New Boiler Quote 2026: Get the Best Price & Grants

What Does a New Boiler Quote Actually Include?

A proper quote covers the boiler, the labour, the flue, system flushing, controls, and the warranty registration. Anything missing from that list is a red flag.

The boiler itself is usually the smallest line on the bill. On a typical £2,800 combi swap, the unit might be £900 and the rest is labour, parts, and the bits installers don't always spell out.

Here's what should be itemised:

• The boiler make, model, and output (in kW)
• Labour, broken down by day rate or fixed install fee
• The flue, plus any extensions if the boiler is moving
• A power flush or chemical flush of the existing system
• New filter (a magnetic filter like a MagnaClean is standard now)
• Thermostat or smart controls
• Removal and disposal of the old boiler
• Warranty length and who registers it
• Building regs notification (Gas Safe handles this automatically)

If a quote just says "new boiler supplied and fitted, £2,500" with nothing else, walk away. That's not a quote. That's a price.

We see this constantly with cold-call installers. A vague number on the doorstep, no breakdown, and then £400 of extras appear on completion day. "Oh, we had to add a scale reducer." "The gas pipe needed upgrading." Maybe it did. But you should have known that before they started.

How Much Should a New Boiler Cost in 2026?

Most combi replacements cost £1,800 to £3,500 fitted, with system and regular boilers running £2,500 to £4,500 depending on complexity.

The range is wider than people expect because the boiler itself is only part of the story. A like-for-like combi swap where everything stays in the same spot is the cheap end. Moving the boiler, upgrading pipework, switching from a regular system to a combi, or fitting in a flat with awkward flue routes, that's where the bill climbs.

Rough 2026 pricing by job type:

Brand matters less than people think for the price. A Worcester Bosch 4000 and an Ideal Logic Max in the same kW output are within £150 of each other. The big variable is the installer's day rate and how much remedial work the system needs.

For a full breakdown by boiler type and brand, we've covered this in detail in our new boiler cost guide and the boiler replacement cost guide which gets into pipework and removal charges specifically.

One honest bit. The cheapest quote is almost never the right quote. The middle quote, from a Gas Safe installer with verifiable reviews and a clear breakdown, is usually the smart pick.

Can You Get a Free or Funded Boiler Through a Grant?

Yes, if you receive means-tested benefits and your current boiler is broken or inefficient, ECO4 can fund a full replacement at no cost. See our guide on ECO4 boiler grants for more detail.

ECO4 is the main route for fully-funded boilers in 2026. It's paid for by energy suppliers under their obligation to upgrade low-income homes. The household has to receive a qualifying benefit (Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, ESA, JSA, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, or Attendance Allowance), and the property usually needs to be rated D or below on its EPC.

We've covered the application process and what to expect in the free boiler scheme guide.

If you're swapping a gas boiler for a heat pump instead, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 toward an air source heat pump or ground source heat pump. That's a different conversation entirely, more upfront cost, more disruption, but lower running bills long-term. The heat pump quote guide walks through what to expect there.

Warm Homes: Local Grant is the third route, but eligibility and amounts vary wildly by council. Worth checking, but don't bank on it.

Here's the honest bit most installers won't tell you. If you might be ECO4-eligible, do NOT accept a paid quote first. Once you've signed a contract or had work started, you lose the ECO4 route. Check eligibility before you accept anything.

Which Boiler Grants Are Open Right Now?

Three schemes can fund or part-fund a new heating system in 2026, and one closed earlier this year.

ECO4 runs until December 2026 and covers full boiler replacements for benefits-eligible households. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme runs until March 2030 and pays £7,500 for heat pump conversions. Warm Homes: Local Grant runs until March 2028 with variable amounts set by your local authority.

The Great British Insulation Scheme closed in March 2026, so anyone seeing offers referencing GBIS this year is either out of date or chancing it. Insulation grants still exist through ECO4 and local schemes, just not under the GBIS branding.

Quick comparison:

If you're a pensioner specifically, the routes are slightly different and worth reading separately in the pensioner boiler grants guide.

How to Compare New Boiler Quotes Without Getting Caught Out

Get three quotes, in writing, with itemised breakdowns, from Gas Safe registered installers. That's the rule. No exceptions.

Verbal quotes are not quotes. They're sales pitches. You need everything in writing because that's what you'll dispute later if something goes wrong, and the Gas Safe register only takes complaints seriously when there's documentation behind them.

What to compare across the three quotes:

Boiler model and output. Make sure they've sized it correctly. A 24kW combi in a four-bed house won't cope. A 35kW combi in a one-bed flat is wasteful. If installers are quoting different outputs, ask why.

Warranty length. Worcester Bosch and Vaillant routinely offer 10 to 12 year warranties through accredited installers. Ideal does similar. If one quote offers a 2-year warranty and another offers 10 years on the same brand, the installer isn't accredited and the cheaper price reflects that.

What's included vs what's an "optional extra". Power flush, magnetic filter, smart thermostat. These should be in the quote, not added on day one.

Day rate vs fixed price. A fixed price quote protects you from scope creep. A day-rate quote can drift if the job turns out to be messier than expected.

But here's where most people get caught. The lowest quote often skips the system flush. Then six months later, sludge from the old radiators wrecks the new boiler's heat exchanger, and the warranty doesn't cover "contamination from the existing system." That £200 you saved costs £600 to fix.

Use the check eligibility tool before you commit to any paid quote. If a grant route is open to you, you don't want to find out after you've signed.

One more thing. Be wary of installers who push a specific brand hard. Some get incentives from manufacturers. Worcester, Vaillant, and Ideal are all solid choices in 2026, our best combi boiler comparison goes into the trade-offs. There's no single "best" brand. There's the right boiler for your house and water pressure.

When Is the Right Time to Get a New Boiler Quote?

Get quotes in spring or early autumn, when installers aren't slammed with emergency callouts and prices are slightly more flexible.

Winter is the worst time. December and January, every boiler engineer in the country is fixing broken boilers in freezing houses, and a planned replacement gets quoted at peak rates. June through September is calm. You'll get installers actually competing for your job, more flexibility on the install date, and often a small discount because they need the work.

The other timing question is: do you replace before the old one dies, or wait?

If your boiler is 12+ years old, replacing it before it fails is usually the right call. You get to choose your installer, get three quotes, and avoid the panic-buying premium. If it dies in February, you're paying whoever can come tomorrow, which is rarely the best-value option.

If your boiler is under 10 years old and running fine, just service it annually and wait. New boilers are more efficient but not by enough to justify replacing a working one. The payback window on "upgrading for efficiency" is usually 8 to 12 years.

Anyway. The exception is if you're already planning insulation upgrades or considering a heat pump. In that case, time the boiler decision with the rest of the work, not separately. There's no point fitting a new gas combi this year if you're moving to an air source heat pump next year.

Find Your Grant Route in 2 Minutes

Before you accept any boiler quote, check if you qualify for funding. Tell us your postcode and your benefits status, and we'll tell you exactly which schemes apply to your home, what they pay, and who to apply with.

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