Good price?

[mani]

I personnaly stay away from the big companies, as if anything goes wrong then, the engineer who fitted it has nothing to lose, no reputation as it's not his but the companies and yes he still gets paid at the end of the week.
Where as the sole trader has to think of his reputation as not only will he be cheaper the the the big boys but he also knows that if he does a botched up job, not only will he lose this customer in future but also the word of mouth customer's that this customer would have bought for him in future if the job was correct in the first place.

 

[Gixxerman]

I have no doubt they will beat £3000.00, i know i would.........good luck.
If you get stuck, pm me as i am 40 miles away

Out of curiosity, why are you not considering a combi boiler?

So where are you then?
I have a guy coming on Saturday morning. I have known him many years and he reckons he can do it in the next couple of weeks, and to quote him "I could do with the work". He also reckons he can do it for quite a bit less, and as he is acredited with Worseter Bosch, I get a six year guarantee.
He has even agreed to try it with the 15mm gas feed. Most others I have talked to dismiss the out-of-hand. Only BG said they were prepared to try it. I am an engineer myself (work on gas turbines) and I have read the specs on the 12Ri and it does say that 15mm is ok provided that the consumer unit is not too far away and there are not too many bends in the pipe en route. My consumer unit is about 3m away as the crow flies.

Here is the bit from the spec:-
Provided that the correct gas supply working pressure and gas rate can be achieved (see technical data table page 4 commissioning section, page 30, also refer to BS 6891) Then it may be possible to reduce the gas supply pipe diameter to 15mm. Generally speaking, the appliance would need to be within 3 to 4 metres of the gas meter. However, this will depend on the distribution pipe size and route.

He also says that just because it has BG on the voucher, I can still get another engineer to fit it and the voucher will still be valid. Is that true?

As an asside, I have been told that have to have my meter changed (obviously FOC). Is it a good idea to get this done before, during or after the install?

I am just very dissapointed with BG. I have been a customer of theirs for many years (HomeCare and dual fuel supplier) and they give me a poor quote and one that anyone could get whether a loyal customer or not. What price loyalty eh? If I get a six year guarantee with it, I might just cancel the HomeCare agreement and simply pay for an annual service.
Afterall the only call outs BG have had from me in the last few years is to fix problems with my aging boiler. With a new one fitted, the chances of anything going wrong with it a slim + if it does it will be covered by the guarantee.

I didn't go for a combi as I like my baths, and didn't really want the hassle of all the repiping required to fit it. Although I did toy with the idea as the airing cupboard is next the the bathroom, and ditching the airing cupboard would make the quite small bathroom a bit bigger. I even thought that I might be able to use the space freed to fit a proper shower. I might run it passed the guy when he comes. Am I correct in thinking that there will be a lot of repiping required to replace a conventional boiler with a combi?

Hopefully he will be able to save me some money and give him some much needed work to boot and everybody will be happy. Thanks for the advice on here guys. I will repeat, I did not come on here to wind up sole traders in saying that they are not as good as BG. It is just that it is (or a least seemed) that the BG is the easiest and safest option. As people on here have said, maybe BG aren't what they use to be. About 10 years ago they changed my hot water tank (covered by HomeCare) and they made very good job of it.

 

[peteisfishing]

The issue with the gas supply pipe is, like you say, distance from the meter also what other appliances you have in the house. IE if you have a gas cooker and the pressure at the boiler is only just at the 20mb pressure, as soon as you turn on the cooker the pressure may drop. But the guy coming on saturday will advise you of this. It might be perfectly ok with 15mm.
If you put a combi in the same place as the HW tank the extra pipe work may not be too much as long as the return from the rads is close by and as it is close to the bath room there should be no problem with the condensate pipe. If there is, this can be overcome with a condensate pump. The flue can go through either an outside wall or the roof.
If you enjoy your baths you can get boilers with a very good flow rate. I have a 28KW combi and have no probs with either baths or showers. It is very difficult to give you an idea of price without looking at your house but
Good luck and i hope it goes well.

PS recently installed a combi, taking out old boiler and tank, remote room stat and flue through roof, for £2350.

 

[Gixxerman]

After due consideration I have decided to cancel the BG install. Having taken advice on here plus discussed it with friends / work colleagues it is obvious that it is a very high quote. It actaully started at £3600 but they 'match' the scrappage the govenment give you so it reduced to £3200. Which sounded it bit high, but I didn't realise how high until I posted on here / discussed it with friends / work colleagues. I did ring up cancellations to complain about the high price, and the best they could do was knock £200 off, making it £3000. Judging by comments on here I am confident that a sole trader can comfortably beat that and do I good job.
Thanks for the help guys. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[REDSAW]

no problem gixxerman, glad we could help.
look forward to recieving the £200 fee.lol.

 

[Gixxerman]

I found out yesterday that I can get Worcester Bosch boilers through work at discounted prices (I work for Siemens who own Bosch).
I can get a 12Ri for £510.93 inc VAT with free delivery to my place of work.
Is that a good price?

If I source the boiler will that bother the installer at all, and will I still get my 6 year guarantee?

 

[WHPES]

You will still get your guarantee provided it's an overall guaranteee rather than specific to a merchants but you need to speak to the installer first before you go off and get it to maker sure its the right one etc.

 

[REDSAW]

is that seimans nottingham?.
get a quote for installation, tell them you will supply boiler w/b. ask installer which model to suit. add a to b. the boiler gntee will have to be discussed with installer and company specifics with seimans.

 

[Gixxerman]

is that seimans nottingham?.

Nope. Siemens in Lincoln.
The 12Ri is ideal for my needs. I have discussed this with BG in the past.
What are peoples experience / opinions of Worcester Bosch?
I have had Bosch power tools in the past (through Siemens) and they are very good quality.
So my installer won't mind me sourcing the boiler myself then?
Thinking about it, he shouldn't care as it doesn't affect the profit for the job as he has to buy the boiler anyhow. His profit will be from the labour.

 

[WHPES]

Problems usually arise where the customer has sourced a boiler either second hand or without checking with the installer first.

I won't fit second hand boilers at all unless they are in really good nick and recent models, and I give no guarantee for any work done on them.

 

[moony]

oh he will profit from the boiler lol....

i would have no problem, not sure where you stand on guarentee, 6 yrs ? thought it was 5 with a wb accredited installer?

wb are good enough boilers, it was all we fitted till remeha become available...

 

[Gixxerman]

oh he will profit from the boiler lol....

Ah, by that you mean they would make a bit of profit for the boiler then.

i would have no problem, not sure where you stand on guarentee, 6 yrs ? thought it was 5 with a wb accredited installer?

It is 5 years, but he said he would offer an additional year.

wb are good enough boilers, it was all we fitted till remeha become available...

Yeah, I have heard good things about Remeha from work colleague.

Just had the installer turn up.
He has quoted £2350 including powerflush and magnaclean. That is with him supplying the boiler.
I get 5 year guarantee from Worcester Bosch plus an extra year for the boiler scrappage.
He can also do it in the next 2 weeks so I get my voucher.
So £1950 to me.
That is a lot better.