# Where can I get a sub €1000 Gas Boiler Install



## Páid (26 Oct 2011)

The Baxi boiler in my house is only used about 3 days a week for about two months of the year. Its 18 years old and the gas valve packed in last week. The ESB charge €205 & Airtricity €320 for the part which can be bought online for €100 approx. Repair call out and labour are extra. 

I won't pay exhorbitant prices (double or triple the average) for parts and the ESB won't carry out a repair if I supply the part.

While researching the price for the part online I noticed new boilers equivalent (but more efficient) to mine but none of these boilers seem to be stocked by anyone in Ireland. For example, Plumbnation in the UK stock lots of reasonably priced boilers from £550 up.

The water and gas are already in the place where the old boiler is yet I  haven't seen one quote from an Irish provider that is below €2500 for  an install. The cheapest boiler Airtricity supply is €1900. They all seem to be promoting the SEAI grant thing as a way to get customers to upgrade/spend more. I have no need for these type of boilers/controls.

Is there any Irish company / RGII installer that installs the cheaper type of boilers?


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## john martin (26 Oct 2011)

You wont get a boiler installed for less than 1000 euros. It will be nearly double that to get a proper installation>


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## RugbyBoy (26 Oct 2011)

There may be grants still available for boiler replacements


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## asif2011 (26 Oct 2011)

Your boiler being that old will probably be very inefficient compared to a new boiler. And as far as I know most boilers are recommend they be replaced after 15 years. There are grants available worth €500 odd euro... google "SEAI boiler grant" and click the first listing from the SEAI website for more information


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## Shane007 (26 Oct 2011)

Straight swap over for HE Condensing gas boiler would be approx €1,800 + VAT @ 13.5% for gas boiler upto 25kW output. This would include labour & materials. A higher output boiler would be more expensive. 

€1,000 including installation will never happen. Remember you must be RGII registered to work on a gas installation and it is a criminal offence if you are not registered. It is also very stupid.

Promoting for SEAI grant is not trying to get you to spend more but it is a building requirement. If you choose to comply with the current regulations, then that is upto you. It is not policed in Ireland anyhow, but could arise down the line.


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## Páid (26 Oct 2011)

I don't need 25kW output. The one I have is 15kW and was more than adequate when it worked.

A Baxi Solo 18kW is £620 incl VAT in the UK. You couldn't buy one here for twice that. That trip across the Irish sea doubles the price of anything. The big problem I have is that none of the gas install companies / providers actually stock low to mid range boilers.



> Remember you must be RGII registered to work on a gas installation and  it is a criminal offence if you are not registered. It is also very  stupid.


I actually asked for an RGII installer in my first post?


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## Shane007 (26 Oct 2011)

RGII's website lists all registered installers/companies throughout the whole country. 

Baxi's, Vokeras, Worchester Bosch, etc. are all normally stocked by most providers. Each installer will have a preferred make that they work with and many will refuse to install some makes because of reliability issues. 

Most installers should install the exact boiler that you wish to install, however, they may not stand over it.

There is very little price difference between a 15kW and a 25kW. If you are sold on Baxi's (& I am not) then Heatmerchants currently have a very good special offer on them at the moment.


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## Páid (26 Oct 2011)

HeatMerchants are charging €240 for the part I need. However, I did see their winter offers - heatmerchants.ie/pdf/winter_offer.pdf - and they look to be good value even though the prices are ex. vat.

I don't fancy my chances of finding an RGII installer that will install a boiler that I supply.


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## Shane007 (27 Oct 2011)

Páid said:


> I don't fancy my chances of finding an RGII installer that will install a boiler that I supply.


 
So are you also looking to supply the copper, fittings, condensate pipework, insulation to condensate pipework, system inhibitor, switched fused spurs, etc.

It is not a matter of disconnecting a few pipes and plunking a new boiler in place. There is a bit more to it than that.

Another point is that the installer can charge VAT @ 13.5% but if you purchase the boiler then you are charged @ 21%.

I would also be wary of installing a brand new gas boiler in an 18 year old system without considering doing a power flush on your system first. I would imagine that a lot of sludge has built up over the years and this could damage the new boiler. It may also affect your new warranty. Sludge is a common indirect cause of boiler failure. The sludge limits the heat transfer from the boiler, raising the boiler temperature and this over time puts unnessessary stresses on boiler parts, causing eventual failure. Not carrying out regular servicing can also have the same effect.


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## Páid (27 Oct 2011)

I'm not saying any of that.

The problem is that because of the SEAI grant, high spec boilers are being promoted and I don't need one. The cheapest boiler Airtricity can provide is €1900. That is before any work is done.


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## test123 (27 Oct 2011)

I had my bolier serviced by plumbingservices.ie and they said they could supply & fit a new bolier, high efficieny for 1800, but that it wouldn't qualify for the SEAI grant as only the higher spec ones qualify for this


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## lowCO2design (27 Oct 2011)

test123 said:


> I had my bolier serviced by plumbingservices.ie and they said they could supply & fit a new bolier, high efficieny for 1800, but that it wouldn't qualify for the SEAI grant as only the higher spec ones qualify for this


that somwe statement for a compnay to be making..there is a reason the SEAI require a certain standard of spec!! 'our boilers are cheap so cheap they aren't on the approved list'
surely for the sake of a few quid you should go for the more efficient boiler? your bound to quickly get the return on investment?


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## lowCO2design (27 Oct 2011)

Páid said:


> I'm not saying any of that.
> 
> The problem is that because of the SEAI grant, high spec boilers are being promoted and I don't need one. The cheapest boiler Airtricity can provide is €1900. That is before any work is done.



have you done the maths, on the boilers payback. I appreciate your not using the boiler constantly but an 18 year old boiler, is going to be really inefficient in comparison to a new one. and there is no guarentee that after you install this part, you will not have further trouble in the near future...


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## Páid (27 Oct 2011)

I know that (and thanks for you input).

The maths. I use the boiler 2 months a year, three days a week for a few  hours in the evening at most. It would take decades to recoup a spend  of €3000.

When the Cycle to Work scheme was introduced, bike shops stopped stocking cheaper bikes. Try to find the bike shop selling any bikes for less than €700. Not easy.

The same is true of the SEAI grant. I do not need a high spec boiler (and won't spend circa €3000 on one) and its impossible to find a low to mid range one. Looks like my only gas option is to have the old one fixed. Either that or consider alternative heating.


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## Leo (27 Oct 2011)

Páid said:


> I use the boiler 2 months a year, three days a week for a few hours in the evening at most.


 
Do you have alternative heat sources or how do you manage when the mean high [broken link removed] is 10 degrees or lower 5 months a year?

Would be good to know because if you are using the boiler as little as you say, then perhaps gas heating isn't the most economical heat source for you. On the standard tariff, you're paying €82.89 standing charge just to have the facility to use gas.

OT, but you're point on the availability of cheaper bikes isn't true btw.
Leo


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## Shane007 (27 Oct 2011)

Páid said:


> The maths. I use the boiler 2 months a year, three days a week for a few hours in the evening at most. It would take decades to recoup a spend of €3000.


 
The price I mentioned of €1,800 plus VAT was for a decent quality boiler that meets the requirements of the SEAI. This includes installation, sundries, etc. so €1,900 for boiler only is an off the planet price. I would have thought that most installers would be in and around this price also (plus or minus a couple of hundred euros)

Cheaper boilers will cost you more in the end with call outs and parts. Higher end ones will come with between 2 and 5 year extendable warranties. They are also modulating so they only use the gas that is required for the demand of the moment.

Every boiler will not qualify for the SEAI grant unless you carrying out a heating control upgrade along the new boiler anyhow.


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## Páid (28 Oct 2011)

> Would be good to know because if you are using the boiler as little as  you say, then perhaps gas heating isn't the most economical heat source  for you.



It isn't but its convenient. I only stay in the house 3 days a week and I'm only there at night. Sometimes its more and sometimes its less but that is the norm. I only use gas to heat the radiators if its cold and only use the gas fire in the sitting room very occassionally. I'm very, very low usage and don't want to have to fork out for a high spec SEAI boiler when it is complete overkill for my needs.

I've ordered the faulty part for the old boiler and when it arrives next week I'll start looking for an RGII installer.



> The price I mentioned of €1,800 plus VAT was for a decent quality boiler  that meets the requirements of the SEAI. This includes installation,  sundries, etc.



Exactly what brand and model of boiler are you talking about? Notice how virtually all of the gas providers / installers don't advertise their boilers / prices on their websites? There are a few exceptions of course but how is someone supposed to make an informed choice if you cannot shop around?

For the sake of clarity, I don't object to the price that installers charge for their services and the benefit of their experience. Its the non-availability of particular boilers because of the SEAI grants available that is the problem.


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## Shane007 (28 Oct 2011)

Vokera HE range. Some issues were with their older non-condensing boilers, however, the new HE range is very reliable. Parts are easily accessible and cheaper than most others.
Worchester Bosch would be a couple of hundred euros extra.

All would be within the same efficiency percentages.


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## ryan-neil (5 Nov 2011)

Páid.

I'm a bit confused as to what you actually want, have you rang any suppliers, your complaining about Irish Boiler prices but I have found them to be at times within 10% of the English price. Ireland does not have a big market for boilers online as the UK does so i'm not supprised you couldn't find prices.

To give you an example I purchased an Biasi Activa 35C Combi boiler. Cost here €980 vat included and got €160 back from the SEAI so total cost excluding Installation cost and BER which I wanted anyway having moved from Storage Heating was €820. UK price was £773, in euro 898. So I paid a total premium of €90 for buying in Ireland over the Uk and qualified for an SEAI grant of €160 and I could easily see such a site selling more boilers in a market of 56 million people than the Irish supplier in a market of €4 million.

As for an RGII I found one quite easily who installed the boiler without issue, have you researched the specific boiler you want and called for prices to the various suppliers. You will find though that most only carry a certain range which the other wont. I.e Chadwicks supply Ferolli but Heat Mertchants (Brooks) don't.


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## DGOBS (11 Nov 2011)

You can buy cheap boilers, but do so at your peril, there has been a lot of crap installed over the past 10 years, and now they a roosting....

One in particular was around €500 and now all the pcbs are packing in €360!
Install a decent appliance with a decent track record and warranty, it's cheaper in the long run

You have a good boiler, that lasted 18 years and now your griping about the price of decent appliances!

Buy the part, a local installer will charge you somewhere aroung €80-€100 to install and service the appliance, and I would have no issue with a customer supplying a part as long as
1) I accept no liability
2) I provide no warranty
3) the part supplied is new
4) the part supplied is a genuine manufacturers component

I imagine the boilers you are comparing from online are possibly supplied without flues etc. (ie boiler only) and more would have to be spent to complete the installation

If it's so cheap, get in your car, go north and buy one, plenty of installers will fit a boiler you supply, but again, you will have no warranty from the installer, and it is doubtful the manufacturer will deal with you, so it's a bundle of trouble

FOR SHANE: Now i know why I strayed away!!!


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