Tom J 
Organiser: South Wales Premium Member 
 
Registered: 8th Sep 03
 Location: Bridgend 
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Should i replace the radiators? They look alright and probably about 10-15 years old   
 
Pros/Cons
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Nismo 
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Registered: 12th Sep 02
 
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i would myself, rads dont cost alot and new ones are more efficient and your old ones have probably been painted a few times thus not giving out as much heat as they should. 
 
This time of year screwfix do them pretty cheap.
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John 
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
 
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Depends how many radiators you have. 
 
100 quid a radiator isn't cheap if you need to replace 10 of them.
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Nismo 
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Registered: 12th Sep 02
 
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There not that much, you have to bare in mind that new double convector's are more efficient than older singles so you can get smaller sizes with higher BTU output, you would be looking at around £40-60 for your average rad.
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harrisp 
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Registered: 15th Dec 07
 Location: Derbyshire 
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If there is nothing wrong with them then don't change them, just get TRVs on each rad when you have the boiler done.
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mattk 
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Registered: 27th Feb 06
 Location: St. Helens  
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if theres nothing worng with them leave them, it will save you money and save you decorating if you need to put new smaller ones in. change all the valves and get the installer to do a good quality system flush. 
 
Back boiler conversions are messy jobs, pitty your not closer Id have popped round and given you a guide price
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Baskey 
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Registered: 31st May 06
 
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I'm not going to bother replacing my radiators when I get my back boiler changed in the new year. Iv got about 8 I think and a couple are quite big so I don't think it's worth it. 
 
When my mate came to service my back boiler last month he said getting the back boiler removed and a combi fitted would be £2200ish but it will obv depend on your house, boiler etc
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John 
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
 
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I hope your mate isn't charging you 2k for a boiler  
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Jake 
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Registered: 24th Jan 05
 
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2200 fitted sounds about right to me
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harrisp 
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Registered: 15th Dec 07
 Location: Derbyshire 
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quote: Originally posted by Jake 
2200 fitted sounds about right to me 
   
 
2200 is a decent price for that. 
 
[Edited on 14-09-2011 by harrisp]
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Baskey 
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Registered: 31st May 06
 
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quote: Originally posted by John 
I hope your mate isn't charging you 2k for a boiler   
   
 
Was a rough price for removing back boiler from dinning room and fitting a decent combi in the kitchen. Seemed ok to me, iv had no other quotes though
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mattk 
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Registered: 27th Feb 06
 Location: St. Helens  
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£2200 is about right for a back boiler conversion 
 
decent 28kw boiler with a flue is £700 
Pipe + Fittings £300  
thermostat + Timer £100 
Electrician to wire it up £100 
Building materials to brick the chimney up £50 
Labour x 2 £600 
 
Thats me at £1850, add a bit on for tax, fuel, flux,solder,gas ect ect I would round that to £2k 
 
If it was a mate it would obviously be less. 
 
can be alot of work in a back boiler job, depending where the new combi is going you need to get a 22mm gas, hot, cold and 2 heating pipes  to it. when changing a normal boiler you would normaly have the heating pipes and the gas. you dont have that luxury with a BB, unless the combi goes in the chimney breast   
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harrisp 
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Registered: 15th Dec 07
 Location: Derbyshire 
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John will be along shorty to tell you you're wrong mattk.
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John 
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
 
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No, Matt is obviously correct, I'd expect to pay somebody 2.2k for fitting it, not a mate doing it.
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Baskey 
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Registered: 31st May 06
 
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He said it would take about 3 days as I would want the combi relocated a fair distance away from the back boiler (other side of the house)  
 
Mattk, cheers for the breakdown, I think he said the price included a flush out of the system. What would this normally be? 
 
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Tom J 
Organiser: South Wales Premium Member 
 
Registered: 8th Sep 03
 Location: Bridgend 
User status: Offline 
 
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In my house the new boiler will be sited directly above one floor from where the gas comes in the house, when i boarded out the living room i have buried a 3m long 22mm pipe in the wall up to the location ready, its not connected to anything just means i won't have pipes running up the walls.  
 
if i was having all of the rads replaced (7). priced them up at £335 from screwfix, thats doubles downstairs (currently singles) and singles upstairs, would it still need powerflushing as it would be literally just pipework left? 
 
considering putting the new rads in ready, and pipes altered ready up to the new boiler then getting someone in to do the gas work (i can solder won't be using naff hep2o) 
 
 
 
[Edited on 15-09-2011 by Tom J]
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John 
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
 
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£335 isn't bad for nice clean new radiators tbh.
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deanmcreynolds26 
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Registered: 15th Sep 03
 Location: E46 //M3 
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or fit a condensing back boiler.....   
 
biggest waste of money i reckon though
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