Boiler/Heating Megathread - Advice & Recommendations, No Jobs/Quotes/Advertising

[watchcoll 10]

Just like to say that Steve (corgigasman) did an excellent job replacing an old system boiler, rerouting pipes, fitting a new towel radiator & installing a new combi boiler.

Having had work done to most of the house, Steve is the most professional tradesman i have encountered. He takes a real pride in his work, considers what is best for the customer rather than what's easier for him & finished the job in it's entirety - even finding the correct colour bricks for the resulting hole made by the old vent!

& he left the house as clean as he found it.

His was also the most reasonable quote of 4 for the work.

Thank you, Steve, for a great job & I will definitely be using you again for any gas related works!

[corgigasman 10]

Just like to say that Steve (corgigasman) did an excellent job replacing an old system boiler, rerouting pipes, fitting a new towel radiator & installing a new combi boiler.

Having had work done to most of the house, Steve is the most professional tradesman i have encountered. He takes a real pride in his work, considers what is best for the customer rather than what's easier for him & finished the job in it's entirety - even finding the correct colour bricks for the resulting hole made by the old vent!

& he left the house as clean as he found it.

His was also the most reasonable quote of 4 for the work.

Thank you, Steve, for a great job & I will definitely be using you again for any gas related works!

 

Thank you, your feedback is greatly appreciated, glad you are so happy with the install :-)

[babyboom 10]

We have removed our old gas fire and opened up the fireplace. We were originally thinking of having a fire basket and burning smokeless fuel on it. (Not as our main source of heating, we have gas central heating). A chimney sweep came out, swept and smoke tested our chimney and said it is sound. All it needs is the gas terminal taking off the chimney and a new pot on instead.

 

He advised us to get a multifuel stove, and said we wouldn't need a liner. As the chimney opening is to the side we would need a galvanised steel sheet with an access hatch to sweep the chimney.

 

So we have looked around and fancy a Firefox 5 cleanburn stove, which we could get for around £400 online. If we got all the stuff would a hetas engineer come out and fit it all for us and certify it, or will they only do it if they supply the stuff? I have seen a couple of fitters mention on their websites that they won't do it unless you fit a liner?

 

If we did it ourselves would the council sign it off without a liner?

 

Another question is if we just went for the open fire option does that have to be signed off as well?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Micky ET 10]

If you did it yourself you couldn't sign it of as you have not proved your are competent. I have many years of experience with gas flues,but have still had to use a Heatas Engineer to help me fi and sign of one in my home.

 

People generally advise flue liners (make sure liner is correct for fuel type) as unlined chimneys that are not regularly swept are more susceptible to chimney fires.

[Thebug 10]

I'm not sure if I'm on the right page so apologies if I am!

 

I'm going to need a new boiler this year as mine has finally conked out. I can get hot water but not heating. It is over 10 years old and I gave tried to claim for a grant for one as I am in low income and on working tax credits. I don't qualify because I don't claim child credits or disability benefits.

 

As I can't afford to pay for one out right, does anyone have any experience of the companies that you can have a new boiler and pay monthly. I've heard of helplink but I wondered what other people in similar circumstances had done and who they had used.

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

[Micky ET 10]

Hi,

 

We cana arrange finance for you through the boilers we fit it is called Baxi finance, we usually work out lower than british gas and helplink, If you are really struggling perhaps we could try and restore that old boiler until you can afford another one finance free?

[corgigasman 10]

I'm not sure if I'm on the right page so apologies if I am!

 

I'm going to need a new boiler this year as mine has finally conked out. I can get hot water but not heating. It is over 10 years old and I gave tried to claim for a grant for one as I am in low income and on working tax credits. I don't qualify because I don't claim child credits or disability benefits.

 

As I can't afford to pay for one out right, does anyone have any experience of the companies that you can have a new boiler and pay monthly. I've heard of helplink but I wondered what other people in similar circumstances had done and who they had used.

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Considering the qualifying criteria you mention above I assume you have tried (and failed) to obtain a free boiler under the ECO scheme, which does require quite specific benefits. Ironically wealthy landlords can take advantage if their tenants qualify, good for the tenants but good for the landlord too. You can still try for a boiler under the Green Deal (check out sites like GreenBuy Energy)...'effectively' the boiler costs you nothing (note the word effectively) as the cost is offset against the fuel savings made by your new boiler. A simplified explanation is....say you pay £100 dual fuel per month and the calculated saving from your new boiler is £15 per month, then you CONTINUE to pay £100 per month towards your fuel bill....£85 goes to energy company for fuel and the other £15 repays the cost of the boiler. It is a little more complex than the simplified example and ultimately cheaper if you have ready cash, but it is a viable alternative and will be attractive to some. Hope this helps :-)

[muckymurphy 10]

Considering the qualifying criteria you mention above I assume you have tried (and failed) to obtain a free boiler under the ECO scheme, which does require quite specific benefits. Ironically wealthy landlords can take advantage if their tenants qualify, good for the tenants but good for the landlord too. You can still try for a boiler under the Green Deal (check out sites like GreenBuy Energy)...'effectively' the boiler costs you nothing (note the word effectively) as the cost is offset against the fuel savings made by your new boiler. A simplified explanation is....say you pay £100 dual fuel per month and the calculated saving from your new boiler is £15 per month, then you CONTINUE to pay £100 per month towards your fuel bill....£85 goes to energy company for fuel and the other £15 repays the cost of the boiler. It is a little more complex than the simplified example and ultimately cheaper if you have ready cash, but it is a viable alternative and will be attractive to some. Hope this helps :-)

 

just been told that the 'green deal' scheme ended in july. is this true?

[corgigasman 10]

just been told that the 'green deal' scheme ended in july. is this true?

 

Not true.....it is anticipated to be around for years as it is one of governments big strategies to meet future carbon targets

[bsr2801 10]

Dear experts,

we have a Glow worm 80e boiler and it was working fine until i (newbie) bled the radiators and the pressure dropped and boiler lost its ignition. Had to call an electrician who struggled to fix it. However, with few phone calls and some expert guidance from his son then managed to re-pressurize the system and get it to work.

 

However, the boiler seems to need a punch every morning to get it started. It doesnt automatically start when the hot water is turned on. (The heating is turned off currently). Sometimes the single punch to kick start it in the morning gets it started and it works fine until night. Then the next morning it needs the same. Sometimes inbetween it needs a second punch...but without fail everytime we punch it or gently tap it, it works fine.

 

We had called a company to do servicing as well and without bad mouthing them they didn't do much apart from vacuuming our boiler which i could have done myself and saved the money for someone who could have helped us fix it.

 

So now we are back to square one and would need someone to fix this problem please as the boiler has started making a loud noise too when the hot water is being used.

 

We have an infant baby and are worried about the Sheffield winter and mostly because we cannot afford to replace our boiler now.

 

From what i have read online it could be anything from air in the system, microswitch not working, diaphragm needing to be replaced or pressure/air pressure switch not working, fan not kick starting or the worst the boiler is dying.

 

If you could please share your expert opinion it'll be very helpful.

 

Also, if you know of any trust worthy individual who can fix this at a reasonable rate please share...

 

From what i gather most energy companies, boiler companies and some specialist technicians are all insistent on replacing the boilers and we would certainly do it if we can afford it. However we cannot and besides we think there's nothing majorly wrong with the boiler as others in the building have also installed the same boiler at the same time and they are all working fantastic....its just ours because of my stupidity in bleeding it by watching a youtube video!!

 

thanks again for your time..

[Micky ET 10]

Dear experts,

we have a Glow worm 80e boiler and it was working fine until i (newbie) bled the radiators and the pressure dropped and boiler lost its ignition. Had to call an electrician who struggled to fix it. However, with few phone calls and some expert guidance from his son then managed to re-pressurize the system and get it to work.

 

However, the boiler seems to need a punch every morning to get it started. It doesnt automatically start when the hot water is turned on. (The heating is turned off currently). Sometimes the single punch to kick start it in the morning gets it started and it works fine until night. Then the next morning it needs the same. Sometimes inbetween it needs a second punch...but without fail everytime we punch it or gently tap it, it works fine.

 

We had called a company to do servicing as well and without bad mouthing them they didn't do much apart from vacuuming our boiler which i could have done myself and saved the money for someone who could have helped us fix it.

 

So now we are back to square one and would need someone to fix this problem please as the boiler has started making a loud noise too when the hot water is being used.

 

We have an infant baby and are worried about the Sheffield winter and mostly because we cannot afford to replace our boiler now.

 

From what i have read online it could be anything from air in the system, microswitch not working, diaphragm needing to be replaced or pressure/air pressure switch not working, fan not kick starting or the worst the boiler is dying.

 

If you could please share your expert opinion it'll be very helpful.

 

Also, if you know of any trust worthy individual who can fix this at a reasonable rate please share...

 

From what i gather most energy companies, boiler companies and some specialist technicians are all insistent on replacing the boilers and we would certainly do it if we can afford it. However we cannot and besides we think there's nothing majorly wrong with the boiler as others in the building have also installed the same boiler at the same time and they are all working fantastic....its just ours because of my stupidity in bleeding it by watching a youtube video!!

 

thanks again for your time..

 

1st question why was an electrician called? Always use a gas safe engineer to fix a boiler .

It will be the PCB very common on this boiler from my experience. when the boiler is in hot water mode it wont be send ing enough power to the gas valve, how ever the pcbs are around £180 from memory, we could help please call if required.

[Thebug 10]

Thank you for your help, will look into both options.