So, I just moved into this house two weeks ago. It's the first time I've lived by myself so everything is new and scary and - well - turns out my landlord is pretty useless. I'll explain bit by bit.. er.. I hope.
Items:
One immersion heater (turned off when I moved in, but the metal around it is hot to the touch) in my bedroom (if I don't have my window open at all times I melt)
One boiler, apparently behind the gas fire downstairs
One gas fire which doesn't appear to work, has an on/off switch which seems to be for the boiler (if you turn it off, you don't get hot water) and has a separate on/off and power dial for itself.
2 thermostats:
- One older one, with the circle timer and the to switches one can use to set the HW and CH to off, twice a day, once a day or just on. This, I know how to use, as we had one previously.
- One new one, installed one week I moved in. It is wireless. The temperature was set by the landlord to 24 degrees at all times. He hasn't told me how to use it.
6 radiators: 4 downstairs (kitchen, bathroom, hall, living room) and 2 upstairs (my bedroom and my housemate's bedroom, who moved in when I did)
So, when I moved in, the heating worked fine. I had it set to twice a day, there was hot water, grand.
Then the new thermostat thing got put in. The landlord didn't tell us how to use it, leave any instructions or anything. As I mentioned, he set it to 24 degrees, which is ridiculous. A hot house is 21 degrees. We tried to turn it down by pressing a "down" button which appeared to do what we wanted - then we had to do it again when the thing changed from a moon symbol to a sun symbol (I'd tell you the brand, but it doesn't have one on it). However, after a couple of days it reset itself. Even after we turned it down, the heating continued to be on. We discovered if we wanted hot water, we still had to use the old thermostat, but the heating only turned off after the new one was "satisfied". The new thermostat has a box over the old thermostat and is itself in another part of the room, the box over the thermostat sometimes says "system on", sometimes it doesn't.
Anyway, after a couple of days, the heating stopped coming on downstairs. However, the 2 radiators upstairs are still working. The landlord point blank ignores us (about this as well as many other things - we've had to put a complaint in to the environmental services due to mould that he has covered up and said "would be fine") and in the contract we signed, unfortunately, these things have to be "seen to" by us personally, or him, or anyone he hires to do the work, and we're clueless.
Also, sometimes the boiler doesn't appear to come on, and the light on the switch in the gas fire goes off. These times we have no HW or CH at all. It can last for an hour or several. However, it'll do this even when the timer tells it to come on.
In a nutshell: Upstairs is way, way too hot. Downstairs is cold. Sometimes we can't get hot water to bathe.
Also, although the immersion heater is turned off, I can hear activity at night and my room will heat up while I get to listen to the annoying, repetitive water-based sounds.
So, are there any suggestions as to what we can do while trying to talk the landlord into getting his butt into gear (or force it)? We're new to the area so we don't know anyone at all who can do things like check plumbing or electrics and we can't get workers in without his permission.. :s
Items:
One immersion heater (turned off when I moved in, but the metal around it is hot to the touch) in my bedroom (if I don't have my window open at all times I melt)
One boiler, apparently behind the gas fire downstairs
One gas fire which doesn't appear to work, has an on/off switch which seems to be for the boiler (if you turn it off, you don't get hot water) and has a separate on/off and power dial for itself.
2 thermostats:
- One older one, with the circle timer and the to switches one can use to set the HW and CH to off, twice a day, once a day or just on. This, I know how to use, as we had one previously.
- One new one, installed one week I moved in. It is wireless. The temperature was set by the landlord to 24 degrees at all times. He hasn't told me how to use it.
6 radiators: 4 downstairs (kitchen, bathroom, hall, living room) and 2 upstairs (my bedroom and my housemate's bedroom, who moved in when I did)
So, when I moved in, the heating worked fine. I had it set to twice a day, there was hot water, grand.
Then the new thermostat thing got put in. The landlord didn't tell us how to use it, leave any instructions or anything. As I mentioned, he set it to 24 degrees, which is ridiculous. A hot house is 21 degrees. We tried to turn it down by pressing a "down" button which appeared to do what we wanted - then we had to do it again when the thing changed from a moon symbol to a sun symbol (I'd tell you the brand, but it doesn't have one on it). However, after a couple of days it reset itself. Even after we turned it down, the heating continued to be on. We discovered if we wanted hot water, we still had to use the old thermostat, but the heating only turned off after the new one was "satisfied". The new thermostat has a box over the old thermostat and is itself in another part of the room, the box over the thermostat sometimes says "system on", sometimes it doesn't.
Anyway, after a couple of days, the heating stopped coming on downstairs. However, the 2 radiators upstairs are still working. The landlord point blank ignores us (about this as well as many other things - we've had to put a complaint in to the environmental services due to mould that he has covered up and said "would be fine") and in the contract we signed, unfortunately, these things have to be "seen to" by us personally, or him, or anyone he hires to do the work, and we're clueless.
Also, sometimes the boiler doesn't appear to come on, and the light on the switch in the gas fire goes off. These times we have no HW or CH at all. It can last for an hour or several. However, it'll do this even when the timer tells it to come on.
In a nutshell: Upstairs is way, way too hot. Downstairs is cold. Sometimes we can't get hot water to bathe.
Also, although the immersion heater is turned off, I can hear activity at night and my room will heat up while I get to listen to the annoying, repetitive water-based sounds.
So, are there any suggestions as to what we can do while trying to talk the landlord into getting his butt into gear (or force it)? We're new to the area so we don't know anyone at all who can do things like check plumbing or electrics and we can't get workers in without his permission.. :s
