Central Heating Replacement in a 4 bed house

[manorpurl]

Dear all,
I am in a total dilemma here, wish one of you guys can be of help.

I have a 4 bedroom house and was quoted roughly about 8000 quid by a local plumber to do the following:
1. Replace existing convention system to the new system boiler.
Valliant pro eco tec 37, 220CL tank, replacing of aroud 15 odd radiators of different sizes, all pipework, valves, removal of tanks from loft, etc. He says the materials cost a lot of money. Fair enough, i am not sure how much labour he has added.

Now, it is a lot of money for me. so i am thinking:
1. Change radiators separately - The quote for this from some other plumber came at around 2300 (includes labour and materials)

So, do you think around 5700 pounds is enough to justify replacing of boiler/tank? Ok, the cost of materials might be around 2000 quid. But 3000 for labour is a bit over the top.

What do you think? I really cannot afford 8000 in one shot. May be someone can suggest some good alternatives.

Thank you,

 

[oldplumber]

Get 2 other quotes from other independants and then ask british gas in for a quote to assess who is really expensive, you may well be shocked and surprised by BG and other indipendant quotes.

 

[ian macca]

british gas may be the same price or a little higher,but if you cant afford it all in one go then bg would let you pay monthly

 

[P4ULT]

i dont know where yor at but i done a similar job to this in the summer for £7000 but this was a little more work. the quote dont sound to bad to me. the problem with having different people for differnet jobs is no on knows where the other left off. woul be best to have it all done in one go.

 

[manorpurl]

On other note, how much do plumbers roughly charge per day? I was under the impression that 300 quid for day is a good price.

 

[stevetheplumber]

pimlico plumbers charge 560 a day in central london so work back from that depending on your location

 

[manorpurl]

woh!! Wish i was a plumber now. They should be mega rich.

 

[doitmyself]

I have a 4 bedroom house and was quoted roughly about 8000 quid by a local plumber to do the following:
1. Replace existing convention system to the new system boiler.
Valliant pro eco tec 37, 220CL tank, replacing of aroud 15 odd radiators of different sizes, all pipework, valves, removal of tanks from loft, etc.

Do you mean the ecoTEC plus 637 System boiler? If so that is a very large boiler, even for a four bed house - unless it's a massive Victorian pile with 9ft high rooms, solid walls, no insulation, sash windows with half inch gaps and a large cellar.

As you are effectively starting again it's worthwhile doing the job properly.

The first thing to do is use either Sedbuk Boiler Calculator or [DLMURL="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/business/Business/Building-Professionals/Helpful-Tools/Whole-house-boiler-sizing-wizard"]EST online boiler calculator[/DLMURL] to calculate what size boiler you need. This may be smaller than the existing as boiler sizing in the past was basically guesswork and installers tended to oversize. (That's how the "Gas Board" could sell heating systems which gave "guaranteed temperatures".) The other factor is that the property may have changed - insulation, double glazing etc.

The second thing to do is make sure the rads are the correct size. Obviously, if the existing rads are adequate, that's a good start. However condensing boilers run at different temperatures to non-condensing which means that the rads give off about 15% less heat when a condensing boiler is installed.

One way of finding out the output of your existing rads is to use a catalogue such as the Stelrad Elite Catalogue. Provided your existing rads are flat steel, with or without fins, this will give you a good idea of your existing rad output.

1. Find out the boiler size required
2. Find out the output of existing rads.
3. If the total of existing rads is same as boiler size, each new rad needs to give off a nominal 20% more heat; i.e if the existing rad is 1000W, you need to install a 1200W rad.

If the existing rads output total is already 20% or more greater than the boiler size, then just buy the same output rads.

May be someone can suggest some good alternatives.

Work out as above what you need. Then get three recommended installers to quote for the work.

 

[cjonesguitar]

i had a two bedflat done and was getting quotes for just over 3300. 6 rads, combi boiler.

 

[migoplumber]

no matter what the rad sizes required are, always best to oversize. currently i'm oversizing to 50% ! this isnt that much more expensive, plus you have the advantage of showing your client or yourself that its future proof.
if boiler flow rates continue to fall or solar/heat pumps want to be added in future youre well covered. in the meantime just control room temps with the trv's

 

[cjonesguitar]

if i was getting quotes at 3300 to fit 6 rads and combi in a two bed flat including connection two bathroom. i had the work done 4 months after quote. when he was round i told him not to worry about connecting to the bathroom as i decided to get a new one. i did enoy me slightly as he didnt reduse price a little due to this.

 

[smoggs03]

get a BG quote i'm sure they'll be close to that, also the flexi payment option is ok if you pay it off early or akin to britains 2nd world war debt if it goes full distance