Ongoing central heating /water problem tradesmen baffled

jaytee001 · 3 Mar 2010

Hi,

I moved into my house five years ago, a new build and my central heating is still playing up.

Last week a new pump was fitted and all radiators bleed. its a system where the hot water tank is out in a shed in the garden and the bolier is beside the hot tank. I have a mains fed cold water system so no cold tank in attic.

All radiators both up and downstairs heat ok for about 1 hour then about 4 of them cool down considerably until they go almost cold. the only way i can get them to go hot again is to put on the 'boost' button which is the button that you press to put the hot water on.

When a bath is run the radiators cool down and some go almost cold both up and downstairs.

I have an electric shower and the only way to have any sort of a hot shower is to put the central heating on. I have never known an electric shower to be linked to the central heating system.

My next door neighbours have similar problems . Both our houses used to be one big house and then it was renovated into two smaller houses.

The landlord rang today to tell me that the bolier repair man is coming out to change the plates on the boiler. I do not know what plates in a boiler are. Surly it's a more complicated problem involving the entire water system in the house.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,

jaytee

Agile · 3 Mar 2010

Sounds like a combi boiler.

Since you are a tenant why not just leave all the technicalities to the landlord?

Tony

jaytee001 · 3 Mar 2010

Thanks for your reply.

I have had a very long and stressful battle with the landlords to have this problem corrected while they insist on telling me just to use additonal methods of heating and that this problem is normal. I have never lived in a house that had such heating or shower problems for that matter never mind the issue of only being able to run one tap at a time etc... I gather that'handymen' played a major role in putting in the system and so problems have resulted. i have massive electric bills with having to use electric heaters so i really do need to get some knowledge on this problem.

While I am not sure i didnt think it was a combi bolier. I have an immersion heater plus my hot water tank is a large cylinder tank outside. I would run out of hot water if i did not have my central heating or immersion heater on.

Thanks.

darren17 · 3 Mar 2010

you could simply install a main's electeric shower on it's own feed
as for the landlord talk to treshhold tell them the situation.
as they will try to get the landlord to comply with the basic housing reg's
keep all your reciept's as you can produce these to recoup any expenses you had to payout

Parkymike · 3 Mar 2010

Not being funny but why don't you move.
Seriously' there will be plenty of places out there at reasonable prices since the recession and if their systems work you might save a few bob too.

Agile · 3 Mar 2010

One of the features of a combi boiler is that it will only supply one tap at a time.

However, you have a cylinder and that should supply at least two providing its properly supplied.

Tony

tamz · 4 Mar 2010

Take some photos of the boiler, HW cylinder and pipework, shower etc and post them up. Include any pumps or electric (motorised) valves that are there. Take a note of the boiler make and model (it will be on the front somewhere.

If you do this we may be able to help

jaytee001 · 4 Mar 2010

Many thanks for all your replys.

I suffer from a very debilitating medical condition and unfortunately i just cannot move at the moment. I would nto be able to take a photo or post it but I shall continue in my efforts to get to the source of this problem.

The shower issue is a strange one. Without the central heating connected to the shower the shower would not atcually heat. my water pressure is so high that the electric shower cannot cope with heating the water at the desired temperature so you have to turn it on to a very high number and then turn it down that way it can heat it at a higher number because the pressure on the the water is lower at the higher numbers.

I think the whole system needs to be looked at and not just the boiler.

Thanks,

Jaytee

Garfeild · 4 Mar 2010

THE PROBLEM IS NOT "NORMAL" It is your landlords problem to sort out,you have rights as a tenant,so dont be fobbed off.Withdraw payment of part of your rent until its sorted to your satisfaction,if its costing you a mint bacause of using additional heating,keep a detailed record of how much,then deduct it from the rent.
Hit the landlord in the pocket,and he will sort it out quickly.
Do you rent directly from the landlord or through a letting agent? get them invlolved.Got to CAB to get further advice.

tamz · 4 Mar 2010

jaytee001 said:
my water pressure is so high that the electric shower cannot cope with heating the water at the desired temperature so you have to turn it on to a very high number and then turn it down that way it can heat it at a higher number because the pressure on the the water is lower at the higher numbers.

Sounds like it is working just fine to me.

jaytee001 · 4 Mar 2010

Thanks again for your replies.

Yes I am keeping records in the form of my electric bills which have skyrocketed due to the use of halogen heaters. The shower suits me fine but i do find it strange that it is somehow linked to the central heating system.

I will keep you posted on how things go with this.

Your suggestions are much appreciated.

Jaytee

electronicsuk · 4 Mar 2010

jaytee001 said:
Yes I am keeping records in the form of my electric bills which have skyrocketed due to the use of halogen heaters. The shower suits me fine but i do find it strange that it is somehow linked to the central heating system.

The problem you describe with the shower is odd. It's perfectly normal to have to use particularly high settings in the winter, and as the vast majority of electric showers are not thermostatic, they vary the water temperature by altering the flow rate. A hot shower means you'll get less water out of the shower head. In the summer, when incoming water temperature is higher and less heat is required to achieve a hot shower, you'll get a higher flow rate.

The problem with the radiators could easily be down to poor plumbing. If the four affected radiators are somehow fed off the cylinder coil return, then they would they turn off once the cylinder is up to temperature, and this would seem to tally with them only running for an hour or so after the system is switched on. Furthermore, it would explain those radiators going cold after a bath is run, as the return water from the cylinder coil will be much colder due to the heat being absorbed in re-heating the cylinder water.

Do let us know how you get on.

jaytee001 · 4 Mar 2010

Thanks matthew,

Yes the shower is odd.i have to use high setting all year round due to the extremely high water pressure but its not my main concern at the moment and I suppsoe it does ok.

The central heating problem however is currently stealing my attention and time at the moment as i continue in my endeavours to unearth the source of the problem.

Do you know at all what plates are in the boiler? As I noted earlier they are coming early next week to replace these plates in an effort to correct the problem but of course I think their efforts may prove futile because I think the problem is much more complicted than they think. And yes I do think poor plumbing by 'handymen' rather than trained registered plumbers has lead to this problem.

Thanks.

Jaytee

electronicsuk · 4 Mar 2010

jaytee001 said:
Thanks matthew,

Yes the shower is odd.i have to use high setting all year round due to the extremely high water pressure but its not my main concern at the moment and I suppsoe it does ok.

If the shower has an isolating valve then perhaps you could close that slightly. It wont change your static water pressure, but it will alter dynamic pressure and flow rate at the shower. This should give you a little more control over the temperature rather than having to keep the dial on full all the time.

jaytee001 said:
Do you know at all what plates are in the boiler? As I noted earlier they are coming early next week to replace these plates in an effort to correct the problem but of course I think their efforts may prove futile because I think the problem is much more complicted than they think. And yes I do think poor plumbing by 'handymen' rather than trained registered plumbers has lead to this problem.

I can only assume your landlord is referring to the secondary plate heat exchanger, suggesting you have a combi boiler. However, it seems a little odd that you'd have a combi AND a stored water cylinder. Are you certain that the cylinder isn't an accumulator or something of that nature?

jaytee001 · 4 Mar 2010

Thanks for that,

I dont think it is a combi. Just to clarify -

I have a large silver coloured tank outside in the back garden which is housed in a shed type structure. This is the hot water tank. it has its own thermostat numbered 1 to 5. Over the years I have been here plumbers including a plumber from the water service have referred to this tank as the hot water tank and when i first moved in the water was extremely hot so the thermostat on this tank was turned down from number 5 to number 3 .

Beside this tank to the left (in the same shed) and joined by all sorts of pipes is the boiler with a separate thermostat numbered 1 to 5 where I can change the temperature of the heating.

A plumber from the water service referred to my water system as a mains fed system and the man who came about the heating problem referred to the central heating system as a high pressure system . i think he also called it a sealed system.

I have no cold water tank in the attic as the water comes directly from the mains.

The landlord told me that there are plates in the bolier that need replacing , apparently he had spoken to the plumber but yet the same plumber who replaced the pump just over a week ago told me that all was well with the boiler.

When you bleed the radiators you have to bleed them in the normal way but after each radiatior is bled you have to go to the shed mentioned above and check that the pressure has not fallen. I think it has to be about number 1 or something. the boiler man did this last week.

Thanks.

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Ongoing central heating /water problem tradesmen baffled

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