View Full Version : Any Plumbers near(ish) Stansted?
Having had to keep the combi going again recently I'm truely fecked off with it, we had some quotes 2 years back (from independants, not BG) to replace the boiler and they came in at £4K!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, I've been looking at "non corgi/gas safe" alternatives, given that even the shiniest of the new combi boilers are unreliable at best.
So I'm pondering getting a smallish (properly sized) solar panel, a twin coil unvented tank and one of those Amptec electric system boilers. This 'should' leave me free from needing rather expensive folks to come in and fix any problems (on the legal side of things) and also save us money over the current skip that is probably hemmoraging a shed load of gas as its not burning right imho.
I know electricity is 3-4x the price of gas per KW but I cant for the life of me believe that condensing combis exhaust gas is stone cold! meaning they simply cannot be 95% efficient as claimed (for example even the most efficient internal combustion engines are only 30% efficient MAX)
Thoughts? Any tips/info needed regarding unvented tanks (I understand that unveteds with a 'bubble' need someone qualified to install... costs? and how much of the install can I do before needing the qualified person in etc)
I hate heating lol.
Dont want to have the solar panel for all the hippy save the world ****, I want to save money on running the house lol
£4k just to replace the bolier?? You extracting the urine?
In one of my places i had a Worcester greeenstar 24 fitted with 6 new rads converted from back boiler system to combi system and ended up owing me less than £2k!
I admit my mates son is a corgi and fitted the boiler and signed it off for £250 but still.
The boiler was £800 all in so where they getting the £3.2k for a days work at best!
can't you get any form of planet saving grant on this...........?
i fitted my own about 10 years ago, & it cost me about £500 all in.... but i'm a dangerous b4stard
We have a silly long flue, but even so the parts to do the job would be no more than £2K for a combi, and they claimed 2 days work as it needed some flushing and TRV's fitting.... Still £1K a day labour fook off.
I've been reading up about installing a combi myself and its not hard, and not illegal, but at the same time they are just plain dog turd... I want REAL mains pressure hot water again, not this pretend mains pressure that a combi claims to do lol
Might be able to get a planet saving grant for the solar part of it, but not the rest :( the local authority have a £99 cavity wall insulation offer at the moment though... nice will take that up)
Surely you can make use of the exsisiting flue though and literally just alter the pipework for the new combi? Yeah anyone can fit the combi just need to be safe registered to connect the gas line/
im sure the solar grants run out april of this year, so errrr now lol.
My mum got a grant for solar panels and one of those twin coil tanks etc but she has wood burner as well so runs of that in the winter and the solar in the summer.
Apparently, according to the scumbags that make combis, the flues are 'all different' lol. Even when I went to the manufacturer of out current boiler and asked about using one of theor new condensings they said it needed a new flue. And no fecking gas safe person will comment... *******s lol
Getting a grant for the solar stuff isnt vital, but it would be nice (and there will be more grants on the way as the govt are gagging for us to go 'green')
but surely you could get a normal sized flue and then work your magic and fit it to the extended piece of the old one? Just pretend its a vx220 and you will be fine bodgtastic lol
the reason i fitted my own boiler was simple... i have bought it at a very good price from travis perkins, and no plumber in a 25mile radius was interested once they found out i'd bought it......
Wewll obviously they cant then charge you £500 for the pleasure of phoning the builders merchant.
indeedy. Any local gas safe chaps here want an easy couple of hundred quid lol
brainsnova
28-04-10, 12:54 PM
if you get a high output boiler the hot water will be better and the condensor flue has a plastic internal tube where the non condi is metal and would corrode lol. its easy to fit and just get a gas safe person to hook up the gas. Boilers to go for would be the vaillant ecotec and worcester bosch :thumb:
mine is a vaillant, but with some crappy travis perkins own brand name on it....it was really easy to fit...
Mike, does it need a fair bit of looking after?
Assuming a £1K boiler lasts 10 years thats £100 a year minimum on the hardware + anal servicing lol....(probably more as its going to be more than a grand for the hardware)
so spend about the same in hardware on a non combi/gas setup and spend that money on power instead (although a solar panel would drop the cost of hot water for atleast half the year)
TBH my worcester has been pretty decent been in 3 years now and no issues so far, £30 a year servicing FTW!
Have a Valliant in the flat and again thats pretty solid.
Southie
28-04-10, 01:35 PM
Could you not claim on the house insurance?
Could you not claim on the house insurance?
Usually only if it breaks then oozes water over everything!
the ecu blew on it & that cost £100, but i fitted that myself, so in terms of running costs, it is cheap. i live in a 30's semi with 9" solid walls & double glazing, and my costs are no more than a modern 3 bed semi to heat, but then we do keep it down to a manageable temp in the house...
Tried that a while ago, they wont replace a boiler. they will contribute £100 to a new one though lmao
i'll come round and fix your pipes...
we have solar here, works great. Free showers ftw :)
i'll come round and fix your pipes...
we have solar here, works great. Free showers ftw :)
more infos... not about you in the shower (well maybe later)
What kind of solar panels, what kind of tank, whats the 'backup' heat source etc etc etc yada yada yada
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