Combi Boiler fitting costs

[GeoffNT]

I'm moving from a system boiler to a combi in a property we have just bought. It's a 2 bed bungalow with 1 bathroom and a total of 6 rads. The existing boiler is in the kitchen but I am going to put the combi in the airing cupboard. This seems to be the perfect location as there is an outside wall, hot and cold water pipes, and the heating flow and return run from the kitchen across the loft and down through the airing cupboard and under the floor to the rads. There is a suitable electrical spur circuit and I already have a wireless programmable stat. I have removed the old hot tank, pump, diverter valve , tidied up the flow and return pipework and fitted a filling loop. All rads bar one have TRVs and I have flushed, pressurised and tested the pipework. The gas pipe runs in 28mm pipe directly above the airing cupboard so all the installer has to do is divert the gas pipe down into the airing cupboards and "plug and play" the boiler.

Despite this, I am getting quotes of around £600 more that the specified boiler costs. This seems extortionate to me for what will almost certainly be less than a days work for one guy. Is this a typical price for a days work from a Corgi engineer or am I being ripped off? The property is in Devon, if anyone can recommend a more reasonable installer, or if there are any installers in the area who would like a nice easy install.

Also I am getting the usual conflicting recommendations on boiler makes. One recommends Ideal and says Worcester are overpriced another says Ideal are rubbish and "Vaillant are the only one I would fit". Any boiler recommendations gratefully received.

 

[Bahco]

Read this post in FAQS for recommendations.

As for fitting costs You probably won't arouse much interest for less than £700 plus materials.

 

[gas4you]

Certainly would never fit an Ideal boiler ever again

 

[Deleted member 105431]

£5/600 seems about right and definately go withe the Vaillant Ecotec (they do 824/831/837) make sure it's flushed and preferably a magnaclean fitted too.

 

[Agile]

We charge £840 but that does include whatever water treatment is required. If we are confident the owner had properly cleaned and will not expect us to take responsibility then we would probably charge about £640.

Northampton is a very cheap area for heating work and the local installers drive to London to fit boilers. I suppose they could drive in the opposite direction just as easily.

Of course West Midlands is a large area and Bahco ( above ) is also in your area.

Tony

 

[GeoffNT]

OK, thanks for the replies. I guess I'm in the wrong business if £600/£700 a day is a typical charge for labour ! At least I don't need to waste more time trying to get a cheaper quote.

Also thanks for the link to the FAQ about boiler recs.

 

[Deleted member 105431]

Thats not pure profit-there are lots of overheads and costs. (van, insurance, fuel, tools, corgi membership, tax, consumables/sundries etc etc)

 

[Agile]

Its only you who think that you can do it in just one day!

You also have to cover all the time taken in coming to give you quotes for all the different people you have called and will call before you choose someone. That alone could easily come to eight hours!

You have also forgotten that the installer will probably have to spend considerable time sorting out the associated problems of operating a pressurised system.

Have you already converted all cold taps to mains and brought the mains supply to the boiler position?

Tony

 

[GeoffNT]

Its only you who think that you can do it in just one day!

You also have to cover all the time taken in coming to give you quotes for all the different people you have called and will call before you choose someone. That alone could easily come to eight hours!

You have also forgotten that the installer will probably have to spend considerable time sorting out the associated problems of operating a pressurised system.

Have you already converted all cold taps to mains and brought the mains supply to the boiler position?

Tony

Yes all the old tank fed pipework has been converted to mains, and there is mains supply with a combi filling loop directly under the new boiler position. Apart from a direct replacement, it is about the easiest install anyone will ever get. Around 2 metres of gas pipe re-routing and less than 1 metre for Flow, Return, and Hot water. Also it's right by a waste pipe for the condensate outlet.

If it can't be done in a day I'll eat my wife's handbag (and that is not something I would take on lightly!)

 

[wiggikins]

Provided there are no "flueing issues" with proposed position

 

[GeoffNT]

Provided there are no "flueing issues" with proposed position

None of the installers that have quoted have mentioned any "flueing issues". It's a standard cavity outside wall. There is a soffit overhang of around 300/400 mm but nothing unusual.

 

[ChrisR]

Ask British Gas for a quote. What you do get from them is everything itemised
Flushing can take a day on its own.

WIthout that:
Drain system
Make electrics safe
Remove old boiler
Brick up old flue hole and make good inside and out
Cut back pipes so there are no dead ends

...thats what, 2-3 hours? New boiler's still in the box.

Question - how much do you think a guy would make a year if he only did boiler changes, at £600 gross profit a go?

 

[manortim]

do you go to a tyre supplier and say "how much if i undo the wheel nuts myself"?

do you go to your car dealer for a service and say "hey, if i change the oil, check tyre pressue, swap the plugs, will you stamp the service record for a fiver"??

sooner they ban the sale of gas related goods to members of public the better. the sooner we adopt a US style attituide towards plumbing/heating the better AKA its a professionals job, we pay professionals for their skills! and no 1 can purchase related goods without I.D card.


it costs me a fortune to run my company, £600inc materials to install a new boiler is a good price! basically, decent combi @ £750 + £600 = £1350 + vat = £1586.25p. not expensive at all! EVEN with the tanks and pipes sorted.

rant over!

 

[simond]

This seems extortionate to me for what will almost certainly be

'Extortion' is a word to use if someone extracts money from you using some kind of lever or aggression.

If you go out and get a couple of quotes and you don't like the answers, it is not extortion. Many posters here earn their living in this business and could find your choice of terms offensive.

I guess your views could be down to 'meanness' on your part, or more charitably a lack of understanding of the direct and indirect costs of fitting boilers.

As a general rule, if one quote is cheaper than all the others there will be a reason. You might notice the installer dragging his knuckles up your garden path. Don't think all CORGI registereds are the same; most of the exam is multiple choice........ and their practical skills are not really tested.

By all means shop around the internet for the cheapest seller of a widget, but when it comes to people working in your house, you will notice a huge variety of work standards, all of which look the same when written down. Buyer beware.

 

[GeoffNT]

Ask British Gas for a quote. What you do get from them is everything itemised
Flushing can take a day on its own.

WIthout that:
Drain system
Make electrics safe
Remove old boiler
Brick up old flue hole and make good inside and out
Cut back pipes so there are no dead ends

...thats what, 2-3 hours? New boiler's still in the box.

Question - how much do you think a guy would make a year if he only did boiler changes, at £600 gross profit a go?

None of the quotes have included removing the old boiler or making good the old flue hole, I will do that when the gas has been re-routed. Ditto electrics. Pipework, other than gas , has already been cut back to remove dead-ends, as I have said. It is genuinely "plug and play".

At £600 gross profit for this job he could do 5 a week and make £144k for a 48 week year. I could scrape by on that.