet and got the new one, with a 10 year parts and labour guarantee, and should be more efficient hopefully.

We used our regular plumber, who we trust and is reliable. Didn’t get any other quotes, were just relieved to get sorted as no idea then what lockdown involved or how long it would last.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Thanks to all. Yes, it’s been losing pressure for the last year or so, husband kept sorting it. If we change the make, we’d have to have the vent thing changed which would be horrendously pricey. Our old house’s boiler was completely inefficient but it needed extensive renovations to the kitchen/conservatory so we were moving anyway, thank goodness.

I’m surprised that 10 years is the optimum age for a WB though, I thought we had another ten years at least! But my awkward bugger of a husband kept insisting we didn’t need an annual service. The engineer has offered a part but that will cost £300 plus the danger of doing more damage messing about with it. We’d probably be better biting the bullet and getting it renewed but I sincerely hope ten years wouldn’t “see us out”! Now, the blinking television seems to have ‘gone’ as well so it’s going to be an expensive month!

My mum has her boiler fir over 50 years, with an annual service gas contract. For the last 15 years she was told the boiler needed replacing. They then refused to continue the contract.
The old boiler actually carried on fir years until she moved into a care home. As far as i know the new owners haven't changed it. My boiler is over 30 years old, we haven't had it serviced fir about 20 years, and is still going strong thank goodness.
I understand from a plumber friend that the new ones have built in obsolescence so best to hang into the old style if possible. Sorry, it Doesn't help in your case I know.

No, our old one was ancient, huge, highly inefficient but just kept chugging. It was probably only giving us a third of the energy we were paying for but we just ignored it. British Gas told us to get rid of it many times but we thought they were just on the sell.

This built in obsolescence is infuriating! 10 years old shouldn’t be done for! My husband is going to get it both barrels when he comes back from golf, leaving me with this worry!

Craftyone that is all very well but if your boiler is in your loft as mine is it isn’t much fun having to climb up there every few months to turn on the water inlet valve until the right pressure is reached, and the older I get the harder it will be.

Luckylegs I had a new boiler 6 years ago but it has never stopped the problem with the water pressure. It usually occurs very soon after servicing and then every couple of months. I’ve had it checked and they say it isn’t the boiler so I must have a slight leak in the system but nobody knows where. All the radiators are ok and no visible sign of leaks. Keep climbing in the loft I guess.

I did read somewhere that the new combustion boilers only have a life of about 10 - 15 years years.

Years ago we had one of those floor mounted boilers and it was over 25 years old but we had to replace it because we couldn't get parts anymore.

We had a Worcester Bosch fitted two years ago with a 10 yr part and labour warranty so covered for that amount of time so well pleased.

I would echo the advice re British Gas. We were about to go with them for a new boiler when a plumber we had fir the shower asked to look at the quote and said he could do exactly the same thing for half the price. He also offered a yearly service at half the price.

the loft is a terrible place to have a boiler, remember all the old tanks in lofts and water leaks? as well as difficult access

Servicing every year is absolute key, as important as getting the car professionally serviced. The thorough service last summer was £70 and that included the radiator liquid. I have booked him to come every year during summer. I prefer summer to pre-empt the winter rush

I agree about an annual service. Our warranty is invalid if you don’t have proof of this.

I agree the loft is not the most accessible place for a boiler, but it does free up other space elsewhere.

Our old boiler was very heavy, it took two people to lift it in there when it was installed! DH took it apart when we replaced it, to make it lighter to carry down. The new boiler is so much lighter.