I thought about changing the boiler (or at least doing some of the
work) myself but there are plenty of other major jobs to do around the
house and I think it might be easier to pay someone to take on the
hassle of this one (also don't want to be without hot water for ages).

The fitter we got the quote from comes recommended by the neighbours.
We're in Leeds. It's a 3-bed semi with one bathroom. I mentioned
Remeha Broag to him as they seemed to be the favoured name a while ago
but he said he'd never heard of them, didn't like foreign stuff
because you couldn't get the parts and always fitted Worcester.

This is the quote:

- Remove old gas water heater
- Remove old cast-iron boiler
- Fit Worcester Bosch 28 condensing Combi in same place as old water
heater
- Bring heating pipes through to new boiler
- Fit room stat
- Upgrade gas as required
- Remove header tank
- Flush with acid
- Fill with inhibitor

£1939 inc VAT



The old cast-iron boiler is in the understairs cupboard (accessed form
outside). The gas meter/supply is also in there. The old gas water
heater is on the opposite side of the wall in the kitchen (so about 1m
away).

The house had been empty for a year when we bought it although the
heating had been coming on every day all that time: some of the
radiators are pretty sludged up I think, and some of the valves are
stiff (I mentioned this to him prior to the quote).

After we got the quote, I spoke to him briefly about which boiler he
was quoting for and he said it was 28kW but I was doped up on
antibiotics at the time and hardly able to speak and didn't really
feel I was getting the full gen. The neighbours are away at the mo' so
I can't quiz them about theirs.

Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me to
be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Is it likely to be some old stock he's getting cheap? I assume
plumbers have their favourite boilers that they get quantity discounts
on - is that usually true?

I'm loathe to use anyone who doesn't come recommended but, before I
start looking for other quotes, is this price/spec in the ballpark?

Thanks for any advice.

mike wrote:

I thought about changing the boiler (or at least doing some of the
work) myself but there are plenty of other major jobs to do around the
house and I think it might be easier to pay someone.....
- Remove old gas water heater
- Remove old cast-iron boiler
- Fit Worcester Bosch 28 condensing Combi in same place as old water
heater
- Bring heating pipes through to new boiler
- Fit room stat
- Upgrade gas as required
- Remove header tank
- Flush with acid
- Fill with inhibitor

You really want thermostatic valves fitting to the rads if you are
keeping the old rads.

£1939 inc VAT

Sounds very reasonable to me.


The old cast-iron boiler is in the understairs cupboard (accessed form
outside). The gas meter/supply is also in there. The old gas water
heater is on the opposite side of the wall in the kitchen (so about 1m
away).

The house had been empty for a year when we bought it although the
heating had been coming on every day all that time: some of the
radiators are pretty sludged up I think, and some of the valves are
stiff (I mentioned this to him prior to the quote).

If they are sludged up, then you dont really want them flushed out - it
never gets out all of the crap, so pay the few hundred extra to get new
rads.
After we got the quote, I spoke to him briefly about which boiler he
was quoting for and he said it was 28kW ..

3 bed semi here, and 28kw is fine. It replaced a 24kw a few years ago,
and I havent really noticed any difference.

Is it likely to be some old stock he's getting cheap? I assume
plumbers have their favourite boilers that they get quantity discounts
on - is that usually true?

The boiler is around £700, and if he is legit, then he will only be
fitting an A rated boiler. (there are still a few B rated boilers around
going cheap). I CBA to check the Worcester site, but I'm pretty sure all
of their boilers are A rated.

Alan.

--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

In message , A.Lee
writes
mike wrote:

I thought about changing the boiler (or at least doing some of the
work) myself but there are plenty of other major jobs to do around the
house and I think it might be easier to pay someone.....
- Remove old gas water heater
- Remove old cast-iron boiler
- Fit Worcester Bosch 28 condensing Combi in same place as old water
heater
- Bring heating pipes through to new boiler
- Fit room stat
- Upgrade gas as required
- Remove header tank
- Flush with acid
- Fill with inhibitor

You really want thermostatic valves fitting to the rads if you are
keeping the old rads.

£1939 inc VAT

Sounds very reasonable to me.

£2000 would be the ballpark figure I would expect, maybe a little less
this time of year - so not a ripoff price, if the job is done properly


The old cast-iron boiler is in the understairs cupboard (accessed form
outside). The gas meter/supply is also in there. The old gas water
heater is on the opposite side of the wall in the kitchen (so about 1m
away).

The house had been empty for a year when we bought it although the
heating had been coming on every day all that time: some of the
radiators are pretty sludged up I think, and some of the valves are
stiff (I mentioned this to him prior to the quote).

If they are sludged up, then you dont really want them flushed out - it
never gets out all of the crap, so pay the few hundred extra to get new
rads.
After we got the quote, I spoke to him briefly about which boiler he
was quoting for and he said it was 28kW ..

3 bed semi here, and 28kw is fine. It replaced a 24kw a few years ago,
and I havent really noticed any difference.

Is it likely to be some old stock he's getting cheap? I assume
plumbers have their favourite boilers that they get quantity discounts
on - is that usually true?

The boiler is around £700, and if he is legit, then he will only be
fitting an A rated boiler. (there are still a few B rated boilers around
going cheap). I CBA to check the Worcester site, but I'm pretty sure all
of their boilers are A rated.

Although they have been the manufacturer of choice for some time, WB
seem to be losing their good reputation of late. Certainly, I seem to be
getting a lot of WB pcbs and fans in for repair now

Ask the fitter how much more a Vaillant would cost. That seems to be
what fitters around here are installing.




--
geoff

geoff wrote:
In message , A.Lee
writes
mike wrote:

Although they have been the manufacturer of choice for some time, WB
seem to be losing their good reputation of late. Certainly, I seem to
be getting a lot of WB pcbs and fans in for repair now

Ask the fitter how much more a Vaillant would cost. That seems to be
what fitters around here are installing.


The fitters up in Yorkshire are now often fitting Baxi. Is that good or bad
for you Geoff (I made sure that they have your number)


--
Adam

In message Pvy7o.131236$tB1.31169@hurricane, ARWadsworth
writes
geoff wrote:
In message , A.Lee
writes
mike wrote:

Although they have been the manufacturer of choice for some time, WB
seem to be losing their good reputation of late. Certainly, I seem to
be getting a lot of WB pcbs and fans in for repair now

Ask the fitter how much more a Vaillant would cost. That seems to be
what fitters around here are installing.


The fitters up in Yorkshire are now often fitting Baxi. Is that good or bad
for you Geoff (I made sure that they have your number)

What, the 105HE etc?

Yeah - that should bring some business my way, cheers

--
geoff

On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 14:29:10 +0100, geoff wrote:

Although they have been the manufacturer of choice for some time, WB
seem to be losing their good reputation of late. Certainly, I seem to be
getting a lot of WB pcbs and fans in for repair now

Are you seeing PCBs from the Greenstar range or the old standard
efficiency machine? (I guess the fans must be SE - the condensing rigs seem
to have electronically modulated fans which I don't suppose you're tooled
up for.)



--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

If we'd known how much fun grandchildren are
we'd have had them first

In message , YAPH
writes
On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 14:29:10 +0100, geoff wrote:

Although they have been the manufacturer of choice for some time, WB
seem to be losing their good reputation of late. Certainly, I seem to be
getting a lot of WB pcbs and fans in for repair now

Are you seeing PCBs from the Greenstar range or the old standard
efficiency machine?

Increasing numbers of greenstar - yes

Significant numbers of the older fans and pcbs, enough to make me change
my recommendations regarding what to install now.


(I guess the fans must be SE - the condensing rigs seem
to have electronically modulated fans which I don't suppose you're tooled
up for.)

HE fans are a bit of a problem.

They have a pcb on the fan which also has to be tested, which crosses
disciplines


--
geoff

"geoff" wrote in message
news
In message , YAPH
writes
On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 14:29:10 +0100, geoff wrote:

Although they have been the manufacturer of choice for some time, WB
seem to be losing their good reputation of late. Certainly, I seem to be
getting a lot of WB pcbs and fans in for repair now

Are you seeing PCBs from the Greenstar range or the old standard
efficiency machine?

Increasing numbers of greenstar - yes

Significant numbers of the older fans and pcbs, enough to make me change
my recommendations regarding what to install now.


(I guess the fans must be SE - the condensing rigs seem
to have electronically modulated fans which I don't suppose you're tooled
up for.)

HE fans are a bit of a problem.

They have a pcb on the fan which also has to be tested, which crosses
disciplines


--
geoff



Off topic - do you have a use for a Run On PCB from a Worcester Heatslave
HiFlow (c 1988)
john dot plant ninety@ ntlworld.com

mike wrote:

Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me to
be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Apart from the 28i junior.

The clue is in the name.

--
Adam

In message day7o.131230$tB1.63307@hurricane, ARWadsworth
writes
mike wrote:

Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me to
be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Apart from the 28i junior.

Is the 28CDi not also up there


--
geoff

geoff wrote:
In message day7o.131230$tB1.63307@hurricane, ARWadsworth
writes
mike wrote:

Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me
to be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Apart from the 28i junior.

Is the 28CDi not also up there

Discontinued June 2007.
--
Adam

On Aug 8, 2:20*pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
mike wrote:
Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me to
be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). *None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Apart from the 28i junior.

The clue is in the name.

According to the Worcester Bosch website, the Greenstar 28i has a
central heating output of 24kW.

Doesn't that mean it's got an output of 24kW? Or is the other 4kW
accounted for somewhere else?

In message
,
mike writes
On Aug 8, 2:20*pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
mike wrote:
Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me to
be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). *None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Apart from the 28i junior.

The clue is in the name.

According to the Worcester Bosch website, the Greenstar 28i has a
central heating output of 24kW.

Doesn't that mean it's got an output of 24kW? Or is the other 4kW
accounted for somewhere else?

What is the spec on DHW?

Hot water's the ballbreaker


--
geoff

mike wrote:
On Aug 8, 2:20 pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
mike wrote:
Having looked at the specs on the Worcester website, the only boiler
with a 28 in the name is the Greenstar 28i junior which seems to me
to be about the absolute minimum that would be acceptable (and that
24kW). None of the boilers listed is 28kW.

Apart from the 28i junior.

The clue is in the name.

According to the Worcester Bosch website, the Greenstar 28i has a
central heating output of 24kW.

Doesn't that mean it's got an output of 24kW? Or is the other 4kW
accounted for somewhere else?

The numbers on the WB models refer to the Hot Water output.

So the 28i junior gives out 28kW for the HW and 24kW for the CH.
The 24i junior jives out 24kw for both the CH and the HW.
The 30Si gives 24kW for the CH but gives out 30kW for the HW.

Personally I do not think your quote is a bad one, but I suspect that the
boiler is a little on the small side. I know and have worked for (doing the
electrical side) lots of fitters in Yorkshire but I only recommend one of
them (and he usually fits WB unless the customer asks for a different
boiler)

--
Adam

On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:33:41 -0700, mike wrote:

This is the quote:

- Remove old gas water heater
- Remove old cast-iron boiler
- Fit Worcester Bosch 28 condensing Combi in same place as old water
heater
- Bring heating pipes through to new boiler
- Fit room stat
- Upgrade gas as required
- Remove header tank
- Flush with acid
- Fill with inhibitor

£1939 inc VAT
....
I'm loathe to use anyone who doesn't come recommended but, before I
start looking for other quotes, is this price/spec in the ballpark?

Very reasonable for down here, doesn't sound like a ripoff for your area.

Combi boiler size is always a compromise: even 24kW is waaay more than
your house is likely to need if it's actually got glass in the windows and
a roof on it, but even the biggest combi is wimpy at supplying hot water
to multiple outlets, so when you're having a shower and someone turns the
kitchen hot tap on your shower flow will drop. Not a killer if you have a
thermostatic one, but not good for houses with more than one bath/shower
room. The solution to that is to get a storage combi or a system with a
separate store - conventional HW cylinder, unvented (mains pressure) or
thermal store/heat bank. But that all starts getting expensive and bulky
and is probably overkill for most small family houses.

Worcester Bosch is, IMHO, the best bet for mainstream quality boilers.

--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

How odd of God But not so odd as those who choose
To choose the Jews A Jewish god, yet spurn the Jews

Thanks for all the replies. Will ask about alternative boilers but
sounds like the quote's decent enough.