Boiler Installation in Edinburgh
Gas Safe registered boiler installers across Edinburgh and the Lothians — proper sizing, clean installs, and honest advice on what your property actually needs.
Macara Heating installs and replaces gas boilers across Edinburgh — from tenement flats in Marchmont and Leith to 1930s semis in Corstorphine, larger detached homes in Cramond and Barnton, and everything in between. Every install is handled by Gas Safe registered engineers with more than twelve years of heating experience across the city. We're LPG certified too, which matters for properties in Kirkliston, South Queensferry and the rural edges where mains gas isn't always the right answer. Proper sizing, clean installs, manufacturer warranties honoured, and an honest conversation about what your property actually needs — not a sales pitch for the most expensive unit in the catalogue.
Local Context
Edinburgh's housing stock is one of the most varied in the UK, and that matters more for a boiler replacement than most homeowners expect. Georgian and Victorian stone terraces in the New Town and Old Town, tenement flats across Marchmont, Newington, Leith and Morningside, Edwardian bay-fronted villas in Bruntsfield and Murrayfield, 1930s semis through Corstorphine, Craigleith and Fairmilehead, post-war estates in Wester Hailes and Pilton, and newer detached houses in Cramond, Barnton and the southern suburbs. Each archetype has its own quirks around pipework layout, flue routing, gas meter position and radiator sizing.
The commonest Edinburgh boiler replacement is still a gas combi swap — old system boiler out, new combi in, cylinder removed to reclaim the airing cupboard. That's usually the right call in a two- or three-bedroom flat or a small semi. In larger detached houses, or in homes where two showers might run at the same time, a system boiler with a well-sized unvented cylinder is often a better fit than a combi pushed beyond its comfortable flow rate. We'll tell you which of those is honest for your property rather than defaulting to whatever is quickest to install.
Tenement flats bring their own considerations. Shared-stair properties in Marchmont, Newington, Leith and the New Town often have gas meter cupboards and flue routes that were never designed with modern condensing boilers in mind. Flue terminal siting against a shared boundary, condensate drainage to an internal soil stack, and building warrant considerations in listed stairs are all part of a tenement boiler swap. We've done enough of them in Edinburgh to know what's going to get signed off and what's going to need a rethink before the old boiler comes off the wall.
The western edge of the city — Kirkliston, Dalmeny, parts of South Queensferry and the rural pockets near Ratho — includes properties that run on LPG rather than mains gas. LPG boiler installs are a different conversation around flue gas analysis, regulator siting and supplier paperwork, and we're LPG certified to handle them. For oil-fired properties we'll be honest about whether a modern gas or LPG swap is the right route, or whether it's worth looking at a heat pump conversion instead.
Service Scope
The standard Edinburgh upgrade — old system or regular boiler out, modern combi in, cylinder removed where it makes sense. Proper sizing against your actual hot water demand, not a default 30kW because it was on the van. Gas Safe registered, building warrant handled where needed, and the old kit removed and disposed of cleanly.
For larger Edinburgh detached and semi-detached homes, or properties where two bathrooms might run at once, a system boiler with a well-sized unvented cylinder is often the right call over a combi. We design the cylinder capacity to your actual usage, not a generic figure, and commission the G3 unvented setup properly.
Macara Heating is LPG certified — useful for properties in Kirkliston, South Queensferry, Dalmeny and the rural edges of Edinburgh where mains gas isn't an option. We install, service and repair LPG boilers, handle the flue gas analysis, and give you an honest view on whether LPG is still the right long-term call versus a heat pump swap.
How It Works
Step 1
We come to your property, look at the existing system, the pipework, the gas supply, the flue route and your actual hot water demand. You get a straight recommendation — combi, system, or something else — not a pitch for whatever the margin is best on that week.
Step 2
A clear written quote with the boiler model, warranty length, any filters or accessories, power flush if needed, building warrant fees where relevant, and the install timeline. No hidden extras added once we're on site, and no pressure to decide on the day.
Step 3
Most Edinburgh boiler swaps are a one- to two-day install. We protect the property properly, fit the new unit to manufacturer specification, flush the system where needed, commission it against the benchmark commissioning sheet, and register the warranty on your behalf. Gas Safe notification handled, building warrant sign-off where applicable.
Step 4
Walk-through of the new controls, thermostat setup, written commissioning paperwork for your records, and a clear route back to us for the annual service and any warranty claims. We're a local team — you're not phoning a call centre a hundred miles away.
Coverage Detail
The tenement belt running through Marchmont, Newington and Bruntsfield is the most common Edinburgh boiler replacement territory we see. Most are combi swaps in shared-stair flats where the challenge is flue routing, gas meter cupboard access and condensate drainage rather than the boiler itself. We've handled enough of these to know which stair configurations work cleanly and which need a rethink before the old boiler comes off the wall.
The 1930s semis and bay-fronted villas through Corstorphine, Craigleith and Murrayfield usually sit on mid-sized gas combis with one bathroom, sometimes two. The pipework is often original, the radiators are frequently oversized for the demand, and a power flush is often the sensible addition to a boiler swap to protect the new heat exchanger. Standard Edinburgh boiler territory and we do a lot of them.
Larger detached and semi-detached houses through Cramond, Barnton and Davidson's Mains are where we most often recommend a system boiler plus unvented cylinder rather than a combi. Two bathrooms running at once, a big family kitchen, and enough airing-cupboard space to keep a cylinder all make the case. We'll size the cylinder to your actual usage rather than a default figure.
Leith, Trinity and Newhaven cover a mix of Victorian tenements, Edwardian terraces and newer waterfront developments. The older stock usually needs careful flue siting and condensate routing; the newer builds are generally straightforward combi swaps. Either way, we handle the building warrant side where it applies and make sure the install clears sign-off first time.
Detached and semi-detached 1930s–1960s housing through Colinton, Fairmilehead and Swanston sits on a mix of combis and older system boilers. A lot of the back-boiler-and-cylinder setups we still see across the south-west corner of the city are ready for a full swap to a modern combi, and the airing cupboard usually comes back to the homeowner in the process.
The western edge of Edinburgh includes properties on LPG, oil and older electric heating as well as mains gas. Macara Heating is LPG certified and handles LPG boiler installs, servicing and repairs for this corner of the city. We'll also tell you honestly if the right long-term move for an oil or LPG house is a heat pump conversion instead of another fossil-fuel swap.
FAQs
A like-for-like gas combi replacement in an Edinburgh flat or small semi typically lands in the £2,200–£3,500 range fitted, depending on the boiler model, warranty length, and whether a power flush is needed. A larger system boiler with an unvented cylinder in a detached house usually sits in the £3,500–£5,500 range. We quote in writing with a full breakdown — boiler, warranty, accessories, flush if needed, and building warrant fees where they apply.
A straightforward combi swap in an Edinburgh flat is usually a one-day install. A full system change — different boiler type, pipework re-routing, cylinder removal or addition — is typically one to two days. Tenement installs can occasionally stretch to a second day where flue routing or building-warrant sign-off adds complexity, but we'll tell you the expected timeline in the written quote so there are no surprises.
It depends on your hot water demand and the property. For most Edinburgh flats and small semis with one bathroom, a modern combi is usually the right call — simpler, no cylinder, and you get the airing cupboard back. For larger houses with two bathrooms, or where two showers might run at the same time, a system boiler plus a well-sized unvented cylinder is normally the better fit. We'll give you an honest recommendation on the home visit rather than defaulting to whichever is easier to install.
Yes. Macara Heating is LPG certified and we install, service and repair LPG boilers — useful for properties in Kirkliston, South Queensferry, Dalmeny and the rural edges of Edinburgh where mains gas isn't available. For oil-fired properties we'll give you an honest view on whether another fossil-fuel swap is the right long-term call or whether a heat pump conversion makes more sense.
Yes. Tenement boiler replacements in Marchmont, Newington, Leith and the New Town regularly need careful flue terminal siting against shared boundaries, condensate routing to an internal soil stack, and building warrant consideration in listed stairs. We've done enough of these in Edinburgh to know what will get signed off cleanly and what needs a rethink before the old boiler comes off the wall.
Yes — we service every boiler we install annually, and we offer a local boiler cover option as an alternative to the national providers. You're phoning a local team, not a call centre, and the engineer who fitted the boiler is usually the engineer who comes back to service it. Cover details are agreed on the day of the install.
Macara Heating is Gas Safe registered, LPG certified, and draws on more than twelve years of domestic heating experience across Edinburgh and the Lothians. We install boilers cleanly, size them honestly, commission them properly, and stay local for the aftercare. No outsourced labour, no hard sell, no disappearing act once the van leaves.
Ready When You Are
Tell us about your property and we'll come out for a no-obligation home visit. You'll get a straight recommendation on the right boiler for your house, a written quote with a proper breakdown, and a clean install on a timeline we'll actually stick to.
Gas Safe registered, LPG certified, 12+ years of Edinburgh heating experience. No pressure, no hard sell.