Boiler Installation in Mirfield
Plenty of Mirfield's older stone cottages still run on a back boiler behind the fireplace. Converting one to a modern boiler is a bigger job than a straight swap, and the survey explains exactly what it involves.
Mirfield's housing runs from period stone cottages near the Calder and the canal in Battyeford and Northorpe to newer family homes on the estates towards Upper and Lower Hopton, and the installation work follows that split. On the newer estates the job is usually a like-for-like swap of an ageing combi or system boiler. In the older cottages it is often a back boiler: a boiler built in behind a gas fire, feeding a hot water cylinder and tanks in the loft. Those systems are now very old, inefficient, and increasingly hard to get parts for.
Replacing a back boiler means moving the heating to a new position, usually a kitchen wall or a cupboard where a flue can run outside. The old boiler and fire are disconnected and capped, the fireplace is left safe, and the pipework is re-run to the new boiler. Many owners take the chance to switch to a combi and remove the cylinder and loft tanks, which frees up space and gives hot water on demand. Older systems in soft-water West Yorkshire usually carry plenty of black sludge, so a power flush is normally recommended before the new boiler goes on, and it is on the written quote from the start.
The survey is free and covers all of this before a price is given: where the new boiler and flue can go, what pipework has to change, whether a combi suits the house, and how long the work will take. Haydn, Gas Safe registered (962740), does the survey and the installation himself. Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal and Glowworm boilers are supplied and fitted, the warranty is registered on the day, and the old boiler is taken away. Mirfield is close to the Pickles Gas base, so it is regular ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The back boiler is disconnected and capped along with the fire in front of it, a new boiler is fitted in a position where the flue can run outside, and the pipework is re-run to it. The survey works out the best position and explains the work before you get a written quote.
Longer than a straight swap, because the boiler moves and the pipework is re-run, and longer again if the cylinder and tanks come out. A like-for-like swap on a newer system is usually done in a day. The survey gives you a realistic timescale before anything is booked.
Often it makes sense: it removes the cylinder and loft tanks and gives hot water on demand. In a larger house with several bathrooms used at once, a system boiler can be the better choice. The survey looks at your hot water use and water pressure and recommends the type that suits.