New gas boiler, do I need a second opinion?

eldamo

See mod note lower down before commenting.

Hi all,

I am sure it is fine, just wanted a sounding board.

Boiler stopped working monday evening, Vokera Mynute 25a a guy came out today to look at it, very quickly said... it's the old one, wouldn't be worth fixing.

It has been in since about 2011 and he says the lifespan of a gas boiler is 10-15 years, and he doesn't think much of my model of boiler anyway, so that would be the lower end.

I had an old RGII who I liked and trusted who put it in in 2011, but he stopped doing housecalls due to covid and never came back. So I have bounced around a few lads since, the first was a biggish regional company who I didn't like seemed to be young lads on the phone to the boss who was talking them through it, then I got a sound lad last year, but he no longer works for himself. So I am onto again what seems like a biggish regional company again.

He reckons it would be 4-600 for parts for a fan an possibly a PCB. and says there is no point in sinking that much money into an old boiler when I could get a brand spanky one for about 3k.

I would have gone along with this but then he was kicking around my garden and complaining about the siting of my Calor Bulk tank, saying it shouldn;t be against my fence and near the shed... it was there when I moved in in 2009, I am wondering if that is going to cause enough hassle that I should do a major upgrade and go for a heat pump or something? Would that bee absolutely a different magnitude of expense? 10-15k as opposed to the 3k for the new boiler maybe 375 for the fence upgrade he was hinting at and ... well I just don't know what I would do about moving the shed, its a steel shed concreted to the ground...

Sorry, all a bit scattergun, my initial question was should I get a second opinion on whether to replace it.. I have talked myself out of it, he seems as legit as you would want, now it seems to be, at what price should I look at changing the setup completely.

Calahonda52

The HP will only work if house fabric is up to it

Yeah, the regs re siting of oil and gas tanks is a bit of a pain.

I had similar last year with oil system.

Could you relocate the tank?

I presume he would repair without any issue but not replace?

https://www.calorgas.ie/-/media/sites/ireland/help/health-and-safety-information/calorbulkgasuserssafetyinformationroi.pdf

eldamo

Calor just replaced the tank due to age last year and didn't mention it.

He hasn't said he wouldn't replace, but he did mention them and mentioned them to the boss, I will just make sure when I am getting the full quote that they will mention stuff like this up front and not as an afterthought.

I am not sure exactly where in the garden it could be moved to, possibly the middle of the back wall, but I would have to get out my measuring tape, would calor move it or would the expense be on me? These guys seem to be a calor agent, so he was well up on his regs, I just wasn't expecting it and probably didn't ask the correct questions, I just want to get myself ready for when they call me with a quote.

Doubt the house would be up to a heat pump, 1992ish build, detached, I loaded the attic with fiberglass when I moved in, but I doubt the windows and doors would be up to spec these days. definitely a draft in the hallway from the door.

Wearb

Phone Calor and let tem know what the rgi said about their recent installation.

If they didn't do it to standard then they should come back and rectify it. If done incorrectly it might impact on your property insurance.

Lenar3556

A second opinion might be a good idea. If the boiler is otherwise in reasonable condition the new fan and PCB might well give it another 5 years.

On the tank and clearance spaces, I wouldn’t trouble trouble until it troubles you. Although I have found Calor were prepared to share the costs of relocating tanks in cases where they deemed it high risk.

If it is the case that you need to relocate/replace the tank and boiler - don’t rule out oil as an alternative. The service situation is more flexible, the running cost is probably lower and modern oil boilers are very efficient.

Sleeper12

I'm a big fan of Heat Pumps BUT they don't suit everyone. You need excellent insulation or airtightness. They are on 24/7 and not economical if you are only looking for a few hours heat each day. They are more suitable for homes that have someone home most of the day.

10-10-20

You known that Vokera in Kilkenny do repairs at a set-fee? I used them last year on a 2002 Vokera 28e and had it sorted quickly. Just an option.

AndrewJRenko

The question is whether spending your €600 will actually fix it, or just expose the next problem to be fixed.

snowcat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121407707#Comment_121407707

6 years ago i got an RGI out to look at a noisy gas boiler (fan obs). He lied and told me spare parts were not available for the boiler and a new one required at 2k. I had a quick google and found the fan online. Told him to FO and rang another guy who supplied and replaced the fan for less than 200 euro. Working fine since.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121407856#Comment_121407856

That's a great shout, i would trust an RGI as far as i could throw them tbh

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121408510#Comment_121408510

RGI's are generalists, they are often only guessing on vendor-specific technical issues.

Wearb

MOD NOTE

Enough with the generalisations about rgi's. There's good and bad in every industry. Some comments are borderline trolling.

Don't comment on this post.

standardg60

There's good and bad in every industry OP, so definitely worth getting a second opinion, contacting the manufacturer seems a good idea.

10-10-20

Not commenting on Wearb's post but I do stand by my assessment that RGI's are generalists and not specialists - and that's fine for 95% of the time when a boiler behaves in an expected manner. But when you have a tricky or obscure technical issue it's often financially better to cut your losses and engage a specialist (ie the vendor) instead of throwing parts at it. I've had two control boards and three ignition boards replaced in a month on my boiler at great cost, before I engaged a specialist to diagnose and then replace the correct part.

I had to laugh as the last time the guy from Vokera was out doing a service he said shaking his head and looking at the 22 year old boiler: "We don't sell boilers directly ourselves, but parts for that boiler stopped being readily available 10 years ago." It's on my long list. 😀

I'll leave it at that.

bigbadpat

The Safety regulations for Gas installations have improved over the years and what was acceptable five years ago may not be valid today - at least that has been my experience. I have used certified plumbers over the years and still had to make changes to comply - such as putting in new flues and no longer using my gas fire.

New gas boilers are more efficient - burn less gas yet provide more heat.

Heat pumps only work if your house is energy efficient. Good insulation in walls, windows, roof & floor. Most houses over ten years old require a lot of modification to make that happen if you can get the right people who know what they are doing. You can get grants to help you with the costs but I found the conditions too onerous. So I opted instead to replace my gas boiler and improve the insulation where I reasonable could with out making too much infrastructure changes - Attic space & inner walls. It would have been less intrusive to insulate the outer walls on the outside which is what I should have done,