microbore! big enough boiler?

[saraf]

hi, for the past 6 years i have had problems with my gas central heating system, not heating the house well enough. it has microbore pipework (hate it!!) and we live in a very hard water area. the system is 16 years old and the boiler is an ideal ff250 and the house is approx 1570 sq feet. we have used fernox and got it 'warm' over the past 4 years but still it is really hit or miss whether the radiators get warm. is the boiler big enough for the size of property? would it help to replace some radiators? or is this it? i cant afford to replace the whole system and it would mean digging up ceramic floors if i did this. please help, i cant face another cold winter!!! thanks so much sara

 

[oz-plumber]

The boiler should be big enough to cope with the size of your property.

It may be worth replacing or even upsizing your pump to overcome the restrictions of microbore pipe sizing.

Does the boiler make any strange noises when its operating?
Does the boiler cycle on and off a lot when it is running?

 

[joni os]

As above, boiler adequate for heating and worth keeping until repairs become uneconomic.
Micro bore makes flushing in place difficult. Drain system, remove and flush existing rads individually, check pump not clogged, make sure TVRs are working. Xmas should be warm and happy.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Depends if boiler is giving out the correct amount of heat, when was the last time it was checked , when you say Fernox do you mean inhibitor ? better to use F5 heavy duty cleaner , may need to remove radiators and flush them first, then add cleaner run system hot for a week flush then refill & add inhibitor

 

[johnthom]

I'd say the boiler was big enough. You don't say what sort of pump you have. If it is 3-speed maybe give it a try on max speed.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

The boiler should be big enough to cope with the size of your property.

It may be worth replacing or even upsizing your pump to overcome the restrictions of microbore pipe sizing.

Does the boiler make any strange noises when its operating?
Does the boiler cycle on and off a lot when it is running?

I'd say the boiler was big enough. You don't say what sort of pump you have. If it is 3-speed maybe give it a try on max speed.

more often than not that will cause the pump to pump over (replacing the pump for bigger one)

if you can op best to replace the pipework bit by bit if you can

 

[AWheating]

best repipe the system imo.

 

[kris]

Defo replace rads with doubles where they are singles, possibly replace pump as it's the heart of your system. Get an engineer out to see if system is firing properly... the cost of upgrading your system will pay for itself in time . Defo worth looking into. Good luck