Have your boiler serviced.
In many cases, by getting your boiler serviced, it will increase the efficiency of your home heating appliance. See our boiler service details page for more information. Also this has the added benefit of ensuring your boiler remains safe and functional.
Replace your old inefficient boiler
How old is your boiler ? If it is between 10 and 15 years old, then consider a boiler replacement with a new condensing boiler can save you around a third on your heating bills straight away.
Visit http://www.sedbuk.com to see how efficient your boiler is…
Buy Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRV’s)
TRV’s switch off the radiator they are fitted on, by detecting the temperature in the room and therefore save energy by not over-heating rooms, that do not need to be as hot as the rest of your home.
Switch the Pilot Light Off
If you have a permanent pilot gas appliance, try switching it off when you go on holiday. The saving will be small but every little counts.
Buy a Programmer and room thermostat.
Synchronize your programmer with your clock, so its on summertime in the summer and wintertime in the winter. Work out when the heating should be off, does it really need to be on while you are at work ? Or is it coming on during the night while you are asleep ?
Placed correctly a thermostat will turn off your homes heating regardless of the programmer when your house is warm enough. If you have a thermostat check the setting. Just a one-degree reduction can reduce your heating bill by upto 10% and you probably wont notice the difference.
Wear an extra layer of clothing
Not very technical and sounds a bit obvious, but wearing more clothes or even a jumper rather than turning the heating up will save you a considerable amount of money and energy over a long period.
Turn your hot water down
Try turning your hot water thermostat down on your boiler, which should be situated on your boiler display, you and your family will probably not notice the difference but still will save you money.
Call Us 020 8123 3049 or Email - info@buzzheating.co.uk
Thursday, March 31, 2011
How Much Does A New Boiler Cost ?
When you are looking for a new boiler and the cost of a new boiler, you should not only consider the boilers prices but also the installation process itself, below I have outlined the processes and costs that need to be done when installing a new boiler.
Condensing Boiler Drainage Connection
Under building regulations condensing boilers are now compulsory in the majority of cases. These type of boilers need a drain connection (to carry away the condensate they produce). This can be very trivial and can add a day to the work. Sometimes moving the boiler to another location is the only alternative.
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost: £100.00 to £400.00
Energy Efficient Controls
Further under building regulations “Energy-Efficient” controls are also compulsory. Nearly all existing boilers have thermostatic control of both heating and hot water but NOW separate temperature control of sleeping areas is now required. This is done by fitting TRV’s (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) in to the bedrooms, but conversion to “fully pumped” pipework format is necessary unless already installed.
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost £0.00 to £600.00
New Boiler Gas Supply or Run
To comply with the latest HSE and Gas Safe Register regulations, only a pressure drop of 1mbar is now permissible between the gas meter and the appliance. Most existing gas supply are far too small. To comply with this new guidance, a new, larger gas supply or run needs to installed from the meter to the new boiler. When the boiler and meter are on opposite sides of the property this can add days of work, not taking taking into account re-instatement of disrupted decoration etc.
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost: £0.00 to £1000.00
Cleansing The Existing Central Heating System
All boiler manufacturers demand their boilers are connected to clean heating systems, and decline to accept warranty claims for failures caused by sludge or corrosion deposits in the circulating water. A hot flush, cold flush or powerflush (if the heating system is exceptionally dirty) is the usual way to the cleanse the existing radiator system before connecting the new boiler and can take up to a day to flush the average heating system (6-8 radiators)
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost: £100.00 to £400.00 (6-8 radiators)
Electrians and Boiler Installations
Building Regulations require all electrical wiring to be carried out by qualified electricians. Very few heating engineers are formally qualified to carry out electrical work. So the hiring of a electrician needs to be taken into account, plus the electrician will insist that the existing wiring be brought up to current safe electrical standards.
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost: £0.00 to £400.00
Extra Work
Conventional condensing boiler systems have a built in mechanism to control the pump, keeping it running for a few minutes after the burners have shut down. This means running an extra cable from the boiler location to the pump location (normally next to the hot water cylinder upstairs in the airing cupboard). On combi-boilers there is no need for this as both hot water and heating come from the boiler.
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost: £0.00 to £1000.00
Corrosion Of The Central Heating System
Central heating systems over time slowly corrode internally unless corrosion inhibitors like Fernox F1 or Sentinel X100 are added to the circulating water. Corrosion can form a black sludge and block heat exchangers, radiators, pipes and generally cause problems. A decent inhibitor costs around £15.00. The corrosion effect is accelerated if the “post installation cleanse” is missed out. It is a quick cleanse to remove flux residues left by the soldering used in the installation of the new boiler.
Estimated Boiler Installation Process Cost: £100.00
The Gas Safe Register
The Gas Safe Register (formally CORGI) requires all new gas installations be registered to them with details of the installed gas appliance, customer name, address etc. The Gas Safe Register then undertake the responsibility to provide the customer with a document certifying that the work has been carried out in accordance with the Gas Regulations and the Building Regulations. To register as Gas Safe costs the engineer or engineers company around £480.00 per year and they can only register if they have passed the required qualifications which can take a few years to complete.
There are plenty of other costs that can be incurred but these are the common ones. So you can see the boiler is a main component of the installation process but is not necessarily the only cost of a new boiler.
Why you should consider a boiler replacement !
There are millions of perfectly good boilers and heating systems installed and working, and most are likely to be good for 30 years or sometimes more.
Sometimes the only reason to replace the boiler is because a repair needs parts that are no longer available from the manufacturers.
However, below are more common reasons why you may wish to consider a boiler replacement BEFORE your old boiler has reached the end of its life.
Boiler efficiency and the environment
New efficient boilers around 90% SEDBUK band A ratings, will extract around 90% of the energy of the gas it burns for heat. A 30 year old boiler will be closer to 60%. Older boilers were designed when natural gas was cheap, plentiful and “greenhouse” gases were not an issue. Carbon dioxide is produced in larger quantities by older boilers because they are less fuel efficient and burn more gas for a given amount of useful heat. If you want to help save the planet and reduce your gas bill by around a third (£240,00 per year) then you will need to replace your old boiler 60% efficiency with new SEDBUK band A Boiler.
Persistent Boiler breakdowns become expensive
Plain unreliability, can become expensive. Many boiler models suffer with this problem and if your boiler breaks down every six months, with a different problem every time. Eventually, you will lose patience and money because as well as being cold with no hot water, it would be uneconomical to keep the boiler maintained rather than just purchasing and installing a new reliable boiler.
Costs of repair are more than a new boiler !
A repair costing £700.00 will get an old boiler working, but it probably will make economical sense to fit a new efficient boiler.
Faulty or Corroded Flue
All boilers need a flue to carry the potentially dangerous products of combustion safely to the outside. Flue components corrode with time and often cease to be available long before parts for the boiler itself. Also builders tend to conceal flues inside structures of properties and exposing a flue for repair or maintenance leaves a large bill for making good, boxing in, decoration etc. Sometimes better to fit a new boiler and flue instead.
Boiler noises (Kettling)
A loud noise like a kettle boiling coming from your boiler (Kettling) is usually caused by products of corrosion inside the central heating system like the pipework,radiators etc which accumulate inside the boilers heat exchanger.
Many elderly boilers that work perfectly well often make this irritating noise. Sometimes, this can be resolved if a power-flush is performed.
However, the results are not reliable and silence cannot be guaranteed. For peace it might be better to replace the boiler.
Unreplaceable parts but functioning boiler
You know your boiler is old and it will be almost impossible to find parts for repairs to any components that have become faulty so it makes sense to replace the boiler before the cold winter comes and you are without hot water and heat.
Sometimes the only reason to replace the boiler is because a repair needs parts that are no longer available from the manufacturers.
However, below are more common reasons why you may wish to consider a boiler replacement BEFORE your old boiler has reached the end of its life.
Boiler efficiency and the environment
New efficient boilers around 90% SEDBUK band A ratings, will extract around 90% of the energy of the gas it burns for heat. A 30 year old boiler will be closer to 60%. Older boilers were designed when natural gas was cheap, plentiful and “greenhouse” gases were not an issue. Carbon dioxide is produced in larger quantities by older boilers because they are less fuel efficient and burn more gas for a given amount of useful heat. If you want to help save the planet and reduce your gas bill by around a third (£240,00 per year) then you will need to replace your old boiler 60% efficiency with new SEDBUK band A Boiler.
Persistent Boiler breakdowns become expensive
Plain unreliability, can become expensive. Many boiler models suffer with this problem and if your boiler breaks down every six months, with a different problem every time. Eventually, you will lose patience and money because as well as being cold with no hot water, it would be uneconomical to keep the boiler maintained rather than just purchasing and installing a new reliable boiler.
Costs of repair are more than a new boiler !
A repair costing £700.00 will get an old boiler working, but it probably will make economical sense to fit a new efficient boiler.
Faulty or Corroded Flue
All boilers need a flue to carry the potentially dangerous products of combustion safely to the outside. Flue components corrode with time and often cease to be available long before parts for the boiler itself. Also builders tend to conceal flues inside structures of properties and exposing a flue for repair or maintenance leaves a large bill for making good, boxing in, decoration etc. Sometimes better to fit a new boiler and flue instead.
Boiler noises (Kettling)
A loud noise like a kettle boiling coming from your boiler (Kettling) is usually caused by products of corrosion inside the central heating system like the pipework,radiators etc which accumulate inside the boilers heat exchanger.
Many elderly boilers that work perfectly well often make this irritating noise. Sometimes, this can be resolved if a power-flush is performed.
However, the results are not reliable and silence cannot be guaranteed. For peace it might be better to replace the boiler.
Unreplaceable parts but functioning boiler
You know your boiler is old and it will be almost impossible to find parts for repairs to any components that have become faulty so it makes sense to replace the boiler before the cold winter comes and you are without hot water and heat.
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