Letter: How much should a new boiler cost?
Wednesday 6th October 2010, 9:57AM BST.
Letter: We deal with British Gas, have done for many, many years, including insurance regarding our central heating, etc.
Every 12 months they send out an engineer to clean and check out the system is working okay, but for the past two years this engineer keeps saying “Your central heating system, which is over 20 years old, but still working okay, could go wrong”.
The wall boiler is what they mention the most. They say it might go in the middle of winter and it could take weeks to get a new boiler fitted, which I might agree with.
We are both OAPs, so the gas board has given us, for a short period of time, a £200 cheque towards a new boiler, together with a government grant which could be taken away by this present government.
But the asking price by British Gas for having a new boiler fitted (may I add, they say it would be better taken off our kitchen wall and moved to the airing cupboard upstairs), after the mentioned deductions would be about £2,500.
I have seen B&Q advertising wall boilers for about £275. Would anyone know a company or companies who carry out this sort of work at much lower prices than British Gas?
Mervyn Brothwood
Telford
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Shropshire Gas
St Mary’s Buildings
12 High Street
Market Drayton
Shropshire
TF9 1QB
Telephone: 01630 656161
I know at least 3 different people who have used this company and were very happy with the price and service. Well worth asking for a quote?
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Ive used Shropshire Gas and they did a great job and a reasonable price. BG wanted to charge £3500 when I questioned them it was a basically take it or leave it answer.
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Can recommend them also, they didn’t insatll our system, but they do service it
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I can highly recommend Shropshire Gas. They removed my boiler from my kitchen making good the vent, put a new boiler in my airing cupboard with a new flue, replaced my radiators and did a fantastic job at a great price. So much so, I have them back every year to do the gas safety check.
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You could also try Beaufort Gas – 70 Grinshill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3BJ. Tel: 01743 441140. They are really reliable and friendly.
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I usually use a website site called http://www.mybuilder.co.uk when looking to have work done. You post your details on line, and builders who are looking for work will approach you. You can often see examples of their work and view feedback.
I had a quote from British Gas for £3500 for a new boiler and the associated work.
I’m having my new boiler fitted on 18th October by a reputable local heating engineer for around £2000. (This particular builder wasn’t from that site, but came highly recommended)
Shop around!!
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Any boiler manufacturer’s web site should be able to give a list of installers they have trained on their product in both installation and servicing and you may get an extended warranty if you have your boiler fitted by someone trained by the boiler manufacturer, usually up to 5 years although some companies will offer longer.
Your engineer is right though, coming into the heating season which has started early this year if your boiler breaks down you will face delays getting it fixed/replaced so best to address it now
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Try anyone, but check references first!
They also run a tradeseman referral service, but you do have to be subscribed to use it, which seems a bit odd for a consumer champion but there you go…
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I once had B.G over to quote on replacing my combi boiler – they quoted £4000 for supplying and fitting a 28kw Vaillant boiler. A local plumber quoted £1500 to supply and fit a 28kw Alpha which is what we ended up going for and the boiler has been fine. I remember when I told B.G that I thought their price was high, they responded by saying ‘would you say yes if we knocked £1000 off the price right now?’. That tells you all you need to know about their business practices.
Search on http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk for a Gas Safe registered plumber – I’m confident they’ll provide what you need for a better price.
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Get the yellow pages out and flick through the pages you will find many of the well established private firms can beat British gas on price I know of two in Shrewsbury you have to thrash out a good bargain . People need to realise with anything you need and MUST shop around and ensure you do all the checks before engaging a contractor etc , .British gas are dear when it comes to purchasing items such as boilers etc etc .
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I have recently had a new boiler fitted by Taylors Mchanical 01743 466988 who charged a third of the British Gas best deal for a comparible unit. They also carried out a lot of remedial pipe work at minimal cost. They turned up bang on time, left virtually no mess other than that to be expected from pipe movements etc.
They followed up all work with courtesy calls and when I called with a simple query they sent someone round to demonstrate it to me at no cost.
A local business employing local people giving high quality and good value. What more can anyone ask ?
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British Gas … no thanks! Their quote for our new boiler was astronomical. We used “Ginger Plumber and Heating” Keith Bown, 17 Ercall View, Overdale, Telford TF3 5AP. 0781 363 4089 or 0800 335 7057 who was outstandingly good.
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grant mitchell plumbers telford are good
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MANT SHREWSBURY.
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Don’ be fooled I have been with britsh gas for years when my boiler broke down I had to pay for a new one, they say the insurance doesn’t cover boilers?
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You must always use a ‘Gas Safe’ registered engineer, get quotations from three if possible and compare them. Gas Safe’s website http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk allows you to find local registered engineers quickly and easily
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British Gas? No way. They wanted over £4000 to fit a new boiler. I went with a local independent engineer who fitted a new “A” efficiency rated Vaillant boiler, sludge filter and radiator thermostats for £2000. The savings in my gas bills since have to be seen to be believed too.
Please don’t be taken in by anything British Gas tells you.
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this is an interesting point – i know Daniel Kazynski MP, was investing this because it should only be about 1,250 for the boiler plus £500-£1000 labour costs for installation – so a max for a new A rated boiler of £2,500 absolute tops,
if you get a local plumber to do it, it could cost as little as £1,500 for the whole lot
if you get it through the government funded Warmfront scheme though it costs around £3,500 to do
Doesnt this show the folly of government contracts
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most of these replys are just adverts for local plumbers but free
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No their not adverts,
It’s previous customers personal experiences with a reliable company that have done a good job.
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And the problem with that is jeff ????????
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“most of these replys are just adverts for local plumbers but free”
Jeff – not only can’t you spell (it’s “replIEs”), but you can’t count either. At the time I made this comment there were 16 others on this thread, of which 6 mentioned a local heating company – 6 out of 16 is most???
Has it occurred to you that those 6 are not “adverts for local plumbers but free” but rather comments made by satisfied customers of local companies who are sick to death of the rip-off tactics of British Gas?
You’re not a British Gas shareholder by any chance?
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Hence the need to check references
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And? Word of mouth is the best advertising
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We would not have British Gas over the threshold. End of story.
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bg are a total rip off
you would have to be a mug to use them, the best option is yellow pages type local one man band plumbers
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we always get ripped off by british gas as they say we qualifed and dont get a cowboy in or the job might be waste time scare mongers just to rip us off for 3 to 4000 pounds
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addisons and lans from wellington are good clean plumbers with excellent rates
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I’d argue that most are recommendations Jeff, not adverts. I have my personal favourite, but because he’s always so busy I’m not advertising him as if mine breaks he wont have time to fix it.
Maybe the Shropshire Star could have a ‘recommended tradesmen’ on part of the site, granted it may need some serious moderation but would be a nice idea.
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Hi – There’s lots of talk about the cheapest job that you can get but remember that you get what you pay for !!!! Not that I would recomend BG – I’m not sure that they aren’t paid on some sort of commission system ??? Some boilers are more expensive but then they come with a warranty for up to five years. It is also worth asking exactly what your heating engineer will do – you might get a really cheap quote but if they don’t power-flush the system, rip up floor boards that can’t be re-laid, don’t remove waste from site and generally make a real mess you’re got a real exoensive mountain to climb to ‘make good’ long after they’ve gone.
I would also ask how long your engineer has been Gas Safe / Corgi registered – there are loads of new heating engineers out there that are newly qualified with a change in career following redundancy during the recession.
I may be biased but I would recommend A&N Plumbing – Andy on 07966 278 390 – I know my husband is long experienced, ethical, clean and tidy and only fits quality boilers !!
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Just about to have a new combi boiler fitted down here in the south of the county – the total will be £2,500. The removal of the old boiler and the installation of the new one is being undertaken by a local firm of plumbers/heating engineers which has carried out work for us in our home to our satisfaction in the recent past.
Whilst I fully agree with those who have posted regarding the rip-off prices of British Gas (the same company which repeatedly “over-estimates” one’s usage of gas when setting the amount of one’s Direct Debit) you do get what you pay for. As with budget airlines, whilst price is obviously something to be taken into account, going for the cheapest option may not always be the best thing to do.
While we are on the subject of gas boilers, seven years ago when we bought this newly built property it had had a gas-fired “wood burner” installed in the sitting room. We used it no more than half a dozen times, but apart from being astronomically expensive to run, it always smelt, so we gave up using it, had it removed completely and a proper wood burning stove and appropriate full length flue installed.
When the gas fired stove was taken out, it transpired that it and its flue (with numerous bends and elbows) had been installed quite illegally by the builders themselves – and, even more worryingly, then signed off by a CORGI registered local gas engineer who is still trading and operating in the south of the county to this day.
Attempts to have this flagrant breach of gas regulations properly investigated proved futile. South Shropshire District Council’s Building Control was worse than useless (an advert if ever there was one for scrapping a local authority) didn’t want to know (“we just issue building certificates, we don’t inspect this kind of thing …”) nor did CORGI which is supposed to ensure that this kind of thing does not happen but which, in my opinion, is no more than a front for the trade.
I suppose if any of us had been hospitalised or died from carbon monoxide poisoning someone might then have taken notice. A bit late then!
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I do not think anyone has said any Firms on here are cheap as chips just a little more competitive than British gas.
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the comments seem to have gone off track. the question being was the price quoted fair?
I have just had a replacement alpha combi boiler fitted for all in price of £2k – This included flushing the pipes(done more than once)/ magnetic device to filter rubbish – new pipeworks from meter and boiler – work took over 3 days with all rubbish removed – This price was probably slightly high but I was happy to pay for the service I received
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depends how good one you want doesnt it!!? how long is a peice of string!!
i would say for a small 2 bed house 1.5k, for a 3/4 bed family home 2k, and 2.5-3 for big houses, the main point though is that this pays for itself in the long term because new boilers are so much more fuel efficient that it will save you hundreds of pounds each year on gas / oil
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A new boiler might be costly but an “Old Boiler” can cost you month in month out from the time you marry her until death do you part…
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We used it no more than half a dozen times, but apart from being astronomically expensive to run, it always smelt, so we gave up using it, had it removed completely and a proper wood burning stove and appropriate full length flue installed.
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Contact Shropshire Council Trading Standards Department,they have a list of company’s that have been recommended.
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It would be far easier and better if they gave you a list of people who had a large number of complaints against them instead.How can or why do they the TS promote companies??? is that their role??
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ANDREW. The Shropshire T/S have a list of all types of tradesmen that have been recommended to them by the general public, cant get better than that. I do agree with you that they should also have a list of the rip off merchants but alas this is not allowed.
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