My all singing, all dancing new Viessmann Vitodens boiler cost £1700 through Plumbase 12 months ago and the local independent gas safe installer charged £1100 to fit it. He would have charged more if he’d know how much of a job it was going to be but we agreed a fixed price Andy
British Gas are shocking on all fronts Nelson.Their installers are poor, the price levels are very high and the servicing is unreliable.I used them for many years before I saw the light.
The Which boiler reviews always place Vailant and Worcester-Bosch at the top of the list both for reliability and parts availability.
We replaced our old combi Vaillant with a combi Worcester Bosch - much happier, more efficient, more radiators and a warmer house for lower bills. British Gas used to service the old Vaillant and always moaned about parts being unavailable, but always managed to eventually supply them! We went to an independent who supplied and fitted etc for 1/3 of BG's quote and they now service and maintain the new W/B boiler.
I had new Worcester fitted approx 6 years ago, all good so far (touch wood). Install was a little more pricey, as I had to have a whole new flue upward through the utility room roof. Apparently it can't exit into a neighbors property, the way the original builder had it....
BG changed their workforces conditions after they’d got rid of the middle managers, if they were any good and not too old to change jobs they’ve gone. They are a hollowed out version of what they once were in my experience. Some of their engineers aren’t too great at problem solving, we have a not too complicated cooker that some of them won’t touch. 4 years ago I had to drive to the manufacturer to get the part to fix the cooker as we’d waited a Month for it still not to be fixed as the ‘engineer’ hadn’t updated the info. Mrs had to kick off at them to get it moving.
Check with the Gas safety registration who's in a 10 / 20 radius from your postcode and go from there, but i take your point as i did one myself back in 2019 on a joint project with a family member, signed off by a engineer once i completed the works.....i received quotes from as high as £7.5k for supply & installation.........idiots.! It's a lottery i'm afraid with trade people these days.
I worked in the gas industry for 40 years until 3 years ago(yes, British Gas) They used to be a fantastic company, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t recommend them now either, especially after the way they treated their own engineers with “ fire and re-hire” most of the good engineers left at this time. I would only recommend Worcester or Vaillant as they have the best backup when things go wrong in my experience. My advice is get several quotes and get them to quote for a specific model and then you compare like with like. Boxt seem to have a decent reputation and I think are owned by Worcester. Also have a look and see if you can get a grant, I was lucky this year and had a new replacement Worcester combi fitted along with cavity wall insulation for very little money.
Agree with recommendations of Worcester or Vaillant. Might be worth contacting the manufacturers to see if they have a list of approved installers as a starting point.
Interesting thread. Anyone gone for the heat pump? Seems a crippling outlay with a dollop of uncertainty stirred in….
If you go on Vaillants website there is a page where you can search for their approved installers in your area. I have a Vaillant Combi that is now 25years old, I have never had an Engineer out to it, however it’s got to be inefficient compared with the latest technology so will be looking to replace it very soon. Obviously I will be considering a Vaillant again
On heat pumps, my understanding is that you get a power multiplier of about 3. ie for every kW you use you get 3 kW back. However at the moment electricity is three times the price of gas, so I'd rather stay with basic proven gas technology than get involved with heat pumps.
If you go heat pump, you will need to increase size of radiators as the system runs at lower temps. Typically 45-40, sometimes 50-45 instead of the 82-71 for the older gas systems and the 60-40 for condensing. Heat pumps are perfect for UFH. So you need to factor in some radiator costs too. The power thing is called the Seasonal Co-efficient of Performance (sCoP) or COP. Typically >3.5 is available. Its too early, in my view, for domestic heat pumps unless your home was built with them in mind from the start, or is a relatively new build or you UFH the whole house.
