Can anyone please help? My dad is in his late seventies and has Parkinson's disease, so doesn't want a load of disruption in his life. However, he lives alone in a large seven bedroom house in North Yorkshire, and has a rather complicated central heating and hot water system, that unfortunately has recently gone wrong. He fitted most of the system himself, as regulations weren't as strict in those days, so he understands how it should operate.
In brief, he's got a 40 year old 80kW boiler in the cellar, a 30 year old 40kW boiler in the first floor bathroom, and a manifold with several manual valves in the cellar, by which he can direct the flow from each boiler. Until recently he's been using the cellar boiler to heat the downstairs, and the bathroom boiler to heat the first and second floors. However, the cellar boiler has stopped working, so he's using the bathroom one to heat the whole of the house, which is not going to be powerful enough next winter (he's been told he needs 140kW total).
He's called out "The Gas Board", who condemned the cellar boiler, and told him that the whole system needs to be replaced with a single condenser boiler, and new pipes throughout the house to replace the various existing pipe materials, at a cost of £6-7,000. This doesn't include replacing floorboards or carpets.
My Dad's view is that the cellar boiler just needs a clean, and that he doesn't know where a condenser boiler could go except in his kitchen, and he doesn't want it there. Also if he's going to pay someone to do the job he wants everything put back properly afterwards. He also thinks they've only said they have to redo the whole system as they don't understand how the current set-up works.
Questions are:
1) If he's correct that the cellar boiler just needs a clean, can this now be done after it has been condemned by British Gas? I'm sure there may be implications if he tries to make an insurance claim if it blew up afterwards.
2) If the cellar boiler has to be replaced, can a new boiler be plumbed into the existing manifold set-up with the bathroom boiler, or would this invalidate any warranty on the new boiler?
3) If he has to replace both boilers with one condenser boiler, does this need to be mounted on an outside wall?
4) Is it reasonable for him to expect whoever does the work to replace all floorboards and carpets afterwards, and if not, are they expected to employ a separate contractor to do this?
5) What would be a reasonable price for him to expect to pay to fit a new 140kW condenser boiler and connect it up to his existing radiators and hot water system?
Any help, advice or comments would be appreciated,
Jim
In brief, he's got a 40 year old 80kW boiler in the cellar, a 30 year old 40kW boiler in the first floor bathroom, and a manifold with several manual valves in the cellar, by which he can direct the flow from each boiler. Until recently he's been using the cellar boiler to heat the downstairs, and the bathroom boiler to heat the first and second floors. However, the cellar boiler has stopped working, so he's using the bathroom one to heat the whole of the house, which is not going to be powerful enough next winter (he's been told he needs 140kW total).
He's called out "The Gas Board", who condemned the cellar boiler, and told him that the whole system needs to be replaced with a single condenser boiler, and new pipes throughout the house to replace the various existing pipe materials, at a cost of £6-7,000. This doesn't include replacing floorboards or carpets.
My Dad's view is that the cellar boiler just needs a clean, and that he doesn't know where a condenser boiler could go except in his kitchen, and he doesn't want it there. Also if he's going to pay someone to do the job he wants everything put back properly afterwards. He also thinks they've only said they have to redo the whole system as they don't understand how the current set-up works.
Questions are:
1) If he's correct that the cellar boiler just needs a clean, can this now be done after it has been condemned by British Gas? I'm sure there may be implications if he tries to make an insurance claim if it blew up afterwards.
2) If the cellar boiler has to be replaced, can a new boiler be plumbed into the existing manifold set-up with the bathroom boiler, or would this invalidate any warranty on the new boiler?
3) If he has to replace both boilers with one condenser boiler, does this need to be mounted on an outside wall?
4) Is it reasonable for him to expect whoever does the work to replace all floorboards and carpets afterwards, and if not, are they expected to employ a separate contractor to do this?
5) What would be a reasonable price for him to expect to pay to fit a new 140kW condenser boiler and connect it up to his existing radiators and hot water system?
Any help, advice or comments would be appreciated,
Jim
