Replacing Radiators?

[Bes]

Hi

I've been looking at replacing some of the radiators in my flat with the nice old-fashioned- looking bar ones. The current ones are Barlow(?) radiators, and apparently are rubbish for heating a room effectively? They are quite old looking.

The guy who serviced my boiler quoted a colossal £2.3K to:

Install and Supply 5 ACOVA Radiators with thermostatic rad valves.
Including all necessary pipework, fittings and fixtures to complete the job in full.
Including alterations to pipework to suit the new radiators and one radiator being moved.

(2) 4 column rads for living room and kitchen.
(3) 2 column rads for hall and bedrooms.

I include system protector and inhibitors while installing new radiators to protect them from sludge deposits.

This seems rather steep to me, and rather than do all this, I may start off by just replacing 2 of the radiators (living room and kitchen) myself if I can.

How hard is this to do myself, having never attempted this before? Should I just get an expert in? Is there a guide as to how/ where I should be doing this?

Thanks

 

[Swifty55]

Have you had any other quotes to even compare to before determining whether the price is steep or not?

 

[Bes]

I haven't, no. If it's going to be anything close to that though, then I do think it's more than I want to spend. He must be charging at least £1200 for labour as I can't see how 5 radiators and a few valves is going to cost more than £1000 even in the most extreme circumstances!

Means it must be like a week's work unless he is totally taking the mick? It's only a ~800 sq ft ground floor flat!!

 

[Solus]

I'd expect around £1200, give or take a couple of hundred. All depends on your area. I'd be getting the rads and materials from screwfix and then asking a plumber to do the work. Then they know that you know it's pure profit for them and the figure will soon drop drastically.

 

[Hedge]

The radiators you are wanting are likely to be expensive. Price them up and then decide if the labour cost is reasonable.

 

[Bes]

The radiators you are wanting are likely to be expensive. Price them up and then decide if the labour cost is reasonable.

I have done - even at £200 a rad that B&Q want, (Add in another hundred or two for pipes, connectors, inhibitors, etc.), his quote seems like a heck of a lot in my opinion.

How hard is it for a total noob to replace a radiator alone?

Solus are you saying that the labour should come in around £1200? This is roughly what the guy is quoting I suppose, assuming he has to buy the rads at B&Q prices... which I would kinda doubt. (I am South London, zone 2, which makes everything super expensive by default...)

 

[Solus]

I'm saying that standard rads from screwfix (which are bloody brilliant by the way) cost £60 - £80 each plus any valves etc. £600 labour would do it I would have thought.

 

[Hedge]

What dimensions are you looking for?

The things is, sure you can get column radiators for £200. But they are about 900mm wide.

If you want large radiators (like some of ours are 1800mm wide) then that cost will double.

The price is quite high but the price of products can vary massively.

 

[Entropy]

In theory replacing a radiator is a simple enough task, but can be one of those jobs where a lot of small things can be overlooked and turn into a couple of runs out to buy things you didn't realise you needed to get the job done. Depending on the age of your radiators and the fact you are going for column radiators the pipework spacings are likely to be off and will require pipework modification along with new brackets installing. You also don't mention the size of the radiators, long rads and especially those 4-columns can become extremely heavy making it a 2-man job and likely a good days work.

 

[Bes]

Thanks all. Sounds like it may well be best to call an expert. The rads I am looking at getting fitted are definitely very different in terms of size, width, etc.

Still, charging what I can only see as being £1000 labour for a couple of days work is somewhat excessive, unless there will be 2 people involved or something. The kitchen is pretty large, (About 4x4.5m and over 3.5m to the ceiling) so we are probably looking at something like this: http://www.diy.com/departments/acova-4-column-radiator-silver-w1226mm-h600mm/179237_BQ.prd

Whereas the other rooms would want smaller ones, in the region of £150-£200.

 

[Hedge]

I think the price isnt really that crazy when pricing the radiators.

If you are getting ones like you linked then 2 of them are pushing £700. Then 3x2 Column radiators are probably £750. Then you add in the cost of 5 TRVs at about £20 quid each. Then add a few lengths of copper pipe and fittings for any alterations and some fernox inhibitor to finish and your quote seems to make sense.

Things soon add up. Also dont be one of the people that breaks down jobs into hourly rates then tries to pay a plumber £80 quid for a days work because £10 an hour seems fair eh! lol.

 

[Bes]

I think the price isnt really that crazy when pricing the radiators.

If you are getting ones like you linked then 2 of them are pushing £700. Then 3x2 Column radiators are probably £750. Then you add in the cost of 5 TRVs at about £20 quid each. Then add a few lengths of copper pipe and fittings for any alterations and some fernox inhibitor to finish and your quote seems to make sense.

Things soon add up. Also dont be one of the people that breaks down jobs into hourly rates then tries to pay a plumber £80 quid for a days work because £10 an hour seems fair eh! lol.

haha nah I wouldn't do that

I'll do a bit of calling 'round and see if his quote looks reasonable then.

Cheers!

 

[Solus]

Are you replacing new with old the same dimension radiators? The new will be so much more powerful and though you say the kitchen is large, I can't see you needing that much. I have 3 new radiators in my house, the rest around 20 years old. The valves are set to 3 on the new and the rest of the house 5.

I halved the size of the radiator in my daughter's bedroom to allow for a fitted high rise bed with play area underneath. You walk in her room and the heat hits you. I think you may be overdoing it a bit.

 

[Hedge]

On this subject I just hung a huge double convector. It's 1800mm long and in my hallway. It replaces the original old single panel and I think it might be overkill. It's massive lol.

 

[phill]

I installed 5 of these very rads a few months ago. No real plumbing experience prior, rads were different dimensions too so had to solder and reconfigure. Had a friend show me how to do the first one then I was away. Honestly not hard at all and another life skill

I could have paid someone to do it, but I got a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself and learning a lot of new things to boot.

 

[Solus]

I installed 5 of these very rads a few months ago. No real plumbing experience prior, rads were different dimensions too so had to solder and reconfigure. Had a friend show me how to do the first one then I was away. Honestly not hard at all and another life skill

I could have paid someone to do it, but I got a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself and learning a lot of new things to boot.

Always the option of plastic pipes too!