Help required to install new oil fired boiler?

[Dc]

I have piped and installed 14 radiators myself but need an oil fired boiler and oil tank etc. I asked a local artisan for a devis to supply and install the rest but the price of a boiler 3600 euros plus tax has put me right off, they seem to think that "Les Anglais" are made of money. One of the reasons for leaving the UK was to get away from "rip-off merchants"! Can anyone advise on the following:

What bits do I need?

Best place to get them!

What has to be done and how easy/pratical it is to fit what's required.

Failing that the name and number of a good reliable plumber for Department 17.

Any help greatly appreciated as the house is cold and my wife is giving me ear-ache for not sorting things out earlier. "C'est la vie".

dc

[Michael]

The bits you require depends on the boiler ie, balance or conventional flue,size of water tappings on boiler, pressure unpressurised system, combie or standard boiler.The oil tank needs to be installed above the level of the burner pump or you will have to install a two pipe oil line or tiger loop,that will be 10mm plastic coated copper coiled pipe.The boiler needs to be big enough Btus for the house .With 14 rads at least a minimum of 60.000 btus.3600euros to supply and fit seems a fair price.On uk standards a worcester bosch combi oil boiler is approx 1200pounds with flue kit and prog.oil tank with guages etc 300quid.And as heating eng are now better trained than doctors and rocket scientists they do not come cheap?[when you purchase the boiler all instructions on installation and flue regs will be in the box.]Its law to put a fire valve outside the building to cut off the supply of oil to the burner in case of fire.happy plumbing.

[Boiling a frog]

Have a look at this

http://www.castorama.fr/boutique/products/products.jhtml?elementId=CastoCO0501&navAction=push&navCount=0

Will give you an idea of the cost of a boiler Why do people immediatly think they are being ripped off just because they are quoted a price which they had not expected,obviously having done no research on costs   

If you had cared to do a bit of research you would find that the price quoted to you is very reasonable

[Truffleman]

I thought the price I was quoted for whole house CH plus HW including installation of oil tank, boiler with HW 'ballon' was expensive until I related it to UK costs or a replacement gas wall-hung boiler by British Gas.

In UK I was so used to the price of bolting a gas boiler with a balanced flue on the wall and the etc. that when I added on the extra costs of what I was getting in France (with VAT at 5.5%) which included the oil tank and boiler foundations, flue from 'cave' to roof, etc., the Fench price  of €9000 by a SIRET registered plumber seemed very reasonable. Especiallly when I added on the negotiated freebies of replacing the CW supply pipe, concrete bases for the oil tank, boiler and the guarantee!

Yes, I could do it my self for less, but at what cost. A breakdown in mid-winter is not what I fancy facing without a local plumber on hand.

You get what you pay for, provided you check the prices!! and who's doing the work. Use local tradesmen and ask for references.

 

[Dc]

Just to clarify the price of just the boiler, supply only and not for fitting, and will be used to heat the radiators only, not to heat domestic water. In my book over £2500 for supply of a boiler to do this is indeed a "rip-off" or am I just getting mean in my old age!

 

dc

[Liz]

It does sound expensive but there are boilers and boilers. If you went to Brico Depot you would get one for probably half the price, elsewhere something that does the same job could cost twice as much. You just have to evaluate whether the cheaper or the more expensive is right for your situation. Getting the boiler installed should not be that expensive, it is a day's work for a man and a boy (or in our case a girl).

My OH was in two minds whether he should install the boiler himself. Like you the rads etc were already there. Amongst others we went to a local suppler of boilers, saw the one we wanted and asked the firm to give us the name of an installer. We felt that what we spent was not excessive (I think the whole job was roughly the same as the price you have for supply only, but we do not have so many rads so the boiler is smaller I guess) as there is a considerable saving in VAT. Whatever happens you will have to get someone in to commission the boiler

It does pay to shop around.

Liz (29)

[Ron Avery]

Sorry duplicated posting

[Ron Avery]

You are not going to get a decent boiler man enough to supply 14 rads in the UK for £2000. and neither will you in France.  For that capacity you are not looking at a small boiler and good boilers do not come cheap in any EU country.

The costs of boilers for this installation I have seen quoted on this topic are very reasonable.  If you can get one installed that will supply 14 rads for  less than €4000,  go for it.  In many cases it is not just a case of plumbing in the old one.  Mine has digital programming, and remote temperature control,  it also supplies gallons of hot water from a stainless steel tank, but this is not wall mounted boiler, this is the size of a large fridge. It involved a lot of wiring changes and new  pipework, the old one was at least 30 years old. 

The basic boiler (without hot water supply) quoted was a VIESMANN VITOLA 100 22/27KW, it was €3000 HT, the electronic control version, the one I had with L'eau chaude, (the 111) was €4200.HT The total for the new boiler, labour (€1600), wiring , parts etc and one new rad at the extreme of the system was €8000 TTC and worth every centime, it was all done and working within 3 days.  With the new boiler I use about 50cm of fuel in the tank a week as opposed to the old one that used 25cm a day, just for C/H.

As Liz said , if you get your boiler installed by a registered plumber you are saving 14% on the material cost to start with.

[zeb]

Sorry dc but our Ferroli (15 - 34.9KW) installed a couple of years ago was £3009 euros (just for the boiler). Can't give you a labour charge as we had full central heating (10 rads) and bathrooms plumbed in at the same time.

T'is huge and the pipe work looks like something from ICI - was a bit cross at the time as it took up my entire utility room, but I've warmed to it now!! Can dry a washload in there hanging on the clothes horse overnight.

You can probably get a cheaper one from brico depot but our plumber wouldn't have plumbed it in!

courage.........helen

[Bobdude]

We bought the 'Bricomarche special' and our son's friend, a Corgi reg plumber in the UK, installed it ready to be connected up to the mains and fired up. We then got a French artisan to check the system, connect the electrics (as the electrician said it was the plumber's job!) and fire up the boiler. We have 8 rads (doubles) and the boiler is Italian, and only as big as a washing machine. (Time will tell how effective the boiler is I suppose) We do have a similar boiler installed where we live, and we have been here for 18 months with no problems. The whole system with all the rads, valves, bruleur, piping, all fittings etc cost us 2,000 euros. It took the plumber an hour and a half to get it up and running, including changing a rad in the bathroom as the one we already had was too big.

I suppose it depends a lot on the area you live in - not all plumbers are after ripping you off. We did get a devis for the whole system before we decided to go the DIY way - 8,500 euros! Best bet is to shop around, the same as you would probably do in the UK.