Hello there,

Please give me your expert opinion.We are a normal family who both work and have 2 young kids.Our boiler was installed approx 5 yrs ago (by the builders who were building our extention-a reputable firm).We didn't get it serviced untill approx 16 months had passed,(due to forgetfullness).When it went wrong and had to pay over £800.00 on repairs we then joined beitish gas homecare.We had another fault last year and were without hot water and heating for about 3 weeks.Today we have had a british gas engineer out again because the water was getting hot for a few seconds but then went tepid.He replaced 2 parts (and another fuse which seemed to blow after he had installed the new parts).He then told me that he shouldn't really be replacing this part free of charge as our system needed a power flush which costs £700.00,and they wouldn't be able to replace this(and possibly othere parts unless we had this done).Is this right please?Our radiators still get hot and there are no other problems.Thankyou so much.

Denise

A new gas boiler will cost about £600. Oil fired ones cost more. Yes, there's labour to pay but you still should not be paying £700 for one bit of it to be fixed, particularly if you've got cover. A good boiler does not need much servicing.

My guess is that a power flush will simply wash out the grime from your system. It's an afternoon's work with no parts (except a couple of pounds for the chemical). You are being robbed.

Couldn't agree more with the "you are being ripped off" advice. I am an ex-British Gas service engineer and currently Corgi registered so I do have a reliable knowledge in this field.

Let me know what make and model your boiler is and if you can let me know what spare parts you have had fitted. Boiler servicing, although recommended yearly for the older open flue appliances, is really a bit of a money spinning profit generator - I haven't serviced mine in 5 years and I would say that even if I did a, I would find nothing wrong and b, it wouldn't improve its efficiency or safety. All modern boilers are full of fail-safe devices so your families health and safety should not be an issue - however ,like cars, different makes of boilers will be more troublesome than others.

Is it just your water which goes cold after a few seconds? Since moving in to my house I have had three radiators go and the boiler went to. British gas came round and wanted in excess of £2000 to replace the boiler and flush the system. If I were you I'd get a second opinion. British gas seem to charge a fortune! My new boiler cost me £1000 (including fitting) and I have had no problems since. With regards to having your system flushed, if all the rads are hot I don't see why it would need flushing? If you do then get a local plumber to do it. Like Maxstream said, £700 quid is far too much for an afternoons work. All they do is empty the system, wack some treatment in (which you can by yourself) and pump it round.

If your radiators are cold at the bottom you may have sludge in the system and a power flush can help - however there is usually an underlying problem that causes sludge to form ( a leak in the system and fresh water being added to the system to top it up on a regular basis will lead to more sludge forming ). The cost to have a power flush shouldn't be more than a few hundred pounds - I think BG are good but not that good !!

Radiators cold at the top is caused by air - again if this is a regular occurence then there is an underlying problem such as poorly balanced system or pump being incorrectly adjusted.

Both of the above scenarios should be easily sorted by a competent heating engineer - use recommendations from friends/family to find one and get atleast two quotes.

Hello,

thankyou so much for your reply.the model is Glow-worm 30ciplus.Is this helpsful at all?.I look forward, and with thanks to your reply.

kindest regards denise

Hello there,

thankyou so much for your reply.we're at our wits end.What do you think we should do.Should we replace the boiler (which is less than 5 years old) or just leave it ,as it is now working-but even though we're paying british gas each month,they cannot guarentee that they will replace any faulty parts in the future.Thankyou for taking the time to give me advice.

best regards denise

Hi,

Please be aware of this, its a scam that British Gas use to make money (a lot of money!!!!). I had the same advise when I had a problem with the radiators and the problem turned out to be the balance of the radiators.

Regrds

"Should we replace the boiler " - No. I mentioned the cost of a complete boiler just to give an idea of the cost of parts. If the system is working, you should leave it alone. If a problem develops, you should demand that British Gas get it fixed. If they are reluctant, you should consider cancelling the policy and using the trustcorgi.com web site to find a plumber who wont try to rob you. There are decent plumbers out there.

As mentioned, bleeding the air from each radiator can be done yourself and it will improve the efficiency of the system.

Replacing the boiler should be a last resort. Some grants for this are available if you are on a pension.

Hi Denise, sorry for the delay in replying - I had some research to do !

Don't go replacing your boiler - but I would seriously consider cancelling your contract with BG. If you speak to Glow-worms customer service dept. they should be able to give you a good idea on their call out fees and response times if you were to ever need them. If you balance this cost (that you may incur annually if you were to be really unlucky) against BG's extortionate yearly contract cost then I think you will be a whole lot better off.

Glow-worm engineers will also be trained to a much higher standard with all the relevant in-depth model knowledge on their own particular boilers so you should never get incorrect diagnosis or outrageous suggestions as per the BG salesman/engineer.

My own boiler is a Glow-worm, and while not as electronically complex as yours, and I would recommend them to anyone.

Really hope this helps

Regards, The Gnome-Man.