Boiler replacement advice for my 85 year old mum!

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The time has come to replace her old boiler, it's at least 45 years old (sorry don't know the make just now), and the system struggles to keep her 3 bedroomed detached house warm. I suspect a good clean out may do a lot of good, but she is determined to have it replaced with a condensing combi, do away with the airing cupboard and hot water tank, have the timer moved from the back of the airing cupboard down into the kitchen, have the new boiler fitted into the bathroom, (its in her bedroom now), and have a living room thermostat installed.

So fully modernised system. She wants to take advantage of the £400 scrappage, and has seen the BG advert where they will add a further £400 discount. It sounds good but are BG a good choice? I've seen they have their own brand of boilers, are they any good?http://www.britishgas.co.uk/product...e/boiler-range/british-gas-boilers/combi.html

BG seem to offer some good advice on their website, recommending a powerflush and Magnaclean etc.

Is this a good place to go, bearing in mind at her age she is very suspicious of being taken advantage of, will be stressed by the whole procedure and feels she can more than likely put her trust in a big company with a big name, rather than an unknown local plumbers. Her friend had the same thing done a couple of years ago, the price kept going up as he discovered the job was more complicated than he first thought, (I know, lets not go there), after it was fitted the installer just didn't want to know and only came back to fix some real problems after a younger male family member got involved. So she is expecting these same problems before its even started.

If BG are little more expensive, but more reliable, trustworthy, and use good quality boilers it will be worth that little extra for hers, and mine, peace of mind.
 
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BG don't have their own boilers as such, they just rebrand other peoples, the one you see on their website is a worcester, and they also rebadge the Glowworm Flexicom as a BG330+. They do this so you can't compare the price they quote you and the price its really worth.
The price BG will quote even with savings will still almost certainly be more than an independant by quite some margin and the work and products they use are by no means better.
 
Thank you. It's probably what I was expecting.

So is there any good way to get a trustworthy local independent installer who will do a 'proper' job. Are there any subscribers to this forum in the Nottingham area?

We don't know anyone who has recently had any heating work done who would recommend the plumber/heating engineer.
 
Theres a couple of people on this forum I think who are in that area, I'll try and grab their attention in the CC ;)
 
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BG will almost certainly be the most expensive but there are advantages i supose. you'll always have some kind of comeback with them where as many independants would wash their hands of a job soon as the rads get hot! Having said that there are plenty of reputable top quality installers out there, it's just a case of finding one. plus, if you get a powerflush from british gas they will guarantee it for life, so long as you stay on contract of course ha! i don't know anyone else that will guarantee their flushes for life. good luck!
 
BG will almost certainly be the most expensive but there are advantages i supose. you'll always have some kind of comeback with them where as many independants would wash their hands of a job soon as the rads get hot! Having said that there are plenty of reputable top quality installers out there, it's just a case of finding one. plus, if you get a powerflush from british gas they will guarantee it for life, so long as you stay on contract of course ha! i don't know anyone else that will guarantee their flushes for life. good luck!

It's really difficult to know how to get the right deal. I'm getting the message loud and clear to avoid BG, hopefully a local independent will be found.
 
How old are the radiators? If they are any where near as old as the boiler it would probably be a good idea to replace them as well.

Another thing to look out for when getting quotes is you will get quite a good idea of what an installer is like by the quality of components they install.

For example you want to be looking at boilers from companies like Vaillant rather than Ferroli, and for controls (TRV's, Room stats etc) from someone like Honeywell rather than Iflo.
 
How old are the radiators? If they are any where near as old as the boiler it would probably be a good idea to replace them as well.

Another thing to look out for when getting quotes is you will get quite a good idea of what an installer is like by the quality of components they install.

For example you want to be looking at boilers from companies like Vaillant rather than Ferroli, and for controls (TRV's, Room stats etc) from someone like Honeywell rather than Iflo.

The rads have been upgraded from the original singles, probably about 20 years ago, and on my suggestion had TRVs and a flush and inhibitor done about 7 years ago. So I'm thinking they should be OK after a good flush this time around, does that seem reasonable?

I've looked around here and see that Vaillant are highly recommended, I'm hoping that's what will get fitted.
 
Hi,I've just seen micky's post for Nottingham based installers.

If you need any advice or a quote please feel free to contact me,my details are in my profile,alternatively you will find me on vaillants website or the gsr website under LCGS,ng15 6da.

Lee
 
Hi,I've just seen micky's post for Nottingham based installers.

If you need any advice or a quote please feel free to contact me,my details are in my profile,alternatively you will find me on vaillants website or the gsr website under LCGS,ng15 6da.

Lee

Hi Lee, thank you. I'm going to send you an e-mail if that's OK.
 
hi i am also local ish,there is every chance british gas will use sub contract labour anyway we used to work for them and when we turned up in own van customers wernt allways best pleased.If the system is 40 years old the rads will need swapping anyway i would think.any independant on here could repipe a complete new system rads etc for the price bg will charge for just a boiler and flush.contact me if you need a quote cheers daz
 
hi i am also local ish,there is every chance british gas will use sub contract labour anyway we used to work for them and when we turned up in own van customers wernt allways best pleased.If the system is 40 years old the rads will need swapping anyway i would think.any independant on here could repipe a complete new system rads etc for the price bg will charge for just a boiler and flush.contact me if you need a quote cheers daz

Thanks dazza, I've sent you an e-mail if that's Ok with you to discuss more details.
 

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