Hot water & heating system advice

[mr steve]

Hello,

I've recently purchased a first home, and have been "had" by the previous owners, which is another story. I recently had a simple fault with my hot water system, and the plumber who visited uncovered various issues with the system as a whole which has left me confused as to what to do next!

Basically, I have been told the following:
-My boiler, although 2 years old, has no paperwork to go with it and looks to be a DIY install. I have been told that no plumber will sign off someone elses work, so if I want it certified I will have to replace it.
-The boiler is a Glo-worm flexicom. It has a mains feed from a spur, then a live taken from a second spur as there is no wiring between the boiler and airing cupboard. I've been told this will need a new 5 core cable running between the two.
-All radiators have TRVs, and there is no room thermostat. I've been told building regs state I must have a room thermostat.
-The safety valve under the boiler is rated at 6 bar, I have been told this should be 3 bar.
-The expansion vessel lets out moist air when the valve is released, I have been told this has to be replaced
-The previous owners / installer left the heating pump set to max flow, and tank thermostat to max so the valvey bits in the airing cupboard are ceased.
-I have 7 radiators. 6 of which do not bleed as the bleed valve (nipple?) is ceased. I have been told that if they are forcefully undone, they may not seal. Therefore I have been advised to replace all the radiators.

As you can see, this is quite a list! I am about to get some quotes for this work, but wanted to see if this job list sounds legitimate so far. The plumber that visited suggested a Glo-worm Ultracom combi boiler, and that the complete work would be about £2200. He then estimated £500 to replace all radiators, on top.

(When it comes to replacing radiators, I am happy to size them heat-wise, but am unsure about the physical measurement. If my radiator is 480mm wide, would I buy a 500mm wide radiator - will there be some give in the pipes? I'm thinking that if I buy the radiators direct it may save me money)

Thanks for reading. Any advice is welcome!

 

[dontknowitall]

I'd get another plumber in to see what his reaction is. There are a few things you've said which makes me feel that you might be paying too much for too many things. For example, I'm surprised that you've got TRVs but no room thermostat.

Although against current regulations the police won't be knocking on your door if you haven't got one! I'm mainly surprised about having a new boiler. Does this mean that when an engineer goes to a boiler that's 12 years old the owners have to produce the original documentation?

Re the radiator you might save yourself a few pounds buying it yourself. What you're paying for, among other things, is the guarantee that if it starts leaking a few weeks down the road, the plumber will correct it (usually free of charge) but only if he's supplied it. That's part of where the profit margin goes. Bit like asking Tesco if you can buy their corn flakes at cost - well, not really, but hopefully you can see the similarity!

As I said, I'd try another plumber and compare notes.

 

[Resolute]

Where are you? Someone on here could probably offer you better advice and quote.

 

[Phil]

The gate valves in the airing cupboard sound normal to me in that they are seized and if they do turn they will snap or fail to shut off.
Nothing to do with excess heat from thermostat really.

 

[mr steve]

I'm on the south Cambridge / Suffolk border.

I do plan to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion on this, but just wanted to see what the gut feeling was from others on this.

 

[emoore]

hi Sorry to bother , but i have back boiler grant style and the flowpipe appears to be luke warm and radiators fail to heat up sufficiently only luke warm. I was wondering maybe the pipes were not linked into the existing hot water tank system properly as it has dual tank and motorised valves. Can anyone advise.

 

[armourer]

Mr Steve, get another plumber in to quote.
Without seeing it myself it is difficult to give a definitive answer but at lot of the things you mentioned have cheaper alternatives to resolve.
For instance
1. Another engineer would give you a certificate to say the boiler was safe, but he will not register it.(assuming it is safe).
2. 6 bar prv under the boiler? these boilers have a 3 bar built in.
3. no room thermostat can be resolved by retro fitting a wireless one.
4. I am not sure if you can change the expansion vessel in situ but you always have an option to fit an external one (maybe the cheaper option.

Long winded way of getting around to it but nothing is impossible and it should come in a lot cheaper than £2700.

 

[mr steve]

Hi

Thanks for your words. I got a 2nd opinion - a different gas safe plumber is happy to service the boiler. He said that although it's a DIY installation, I have a system, and it provides heat and water so it's fine in his book. Maybe it's just what I want to hear, but it's a better alternative to dropping £2700 on a whim!

 

[dontknowitall]

Many thanks for the update - updates always go down well on this forum!

Sounds like you've found yourself a good, honest plumber there - keep him!!

 

[tamz]

hi Sorry to bother , but i have back boiler grant style (AS IN TRIPLE PASS ETC?) and the flowpipe appears to be luke warm and radiators fail to heat up sufficiently only luke warm. I was wondering maybe the pipes were not linked into the existing hot water tank system properly as it has dual tank and motorised valves. Can anyone advise.

Put more coal on the fire.