Boiler Replacement Price Question?

[its_all_Greek]

This one is more for the Plumbers who frequent this forum as opposed to a "lets have a pop at the prices Tradesmen charge" thread.

I know this is difficult for you guys to gauge without actually looking at the job first hand but i am really just looking for guidance more than anything else..

Basically i have an old boiler that is feeding a Gravity system with all the Tanks located within the loft space and i would like this replaced with a Combi boiler the one i have been looking at is the Worcester 30 CDI but with future expansion in mind and depending on final price would like to go for the 37 CDI.

As the system itself is quite old i would like to install a Fernox TR1 filter and would need 7xTRVs on the downstairs Rads fitted to comply with Regs. Also to comply with Regs i will need to have the Gas pipe from my meter to the Boiler replaced, after discussion with a plumber and to minimise disruption to decor I have decided to have the gas pipe run externally.

Basically the quote i have been given today is for £4310.93 inc

Just doing a little sourcing on line and using the very little knowledge i have. I have thrown together this estimate

Prices for Boiler, Flue kit, fernox filter, and TRVs from Plumbtraders
Prices for copper fittings from Screwfix, copper fittings estimated

Worcester Boiler 30 cdi £844.80 x1 £844.80
Horizontal flue kit for above £67.44 x1 £67.44
Fernox TF1 £77.52 x1 £77.52
Danfoss RAS C2 £12.97 x7 £90.79
28mm Copper Tube Bundle £114.95 x2 £229.90
22mm Copper Tube Bundle £154.90 x1 £154.90
28mm & 22mm Fittings £75 x1 £75

Total inc VAT £1540.35

Miscellaneous 10% £150

Labour 2 x men for 3 days @ £250 per day per man £1500.00


Total Inc VAT £3190.35

I guess the question is am i being unreasonable with the price and time scale in my estimate for the labour?
Am i missing some big items in my estimate?
I have allowed 28mm tube for the gas run but that is for normal copper tube, Should I have been looking for a thicker walled copper tube as its run externally?

Generally why is their over a £1000 difference between my estimate and their quote?

Sorry for the long post but just thought i would ask the question on an AV forum before i went back to them. I have also contacted a national chain of plumbers a quote and will be asking at work tomorrow if anyone has a plumber they would recommend so i can get a quote from them.
Also if anyone here knows of or is a plumber in the Nottingham area then recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wack]

Is your boiler working OK

Mine is 22 years old and still works fine, think carefully before replacing it if it's OK, Combi's aren't very reliable, my sister has had 3 in the time mine has been going

I was quoted £3000 to replace my boiler with roughly the same spec and install so I'd say your guy is 25% out

After careful consideration I decided I didn't want a combi so I'll be leaving this one until it breaks then replacing it with one as near to the same as I can get

 

[its_all_Greek]

Is your boiler working OK

Mine is 22 years old and still works fine, think carefully before replacing it if it's OK, Combi's aren't very reliable, my sister has had 3 in the time mine has been going

I was quoted £3000 to replace my boiler with roughly the same spec and install so I'd say your guy is 25% out

After careful consideration I decided I didn't want a combi so I'll be leaving this one until it breaks then replacing it with one as near to the same as I can get

Unfortunately mine is about 30 years old and in need of a couple of new parts and a damn good service so its efficiency is probably only 60 to 65% if i'm lucky.

I know what you are saying with modern boilers, but like a lot of domestic items now a days they are only really designed for a 10 year life and most major manufacturer's will guarantee their boilers for 10 years.

And to be fair combi boilers have come on a lot in the last few years and i do prefer the idea of only heating water as i need it compared to storing a tank of hot water which requires reheating everyday, that mostly gets used for washing up during the summer and the occasional bath.

 

[Deleted member 51156]

I think you have the wrong boiler you have put down the cdi system boiler,the 30cdi combi boiler is £987 a 37cdi worcester is £1114,and you need to add the cost of the controls.....prg roomstat..

I did a similar job last yr at £3800 inc vat for a 37 cdi ,trv's ,magnaclean,powerflush,etc,etc...

 

[its_all_Greek]

I think you have the wrong boiler you have put down the cdi system boiler,the 30cdi combi boiler is £987 a 37cdi worcester is £1114,and you need to add the cost of the controls.....prg roomstat..

I did a similar job last yr at £3800 inc vat for a 37 cdi ,trv's ,magnaclean,powerflush,etc,etc...

yep i can see that now thanks.

No controls required, as my timer went a couple of months ago and i replaced it with a 7 day programmable thermostat.

 

[Berties]

You also have to check if anything on your setup has asbestos, it's highly likely the flue is. We had ours done from a old potterham to Bosch combo, well worth it old boiler wasting so much gas.

As for thermostat, new ones are RF controlled, not the same as old electronic timer.

 

[shoemaker666]

your price is out around the £3750 and £4000 is about right.

 

[its_all_Greek]

You also have to check if anything on your setup has asbestos, it's highly likely the flue is. We had ours done from a old potterham to Bosch combo, well worth it old boiler wasting so much gas.

As for thermostat, new ones are RF controlled, not the same as old electronic timer.

Thats what i have now fitted, so as said the programmer is no longer required.


Thanks to all who have replied, just out of Interest, which part of My estimate is out, i know i'm £150 out by not checking which boiler i was pricing against but there is still approx £400 difference from what i'm getting to what you guys are suggesting, I'm guessing that the rate i am expecting to pay per day is to low?

 

[Deleted member 51156]

Thats what i have now fitted, so as said the programmer is no longer required.


Thanks to all who have replied, just out of Interest, which part of My estimate is out, i know i'm £150 out by not checking which boiler i was pricing against but there is still approx £400 difference from what i'm getting to what you guys are suggesting, I'm guessing that the rate i am expecting to pay per day is to low?

Without seeing the job its hard to be specific,i estimate jobs like this now,fittings and tube usually take up around 25 percent of a quote,and labour charges vary depending on how potentially difficult a job looks...
And the size of the company...

 

[captainarchive]

To the OP have you looked into any grants available for replacement boilers? The boiler scrappage scheme was...erm...scrapped in England but it's still ongoing in Scotland and Wales. Some energy companies are offering discounts of upto £500, depends on how their prices compare to the quotes you get.

 

[its_all_Greek]

To the OP have you looked into any grants available for replacement boilers? The boiler scrappage scheme was...erm...scrapped in England but it's still ongoing in Scotland and Wales. Some energy companies are offering discounts of upto £500, depends on how their prices compare to the quotes you get.

did do a quick search for grants but none are available with regards to my circumstances thanks for the suggestion, will see if my energy provider are offering anything though

 

[hufartd]

The guy is also entitled to a profit on the materials, 20% is not unfair.
You don't think Tesco buy beans in at the same price they sell them to you...

He also has,
Vehicle costs(seen the price of diesel lately?)
accountancy
liability insurance
Phone bills
Stationary
Estimating time
Holiday Pay
Sickness
Training costs.
Tool repair and replacement.

The price seems ok to me.

 

[DPinBucks]

Don't laugh, but have you considered British Gas?

It's maybe not strictly comparable, but we had a new (non-combo) boiler installed under their fixed price deal last year. Ours is quite a large house, so it's a powerful boiler.

• Remove old boiler & flue, make good external brickwork;
• Lay gas/water pipes and electrical wring to new location in garage, including under floorboards in the house;
• Install new boiler and flue;
• Includes magnetic gadget for reducing gunge;
• Full power flush + Fernox;
• Two new 2-way valves for hot water & heating;
• We did not need any work on the radiators or pipework itself;

Total about £3,500, including a year's HomeCare cover for the entire system.

It took one guy 3 days to do the lot. He did an excellent job, and the system has worked perfectly so far (admittedly early days). Savings in running costs are already apparent.

 

[shoemaker666]

well look at it this way this is the price you will have to pay unless you do it yourself which your not allowed.

 

[its_all_Greek]

well look at it this way this is the price you will have to pay unless you do it yourself which your not allowed.

Actually i do believe that i can do it myself but i have to get it checked by building control, and get the install registered what i can't do is do it for someone else.
I was informed that this was the case when it was governed under the Corgi banner anyway so assuming it hasn't changed it is possible.

 

[shoemaker666]

i didn't think you were allowed to install the flue and the gas side of things. and you will have to power flush the system to get the warranty on the boiler

 

[wack]

I wouldn't supply any parts, if the fitter supplies and fits any problems are down to him, if you supply the parts and it packs up I can see sucking of air through the teeth followed by that's a boiler problem, then when you contact the manufacturer they'll say it's a fitting problem and you'll be left in the middle.

Same applies to a DIY fit IMO

 

[its_all_Greek]

i didn't think you were allowed to install the flue and the gas side of things. and you will have to power flush the system to get the warranty on the boiler

I'm only really repeating what i was told, so not sure if it is still relevant now adays, and i would imagine that the boiler manufacturer would try getting getting out of the warranty if i was to do it myself.

I have installed my own system in a previous property but wanted a plumber to do the gas and final connections and ended up having a terrible job finding one who would just do that. found one in the end but it cost me a lot more than it should have.