New boilers and central heating

What a boiler installation or replacement includes

A new boiler is not a like-for-like swap unless the survey says it should be. We size it against what the property loses, name every item in the quote, and leave you with the paperwork that proves it was done properly.

• Heat-loss survey and system sizing before anything is quoted
• Boiler, radiators, valves and controls named by make and model in the quote
• Power flush or chemical clean, plus a magnetic system filter
• Old boiler, packaging and waste taken away by us
• Dust sheets down, and the water back on each evening
• Commissioned to the manufacturer's figures, not just fitted
• Gas Safe certification, Benchmark log book and Building Regs notification
• Warranty registered in your name before we leave

Combi, system or regular — which one suits the property

It depends on hot water demand and how many bathrooms run at once. A combi takes the cylinder and the loft tank out of the picture and heats water on demand, which suits most two- and three-bed houses with one bathroom. Where two showers can run at the same time, or the mains pressure will not support it, a system boiler and a cylinder is usually the better answer even though it takes up space.

We work it out on the survey rather than in advance, and tell you which one we would fit and why. If keeping the cylinder is the right call we will say so — moving to a combi is not automatically an upgrade.

How an installation runs

Replacing a gravity or open-vented system

A lot of the older housing on this coast is still on an open-vented system — a boiler feeding a cylinder, with a tank in the loft and hot water moving by gravity. It works until it does not, and the parts get harder to find every year.

Converting one to a sealed system is one of the jobs we are called out for most. The loft tank comes out, the pipework is cleaned properly before anything new goes on it, and the controls come up to something you can actually set. It is more work than a straight swap, and we tell you that up front rather than discover it on day two.

Central heating specification

Warranty, certification and the paperwork

A boiler is only as good as the commissioning behind it. Ours are set up to the manufacturer’s figures and the Benchmark log book is filled in on the day. That book is what most warranty claims are judged against, and an unfilled one is the usual reason a claim fails years later.

A new boiler is notifiable under Building Regulations Part L. We file that for you, so you never deal with the council. The warranty — up to ten years, subject to an annual service — is registered in your name before we leave, not left for you to do.

If the old one can be repaired instead

Not every failed boiler needs replacing, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a system. If a repair is the sensible answer we will say so and quote it as a boiler repair instead.

New boiler questions