Central Heating not heating house

[1945bower]

I've a real dilemma.
Recently I had central heating installed in a house I rent out. I used the best plumber I could find, this guy actually lectures on plumbing at the college. He did all the calculations and the installation was very neat, He runs what seems to be a very professional company.
However this winter my tenant said that the house takes forever to get to 20 degrees something like 4-7hours, ( it has double glazing and loft insulation) because of this I had the plumber come and check everything was working as it should be, I was with him and all the rads were really hot and he said everything was working perfectly and that as far as he was concerned the system and stat was correctly designed and installed. I suggested that perhaps the rads aren't big enough, it seemed logical to me that if the rads were hot and the room isn't then the surface area needs to be increased ( does anyone agree.) He was insulted by this and has refused to talk to me and in the meantime my tenant is upset, cold and angry and says she shouldn't have to put up with this situation and she is correct.
What advice would you give me to resolve this deadlock problem.
What is the answer as both have a point and I'm piggy in the middle.
Regards
Reg Bower

 

[JohnD]

how big are the rooms, how big are the rads, what power is the boiler?

it is worth buying a pair of pipe thermometers as you will want to know the actual temp of the rads flow and return (usually you can just feel them with your hand, but in your case, there is some kind of problem.

are there trvs

what temp is the boiler?

 

[petit_pablo]

The rads could well be of correct size etc for house. Its possible the tenant is contributing to the slow heat up. Leaving doors open to outside while they pop to bins, have a smoke etc. Lots of coming and going in and out of house, ie kids? And is it just cold from a womans point of view?

Are there trvs in all rooms? Are they shutting off prematurely, wheres the room stat? Are there rooms that have rads turned off, this will draw the heat out of the heated areas?

I find 20deg uncomfortable ran my heating at 17.5deg through winter.

 

[JohnD]

leaving the internal doors open will also make the downstairs cold, since the warm air will rise upstairs

if the tenant likes to drape wet washing over the rads, the house will be damp as well as cold.

 

[BingoBongo]

check where the room stat is. if its in a small hall with all the doors shut or close to a rad it could be shutting down the whole house. likewise check the trv

i get fed up with people saying that radiator doesnt come on at 3 it used to it must be broke and they are sitting in a f`kin greenhouse smoking 20 lambert and butler while you struggle to breathe

 

[D_Hailsham]

I used the best plumber I could find, this guy actually lectures on plumbing at the college.

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

Did you "best plumber" have any explanation for the time it took for the house to warm up?

Did the "best plumber" provide you with copies of his calculations for rad sizes etc?

Have you checked that the tenant is not a fresh air freak who keeps all the windows open overnight?

What times are the heating set to go on and off?

Which boiler (make and exact model) and controls?

To do a quick check of the sizing of the installation, use the EST online boiler calculator. Deduct 2kw from the final answer - this is the allowance for a hot water cylinder - to give the heating requirement for your house.

Now add up the outputs of all your rads (if known) and compare to the heating requirement. If you don't know the outputs you should be able to find them by Googling the manufacturer's website. Failing that, use the data in the Stelrad Elite Catalogue.

Post the results of the rad and boiler calculations.

 

[tryitandsee]

Being an old time Landlord, I try and not be to cynical at life. First of all, I would take the gas meter reading from the tenanted house and then call back again (set period of time, say two weeks) and take the gas reading again.

This way you will be sure what the tenant calls 'central heating was on all day but the house never got warm'.


Some people will have the thing on for half an hour and think the house will be warm and toasty...........I wish