Hi everyone!

I was wondering if you could all spare me 1 minute of your time by taking part in this poll. It is totally for my benefit so I don't mind if you don't want to read on.

If you are still with me....I am thinking of starting my own business using a Power Flush machine to clean out central heating systems of domestic properties, and I was just wondering if there would be a market for it.

The process involves connecting a small machine (about the size of a hoover) to one of your radiators, and flushing out the whole system to eradicate sludge and rust build up, which can significantly reduce efficiency and the life of your boiler/pump etc. It would take roughly 3/4 hours.

I would also appreciate your opinion on what would be a fair charge for this service. I have looked on the net and a firm in Leicester is charging over £300. This I think is a bit much. I was thinking more along the lines of £80 or £90.

Anyways, thanks for staying with me and giving your opinions.

Cheers for the idea. I'm now starting up this new business now. Oh, and as it's new, I'm charging £300 per flush. I'm also considering human cholonic's for an extra £50.00 as an introductory offer valid until May 2007 only.

Yeah if it prolongs the life of your boiler and the efficiency,then yes i would have it done:clap:

Oi!
I've been married to my boiler for 14 years & no one's gonna flush her sludge for any money.



innit

Oi!
I've been married to my boiler for 14 years & no one's gonna flush her sludge for any money.



innit

Nice!! :hihi:

Thanks for the feedback so far. Any comments from anyone else??

Thanks for the feedback so far. Any comments from anyone else??

What are you going to do if you blow a hole in one of the rads, or the pipe work under the floor?
Best get some advice re insurance ets first.
Business Link are the ones to go to.
Dont start up haphazard.

I was just going to ask what about the radiators bursting ... if they've been cacked up with sludge for years and you suddenly blast them clean, how likely are they to spring a leak?

That happened once with a water tank, someone decided to clean it out for some insane reason and a couple of days later the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the water that had leaked from it ... :o

Big cheese,
At £90 people will snatch your arm off.
I was quoted £785..................yes £785 by a central heating co.
I got it done by a one man band for £250.
The amount of sludge that came out was amazing.
However it took practically all day almost 8 hours to do the job and I was there while he worked so he wasn't slacking!.
Do you think 3 to 4 hours is sufficient time and £90 is enough for you to make a living if you go full time??
Assuming you'll be paying tax, insurance etc.

You might make more money on Colonic irrigation which the title of the poll suggests you were offering!!!

Big cheese,
At £90 people will snatch your arm off.
I was quoted £785..................yes £785 by a central heating co.
I got it done by a one man band for £250.
The amount of sludge that came out was amazing.
However it took practically all day almost 8 hours to do the job and I was there while he worked so he wasn't slacking!.
Do you think 3 to 4 hours is sufficient time and £90 is enough for you to make a living if you go full time??
Assuming you'll be paying tax, insurance etc.

You might make more money on Colonic irrigation which the title of the poll suggests you were offering!!!

You will find most of his customers will pay cash:D edit....spelling correction

Hello big cheese

I run a small company specialising in powerflushing.

Chemicals are going to cost you between 18 and 36 plus VAT depending on system size.

The minimum time I've ever spent doing a powerflush is 4 hours.
The max is two visits, one of twelve hours and four the next day.
you can work at the hourly rate for yourself.

Like most things 90 percent are run of the mill, but you need some experience (or back up) for the 10 percent that aren't straightforward.

I've no idea how much you want to earn an hour, but 90 is selling yourself way too cheap.

300 is an average starting price if you;re running an above board operation. My starting price is 375 inc VAT. IT can go up lots from there.

In my experience, you always get what you pay for.

Good luck with it anyway. I'm thinking of starting a training course so if you are interested give me a call on 01225-869036

All the best

Ian Pritchard

I had it done about 2 years ago. We are on a British Gas monthly plan but powerflushing wasn't included and they quoted £450. However my plumber did it manually and charged me £160 which I thought was very good. He had a mate in to help and it took several hours. British Gas did comment that as my plumber didn't use a machine it wouldn't be as effective and the boiler wouldn't be as clean. I can see their point but we've not had any bother since - fingers crossed!

british gas are looking for powerflushing engineers and pay 20 pound an hour, they give you 5 a week and have a massive back log.

it is not as easy as you think, there are many different systems and pipe configurations also different materials in the system so the correct agents should be used or problems will occur,

with experience 300 will be as low as you will be able to go and make a profit, as above the materials will add up also insurance,van and tools will take a big chunk out of your profit too.

if you dont have experience of central heating and installations to be honest you will not be able to do it, even with training,

and as for the time of 3/4 hrs ... it can take 2 hours to cap off the system and connect every thing up including finding a mains water fill point and dust sheet the property etc.

what happens if a rad bursts and you say sorry you wil have to call a plumber to fix it ?

This OP was from a year ago!!

well spotted andy.. lol.. i was testing you.

Well Ive just had a second radiator in my house blow in the last few years. Had British Gas engineer out this morning and the water in radiator was black. He was saying that I would probably have to flush the system out and that British Gas now charge around £600.

yes they do .. i flush to the same standard and only charge half that ... they do seem to rip people off .. they use contractors like me and pay them 180 a flush .. so 420 a job profit .. nice little earner for nothing .. ;;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jl-heating/2699514162/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jl-heating/2699514162/
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