GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: R32UK on 26 November 2011, 07:29
-
With winter just around the corner I have decided its time to get some central heating cover. For some reason every xmas when the house is full of people, boiler/heating system seems to play up.
Normally through the year it seems to be fine but having a mega flow(?) system means that not all plumbers know whats going on when they turn up... and god knows I have had enough of them out.
So I have been looking at the British Gas Central Heating Care options at £10, £12.50 and £17per month. Has any one had any experience of these? and what has the level of service/response been like??
Anything I need to be aware of that they do/do not cover??
tia :smiley:
-
I know nothing ( but im a plumber) british gas have the best rep etc!! Stay away from homeserve .
Do you not have a reliable friend/ plumber
-
British gas homecare 300 product will cover all of your central heating and plumbing issues. Our boiler broke on Wednesday night at 9pm and spoke to the call centre after only a 5 min delay (impressive that time of night) and it was fixed at 10am the next morning. Despite the problems of the past, they are a great company and the customer service for energy and breakdowns is virtually the best on the market.
The web saver online energy tariffs are also about the cheapest on the market if you are ok with online bills
-
British Gas seem ok to me so far. We moved from Homeserve who were the biggest shower of sh!te I have ever had to deal with :angry:
-
don't expect british gas to know how a megaflow works!
also you do know that your megaflow requires a yearly service just like your boiler does?
-
I have British Gas Homecare 200, and they've been fine...although I've only had routive services.
The only thing to watch out for is the usual "due to a high amount of breakdowns we are very busy and will have to postpone your service appointment"...I accepted that in cold weather..but not in summer!
But the Service Engineers that I've had visit were good lads, pleasant, and very thouough.
-
I have British gas home care 400 I think, has paid for itself time and time again, all the parts they have replaced have been covered and they are normally round pretty quickly when I do call them out. I'm surprised not more people have the cover to be honest.
-
what boiler do you have? it must be rubbish if it breaks down every winter!
If you have a very temperamental system then british gas is the way forward. However if your boiler rarely breaks down then you'll end up giving them a lot of money for no reason.
a british gas service usually involves "safety checks" and not a lot else.
and finally i wouldn't go with british gas just because of that twit that does the voiceovers on the adverts :grin: :grin: :grin:
-
Cant you walk around the track?
By that I meant, is there a path that follows the outside of the track.
-
Cant you walk around the track?
By that I meant, is there a path that follows the outside of the track.
:huh:
-
what boiler do you have? it must be rubbish if it breaks down every winter!
If you have a very temperamental system then british gas is the way forward. However if your boiler rarely breaks down then you'll end up giving them a lot of money for no reason.
Didnt know the mega flow needs a service :huh:
In all honesty the boiler has always been fine, we just seem to have lots of problems with the electronic switch that flips between hot water and central heating.
Tried many many plumbers and every time they open the cupboard to the mega flow they just looked confused. One even told me it wasnt fitted properly, but not sure how true that was.
The system was fitted about 6yrs ago (not by me) however I have been told that the water prussure is not enought to feed the mega flow and we would need an additional pump in the garage. Looked at a few of the pupms and they are quite a big unit so have ruled this out as it will make the garage useless :undecided:
Thanks for the tips though... BG homescare looks like a good deal :smiley:
-
Just make sure you know what they cover in the small print.
I paid loads every month then worked out they changed timers pumps valves thats all that went wrong on mine.
I've cancelled it three years ago and did the work myself which came to less than three years of repairs!
But I know my boiler well and its good even service it myself usually means not touching anything gas related, but have done, fan, thermostats, valve, pumps, immersion heaters, PCB, Pilots and pipe work Still ended up cheaper than what I've paid for cover!
I'm getting the loft insulated on monday and went out bought some insulation for the cold water pipes and tank. It came to about £40 £20 of that was the sh!tty plastic lid, but you are right preparing this winter to come is not a bad thing considering getting a pumber @ Christmas is a bloody nightmare!
-
Homeserve suck balls, so many clauses designed to add cost to your breakdown.
My cover is now through my Bank......
Top tip, service your boiler in the summer its cheaper and easier to get a plumber.
I flushed, bled and inhibited my CH myself this summer, fixed all the dripping taps etc.
Its then cheep to get the plumber in to check it over and sign it all off :cool:
The loss of pressure in the CH is the most common fault which can kill your boiler, by keeping it topped up to minimum pressure you can avoid costly repair bills.
I check mine every week when its going full pelt in the cold winter, takes 30 seconds
-
Sounds like you shouldn't of had a megaflow in the first place, ( an unvented system). I doubt British gas would no anything about these systems, my mate knows everything about gas but get him to talk about plumbing and heating and he hasn't got a clue!
But tbh that wouldn't effect your boiler anyway so they wouldn't need to worry about it.
New boiler time maybe?
-
As said, the boiler seems to be ok for now and the only trouble whe had was a frozen pipe outside last year. Just want to be sure to not be left without any hot water at any point.
As for the mega flow.. it was recommended as i didnt want loss of pressure, esp having more than 1 shower upstairs. It seemed pointless if the pressure was always going to drop... guess the inital plumber pulled a bit of a swift one there :angry: however the builder claims he no longer works with that plumber so at a bit of a loss there.
The tank does also have an immersion heater on it... but I have never managed to get this to work either :undecided: dont even know if its ever worked tbh as never needed it :undecided:
going to be going with the BG homecare though, just to be on the safe side :smiley:
-
Ah right yer sounded like he did a bit, expensive the megaflows! All the pipework comes premade onto the cylinder so all the plumber does it connect onto it, at a price! Megaflow is just a brand name like a stanley knife for instance. The systems an unvented system :smiley:
You'll always get a slight pressure drop but where the pressure is higher ( the cylinder is fed at mains water pressure, what comes out your kitchen tap) you wouldn't notice it was much as if you had a tank in your left dripping out!
It's a good system though if done right !
-
if you have poor water pressure then an unvented system should never have been installed. Only other way around it is a break tank and booster pump. If you're programmer keeps failing then get them to fit a decent one!
A megaflow service involves checking all pressure relief valves (there should be at least 2), in your case recharging the air gap in your megaflow, cleaning out the filter in the pressure reducing valve and checking all safety devices (high limit stat, stat and 2 port valve).
-
It does have the 2 valves which I was told to keep an eye on but have no idea what they do... or any effect when I do play with them. :undecided:
think i need to find someone who knows about these things!! :cool:
-
unfortunately i can't see it being cost effective to travel to leeds :grin:
-
which is a shame.. but thanks for the help anyway :smiley:
-
Tbh you can't keep an eye on those valves anyway lol They arn't going to fail, the system has 3 safety features, but if all 3 do fail (which they wont) then this is what will happen lol !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bU-I2ZiML0
Not trying to scare ya! As the last time this happened was in america in like the 40 or 50's !
-
Alex PM incoming about my boiler problems :(
-
Alex PM incoming about my boiler problems :(
pm replied not good news i'm afraid :cry:
-
Alex PM incoming about my boiler problems :(
pm replied not good news i'm afraid :cry:
Won't PM you again :tongue: cheers dude :smiley: