New boiler installation in Croydon and the CR postcodes

Our combi installations start at £1,950 and that figure includes the boiler, controls, magnetic filter, scale reducer, system flush, fitting, certification and taking the old one away. A full central heating system, meaning boiler, radiators, pipework and controls, starts at £3,400. Where a job costs more than the starting figure it is because of something specific we found on the survey, such as moving the boiler, a mains upgrade or removing a back boiler and cylinder, and that will be itemised on the quote rather than absorbed into a round number.

Boiler Plus is the part of the building regulations that has applied to boiler installations in England since April 2018. It sets a minimum efficiency of 92 per cent, requires time and temperature controls with every gas boiler, and requires combis to have one of four extra measures: flue gas heat recovery, weather compensation, load compensation, or smart controls with automation and optimisation. It applies to any boiler we install for you, including a straight like-for-like replacement, and meeting it is part of the quoted price rather than an add-on.

Yes. We are Gas Safe registered, which is a competent person scheme, so we notify Gas Safe and Gas Safe notifies Croydon Council building control on your behalf. You do not need to apply to the council yourself or pay a separate building notice fee. Gas Safe then issues your Building Regulations compliance certificate, which usually arrives within a couple of weeks of the job. Keep it: it is the document a buyer’s solicitor will ask for when you sell, and replacing a lost one later is a nuisance.

No. Working on a gas appliance or gas pipework in a domestic property is restricted by law to a Gas Safe registered engineer, and installing a boiler is also notifiable work under the building regulations. Beyond the legal position, an unregistered installation cannot be notified, will not receive a compliance certificate, and voids the manufacturer’s warranty completely. It will also show up as an unresolved item during a sale. Buying the boiler yourself and having us fit it is a different matter, though we would usually rather supply it so the warranty sits cleanly with the installation.

A like-for-like combi replacement in the same position is normally one day, and you will usually have heating and hot water back the same evening. Moving the boiler to a different room, or converting from a conventional system with a cylinder and loft tanks to a combi, takes two to three days because there is far more pipework involved. Removing a back boiler from behind a gas fire is at the longer end of that, as the fireplace opening has to be dealt with afterwards. We tell you which of these your job is at the quote stage.

Usually not. Existing radiators are generally fine as long as they are sound and the system is properly cleansed, and we would rather flush and keep them than sell you a set you do not need. Two situations do change that. If the heat loss calculation shows a room is short of output, that radiator is undersized and running the new boiler at a low flow temperature will make it obvious. And if a radiator is badly corroded internally it will keep shedding sludge into the new boiler. We flag either on the survey with the cost, and it stays your decision.

Yes, please. The system has to be drained and refilled, every radiator needs bleeding and balancing once the new boiler is running, and the cleanse is only effective if we can get flow through all of them. That means we need to reach the valves at both ends of each radiator, so it helps if furniture is pulled clear beforehand. We also need access to the stopcock, the gas meter and the loft if there is a tank up there. If a radiator is boxed in or behind a fitted unit, tell us at the survey rather than on the morning.

Twelve years is around the point where the arithmetic starts to change, though age alone is not the deciding factor. What matters more is whether parts are still available, how many faults it has had in the last two years, and what it is costing to run. A boiler repair is £110 and an annual service is £90, so a single fault on an otherwise sound appliance is rarely a reason to replace it. Three faults in two winters on a boiler whose parts are being discontinued is a different conversation, and we will say so plainly rather than quoting you a new one by reflex.

In most cases yes, and a good deal of the housing we work on across central Croydon and the CR0 blocks is flats. The constraints are usually the flue and the consent rather than the boiler. A flue terminal has to sit a set distance from openable windows, boundaries and other terminals, which is tighter on a balcony or a light well, and above certain heights a specific flue system is needed. If you are a leaseholder, the freeholder or managing agent normally has to approve the work and may ask for evidence of our registration and insurance, which we can supply.

Some of the ex-local-authority blocks around the borough were built without a gas riser and are electric throughout, and a gas combi is not an option there. An electric boiler can be, though it needs a genuine look at the consumer unit and the incoming supply first, because the current draw is significant and the running cost per unit is a good deal higher than gas. We will tell you honestly whether it makes sense for your flat, what the alternatives are, and where the case for one is weak. A survey is the only sensible way to answer that one.

Government help with boiler replacement has run through a series of schemes over the years, and eligibility has generally been tied to receiving certain benefits and to the energy rating of the property. We are not a grant-funded installer, so we cannot process an application for you. If you think you might qualify, the places to check are the current government scheme and Croydon Council’s housing team. If a grant does not cover you, or you would rather not wait on one, we will quote the job normally.