The Boiler/heating Megathread- all boiler & heating queries in here please

[hazel 11]

My combi to does not seem to work properly.

I was wondering whether it was the thermostat.

When in the shower it will run cold before I have finished shawering if not quick, ( and lets face it I am not quick ) and I have to stand there all soapy until it runs warm again, the same wth wash up water half a sink gf warm and will suddenly run cold.

Any ideas or is it just temprimantal.

hazel

[Speedy_Jim 10]

The boiler in my old house (ahem, not my ex girlfriend...) was new and every bit as badly behaved - cutting out when I was in the shower and stuff. Turned out to be a faultly regulator or summit on the gas meter - the gas pressure to the boiler was too low and it kept shutting down for safty reasons.

 

I'd given up on it working reliably till a routine gas meter inspection showed the low pressure. Transco came out and sorted that the same day and it worked fine since then

[hazel 11]

Thanks Jim,

I'll have my son take a look at, now we have a reason why it misbehaves he may be able to rectify it.

hazel

[Hook 10]

It's still doing it, but it can be solved at the moment by turning the heating on! It's a pain solution, but seems to work. It didn't work all day Sunday though >_<

 

It's a Glowworm Boiler "swiftflow" so I think it's a pretty good one.. but I'm gonna try find the stop **** and turn it up..

[SpeedwayDan 10]

My combi to does not seem to work properly.

I was wondering whether it was the thermostat.

When in the shower it will run cold before I have finished shawering if not quick, ( and lets face it I am not quick ) and I have to stand there all soapy until it runs warm again, the same wth wash up water half a sink gf warm and will suddenly run cold.

Any ideas or is it just temprimantal.

hazel

 

 

we had that same problem for about 3 years, we had countless british gas engineers (we have that 3 star cover thing) and each one would think of a new way to mend the problem, but they never did, eventually, one bloke came phoned the manufacturers up, changed some settings and hey presto, it worked faultlessly for about 7 months.

 

then it started again, eventually we got one of the decent british gas engineers who took 2 days to fix it, he replaced loads of parts and its been fine since.

 

no idea what it was though, sounded complicated

[hazel 11]

Thanks for the reply Dan,

it does sound complicated, not sure whether to leave it be and shower a bit quicker,

I'm thinking of a cubicle shower put in so may leave it til then.

hazel

[Hook 10]

Plumber just came around... no idea so he's going to ring the manufacturers up and see if they have any idea. Shame

[jojojoanna1 10]

try http://www.diy-not.com the plumbing ang heating forum... make your explanation of the problem as detailed as you can. Also make and model of the boiler and any service repair history. When you or the landlord contact a corgi reg engineer you can save time with posssible diagnostics over the fone and making it sound that you are a bit knowledgeable will dissuade the engineer from tryin to rip you off.... if you are unlucky enough to appoint 1 that is that way inclined.

 

Ive used a plumber called stuart. Hes not corgi registered but hes a reliable tradesman... and he got a colleugue out to sort out my boiler.... sorry i havent got the corgi fellas number but stuarts is 01142819757. Im sure he willgive you a contact number for a corgi guy if you fone him

[coritani 10]

My central heating system is around 25 years old and still working well. Do I upgrade now or wait until it fails, as surely it will one day soon. I have heard that the new modern boilers are not as reliable as the older types.

[kimera 10]

buy a brand name such as gloworm

 

the cheap tawainese/chinese boilers and radiators are low quality.

 

move to a combi if not already

[coritani 10]

Thanks Kimera, the one I have now is a gloworm and its been fantastic over the years. I will move to a combi but need to read up on them a little bit more.

[dizzy_chick 10]

Hi

 

We have just had to replace our decrepit boiler and separate water heater (horrific gas bills!!). You now have to have a condensing boiler fitted, which works differently from a conventional boiler. They are supposed to be around 95% energy efficient.

 

We had a 'Worcester Junior' fitted- and it runs 6 rads with extra capacity for 1 one more. This boiler is really popular with heating engineers due to it's size.

 

We also had fitted thermostatic valves on every radiator which means we can adjust each one separately. Which is brill as our upstairs is boiling where as our front room is arctic in January!

 

We only had it fitted in March so we have not run it through the winter yet but so far the bills do seem to be going down. Only time will tell if it is anymore reliable then a 'normal' boiler.

 

I think the condensing boilers have been around a while. Also, whenever regulations change about things like this people always moan about it. We did pay a lot of money out but the old ones were costing us a fortune and were on their last legs! It will save us money in the long run..

 

At the end of the day, 25 years is pretty good to get out of a boiler. I think you have done very well!! Why don't you think about having it serviced now (not in January) and asking the engineer about it. If he is honest then he will give you an idea about whether it will last or whether you need to replace it. Whatever happens, gas prices are not going to go down either!!

 

Hope this helps