Not DIY but advice needed.
 

My Mum wants to do away with her immersion and loft tank (surveyor says loft
tank in need of replacement, also convenience of instant hot water etc.).
She has had a quote from a guy who used to be the plumber at her factory
before it shut down and they all got made redundant. He has set up on his
own and is CORGI registered, I asked her to make sure and look at his card!
She doesn't need a combi as she has gas wall heaters and doesn't want
radiators so it is just for hot water, also removal of loft tank and copper
cylinder etc, (the boiler is going in this cupboard). He has quoted her
"about £800, might be a bit cheaper". I appreciate you cannot see the pipe
runs but the gas supply is on that side of the house, almost below where the
bolier is going and presumably it is a case of connecting to the hot water
pipework to that already in the cupboard, and a new rising main feed to the
boiler. She is reluctant to get another quote because "George is alright,
I've known him for years!" Is this a reasonable quote based on the
information I have given?

If this helps with the boiler spec. it is a 3 bed semi with one bath, one
sink and the kitchen sink . Bathroom is above kitchen and the 'immersion
cupboard' is next to the bathroom so pipe runs are only quite short from the
boiler

Cheers

John

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:57:19 +0000 (UTC), "John"
wrote:

My Mum wants to do away with her immersion and loft tank (surveyor says loft
tank in need of replacement, also convenience of instant hot water etc.).
She has had a quote from a guy who used to be the plumber at her factory
before it shut down and they all got made redundant. He has set up on his
own and is CORGI registered, I asked her to make sure and look at his card!
She doesn't need a combi as she has gas wall heaters and doesn't want
radiators so it is just for hot water, also removal of loft tank and copper
cylinder etc, (the boiler is going in this cupboard). He has quoted her
"about £800, might be a bit cheaper". I appreciate you cannot see the pipe
runs but the gas supply is on that side of the house, almost below where the
bolier is going and presumably it is a case of connecting to the hot water
pipework to that already in the cupboard, and a new rising main feed to the
boiler. She is reluctant to get another quote because "George is alright,
I've known him for years!" Is this a reasonable quote based on the
information I have given?

If this helps with the boiler spec. it is a 3 bed semi with one bath, one
sink and the kitchen sink . Bathroom is above kitchen and the 'immersion
cupboard' is next to the bathroom so pipe runs are only quite short from the
boiler

Cheers

John

As a punter, "about £800, might be a bit cheaper", sounds very good,
and a combi is a fair solution to the problem. It will be a fairly
basic boiler though, unless he is making very little on it.

Perhaps he feels he is a friend and as he is just starting, wants good
recommendations from satisfied customers.

Is it near Bristol?

In article ,
EricP wrote:
As a punter, "about £800, might be a bit cheaper", sounds very good,
and a combi is a fair solution to the problem. It will be a fairly
basic boiler though, unless he is making very little on it.

Not a combi as it's only for heating. A multi-point, I'd guess.

--
*Even a blind pig stumbles across an acorn now and again *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:57:19 +0000 (UTC), "John"
wrote:

My Mum wants to do away with her immersion and loft tank (surveyor says loft
tank in need of replacement, also convenience of instant hot water etc.).
She has had a quote from a guy who used to be the plumber at her factory
before it shut down and they all got made redundant. He has set up on his
own and is CORGI registered, I asked her to make sure and look at his card!
She doesn't need a combi as she has gas wall heaters and doesn't want
radiators so it is just for hot water, also removal of loft tank and copper
cylinder etc, (the boiler is going in this cupboard). He has quoted her
"about £800, might be a bit cheaper". I appreciate you cannot see the pipe
runs but the gas supply is on that side of the house, almost below where the
bolier is going and presumably it is a case of connecting to the hot water
pipework to that already in the cupboard, and a new rising main feed to the
boiler. She is reluctant to get another quote because "George is alright,
I've known him for years!" Is this a reasonable quote based on the
information I have given?

If this helps with the boiler spec. it is a 3 bed semi with one bath, one
sink and the kitchen sink . Bathroom is above kitchen and the 'immersion
cupboard' is next to the bathroom so pipe runs are only quite short from the
boiler

Cheers

John


This isn't a bad price at all. An instant water heater costs about
£350 with all the bits, so £450 for what will probably be 3 days work
is not unreasonable. There's a fair amount of fiddling to do.

Do check the mains water flow rate before committing to this, though.
Use a bucket or other container of known volume and see how long it
takes to fill at the kitchen tap. To get reasonable results you
need to have around 20 litres/minute.

She also should be aware that in the winter, the hot water rate will
be less than the summer and less than she has now.
If she is OK waiting longer for baths etc. than at present and having
the extra space is more important, then that is OK.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
EricP wrote:
As a punter, "about £800, might be a bit cheaper", sounds very good,
and a combi is a fair solution to the problem. It will be a fairly
basic boiler though, unless he is making very little on it.

Not a combi as it's only for heating. A multi-point, I'd guess.

--
*Even a blind pig stumbles across an acorn now and again *

Dave Plowman London

A combi does us very well for hot water in the summer months when the heating
is off - why is a combi "only for heating"

Nick

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
EricP wrote:
As a punter, "about £800, might be a bit cheaper", sounds very good,
and a combi is a fair solution to the problem. It will be a fairly
basic boiler though, unless he is making very little on it.

Not a combi as it's only for heating. A multi-point, I'd guess.

--
*Even a blind pig stumbles across an acorn now and again *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

=============
I assume that you mean, "..............only for heating *water*....." in
which case I would agree that a multipoint seems to be the simple answer.
As a multipoint costs about £350 and there seems to be very little new
pipework involved in this case I think she should at least get another quote
for the job. Labour rates vary considerably from one area to another and
£800-00 seems to be a little high for a provincial plumber.

Cic.

In article ,
nick smith wrote:
Not a combi as it's only for heating. A multi-point, I'd guess.


A combi does us very well for hot water in the summer months when the
heating is off - why is a combi "only for heating"

Brain fart - left out water. It's only needed to heat water - not central
heating.

--
*When did my wild oats turn to prunes and all bran?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

wrote:

My Mum wants to do away with her immersion and loft tank (surveyor
says loft tank in need of replacement, also convenience of instant
hot water etc.). She has had a quote from a guy who used to be the
plumber at her factory before it shut down and they all got made
redundant. He has set up on his own and is CORGI registered, I
asked her to make sure and look at his card! She doesn't need a
combi as she has gas wall heaters and doesn't want radiators so it
is just for hot water, also removal of loft tank and copper cylinder
etc, (the boiler is going in this cupboard). He has quoted her
"about £800, might be a bit cheaper". I appreciate you cannot see
the pipe runs but the gas supply is on that side of the house,
almost below where the bolier is going and presumably it is a case
of connecting to the hot water pipework to that already in the
cupboard, and a new rising main feed to the boiler. She is
reluctant to get another quote because "George is alright, I've
known him for years!" Is this a reasonable quote based on the
information I have given?

If this helps with the boiler spec. it is a 3 bed semi with one
bath, one sink and the kitchen sink . Bathroom is above kitchen and
the 'immersion cupboard' is next to the bathroom so pipe runs are
only quite short from the boiler

Cheers

John


Many thanks for the replies, especially the ones that read my posting before
replying ;-). She had another quote tonight from a plumber (over the phone)
who has worked for her friend, similar job. He gave her a 'ball park,
finger in the air' price of between £900 and £1000, another fella is coming
to look on Friday, she lives in Leeds. In answer to Andy's statement about
pressure, she has loads of it, turn the cold tap on too quickly at the
kitchen sink and it looks like you didn't get to the toilet quick enough!

Thanks again

John

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:57:19 +0000 (UTC), "John"
wrote:

My Mum wants to do away with her immersion and loft tank (surveyor says
loft
tank in need of replacement, also convenience of instant hot water etc.).
She has had a quote from a guy who used to be the plumber at her factory
before it shut down and they all got made redundant. He has set up on
his
own and is CORGI registered, I asked her to make sure and look at his
card!
She doesn't need a combi as she has gas wall heaters and doesn't want
radiators so it is just for hot water, also removal of loft tank and
copper
cylinder etc, (the boiler is going in this cupboard). He has quoted her
"about £800, might be a bit cheaper". I appreciate you cannot see the
pipe
runs but the gas supply is on that side of the house, almost below where
the
bolier is going and presumably it is a case of connecting to the hot
water
pipework to that already in the cupboard, and a new rising main feed to
the
boiler. She is reluctant to get another quote because "George is
alright,
I've known him for years!" Is this a reasonable quote based on the
information I have given?

If this helps with the boiler spec. it is a 3 bed semi with one bath, one
sink and the kitchen sink . Bathroom is above kitchen and the 'immersion
cupboard' is next to the bathroom so pipe runs are only quite short from
the
boiler

Cheers

John


This isn't a bad price at all. An instant water heater costs about
£350 with all the bits, so £450 for what will probably be 3 days work
is not unreasonable. There's a fair amount of fiddling to do.

Do check the mains water flow rate before committing to this, though.
Use a bucket or other container of known volume and see how long it
takes to fill at the kitchen tap. To get reasonable results you
need to have around 20 litres/minute.

She also should be aware that in the winter, the hot water rate will
be less than the summer and less than she has now.
If she is OK waiting longer for baths etc. than at present and having
the extra space is more important, then that is OK.

He says combi and it may just be that. For e.g, just under £400 gets you a
combi from B&Q that gives 11 litres/min, some dealers do good deals to the
trade. A common multi-point does not give that flow rate. It is easy to
fit a combi and only use the DHW side. Also the combi is available if they
ever want rads or heat a cylinder, or just a towel rail. I would fit a
combi.

He says combi and it may just be that. (snip) I would fit a
combi.

Wow. For the second time in two days, I'm in agreement! (Provided she is
aware of the significance of the limited flow rate).

Multipoints tend to be fairly low quality old inefficient designs. Many
don't even modulate, making the water temperature fluctuate even at low
flows. The combi will usually provide a better and more stable system and
probably with a higher flow rate, too. However, the installation will be
slightly more complex and might involve slightly more external pipework.
This is probably outweighed by the fact that you could install central
heating later for little additional cost (just a few radiators, TRVs, room
stat and some pipes). Even if she is anti-radiator herself, the fact that
real central heating could be added cheaply would add to the value of her
home if she decided to sell.

Christian.