Replace it when it is time, not before
Boiler replacementin Milton Keynes
Sometimes a repair is the right call and you should be told so. When it genuinely is time, here is what a replacement involves and what you should be handed at the end.
- Honest repair or replace advice
- Most swaps done in a day
- Gas Safe registered installers only
No obligation
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The honest question
Repair or replace
Plenty of boilers go to the skip years early. Start by asking whether yours needs more than a part.
A repair is often the sensible answer, and the engineer looking at your boiler should say so out loud. If the appliance is under about ten years old, the fault is one part, that part is still made and the boiler has been serviced, fixing it is the cheaper call. A quote puts you under no obligation.
Signs it is worth repairing
- It has been reliable until now and this is the first real fault.
- The failed part is available and not silly money.
- It still holds pressure and heats the house properly.
- It has a service history, and the warranty may even still be live.
Signs it is time
- The boiler is around twelve to fifteen years old or more. Spares get scarce and manufacturers stop supporting older ranges.
- Parts are obsolete, so the next fault could be the one nobody can fix.
- Repeat breakdowns. Three call outs in two winters is money thrown after money.
- It is an older non condensing model. Condensing boilers recover heat from the flue gases that an older unit throws away, and new gas boilers in England have been condensing for years.
- It cannot be made safe, or the engineer has had to disconnect it.
If the sums are close, weigh two winters of repair bills against the guide ranges below.
Safety first
Gas and carbon monoxide
The shortest section here and the most important. Read it before anything else.
If you smell gas
Ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. It is free and answered any hour of the day. Do not touch switches or light anything, put out naked flames, open doors and windows, and turn the gas off at the meter if you can reach it safely. Make that call first.
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide has no colour, smell or taste, and it is produced when fuel does not burn properly. Warning signs on an appliance include a lazy yellow or orange flame instead of a crisp blue one, and sooty or yellow brown staining around the boiler. Headaches, dizziness, sickness and confusion that ease when you leave the house are worth taking seriously.
Fit an audible carbon monoxide alarm, not a coloured spot card, and test it. An alarm is the only thing that tells you carbon monoxide is there before you feel it. If it sounds, get everyone into fresh air, ring 0800 111 999 and seek medical help.
Have gas appliances serviced every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and check their ID card when they arrive.
Same again, or something different
Like for like, or change type
A replacement is the natural moment to change system type. It is also a perfectly good moment not to.
Staying with what you have is the cheapest and quickest route. Combi for combi, system for system, regular for regular. The new appliance goes in the same place and most of the pipework stays. If the current setup has served the house well, there is no prize for changing it.
Changing type is worth considering when the house has changed around the boiler. A cylinder and loft tanks eating a cupboard in a one person home is a good case for going combi. A family fighting over hot water on a combi is a good case for the opposite. Readcombi boiler installation for which homes suit a combi.
Whichever way you lean, let the engineer test first. Mains flow, gas pipe size and the state of your radiators decide what is sensible, and none of it settles over the phone.
On the day
What a replacement involves and how long it takes
Most people want to know one thing: how many days without heating and hot water.
For a straight swap in the same position, the answer is usually one day. The engineer drains the system, takes the old boiler off the wall, adapts the gas, water and condensate pipework, hangs the new unit, flushes and filters the system, then commissions the boiler and shows you how it works.
Allow around two days where the boiler moves room or the system type changes. Relocating means new pipe runs, a new flue position and making good where the old one came off. A conversion means stripping out a cylinder, tanks and redundant pipework first.
Expect the water off for much of the day and the heating off until commissioning. A good installer tells you beforehand when you should have hot water back.
Keep these
The paperwork you should be left with
Three pieces of paper. One proves it is legal, one protects the warranty, one is the warranty.
Building Regulations compliance certificate
A replacement boiler is notifiable work. A Gas Safe registered business notifies it to the local authority for you and a Building Regulations compliance certificate is issued. A buyer's solicitor will ask for it, so file it somewhere you will find it again.
Benchmark commissioning checklist
The Benchmark checklist is filled in by the engineer who commissions the boiler and handed to you. It records that the boiler was set up to the manufacturer's instructions and carries the service record from then on. Manufacturers can refuse a warranty claim where it was never completed, or where annual services were not logged in it.
Warranty registration
Manufacturer-backed warranties of up to 10 to 12 years are available on selected boilers. Registration is normally time limited from the installation date and depends on the boiler being serviced each year. Ask the installer to register it and confirm in writing that they have.
Ask for all three before the van leaves, along with the boiler's user guide.
Budget
Guide prices by boiler type
Typical guide prices, your quote may differ. These are for budgeting, not for signing.
| Job | Guide price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Combi swap | £1,900 to £3,200 | Like for like, boiler stays where it is |
| System boiler | £2,300 to £3,800 | Keeps your hot water cylinder |
| Regular (heat-only) boiler | £2,200 to £3,600 | Keeps the loft tanks and cylinder |
| Conversion to combi | £3,000 to £4,800 | Tanks and cylinder removed, pipework reworked |
Where your job sits inside a range comes down to the model, the flue, the gas supply and how much has to be made good afterwards. Our new boiler cost page explains how to line up two quotes fairly.
We are a referral service, not an installer. The price you pay is agreed between you and the independent Gas Safe registered installer who surveys your home.
Replacement questions
Replacing a boiler, answered
Plain answers to what people in Milton Keynes ask before they replace a boiler.
My boiler has broken down again. Is that enough reason to replace it?
One breakdown is not. Three in a couple of winters usually is, especially if each one costs a call out plus a part. Add up what you have spent on it over the last two years and compare that with the guide ranges on this site. If the repairs are creeping towards a decent chunk of a new boiler and the appliance is already old, replacing stops being a splurge and starts being arithmetic.
Can I keep my existing radiators and pipework?
Usually, yes. Most replacements reuse the radiators and the heating pipework, which is a large part of why a straight swap is the cheapest route. The engineer checks the radiators are the right size for the new boiler and that nothing is corroded through. The system gets flushed and a filter fitted so the sludge already in there does not end up in the new heat exchanger.
Do I have to tell my local council about a new boiler?
You do not have to do it yourself. A Gas Safe registered business notifies the installation on your behalf, and a Building Regulations compliance certificate follows. That is the paper you will be asked for when you sell the house, so keep it somewhere you will find it again.
Can I get a grant towards a new gas boiler?
There is no general grant for swapping one gas boiler for another. Government support is aimed at low carbon heating rather than gas. Schemes open and close and the rules change, so check GOV.UK for what is actually running before you count on anything.
What if my boiler fails in the middle of winter?
Say so when you request a quote, so the installer we pass you to knows it is urgent. How soon they can survey and fit depends on their diary, and winter is their busiest time, so ask for dates before you accept a price. A straight swap is usually a one day job once it is booked. If you can smell gas, do not wait for anyone: ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 first.
Cold house? Start here
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Quote requests open soon.
This site is still being set up and is not taking requests yet, so there is nothing to fill in and none of your details are collected. Please check back shortly.