Do I need to cap off radiator valve pipes?

[MuBuPlu]

Hi there.

I had my boiler fixed yesterday, and had my radiators taken off the wall a few weeks ago to allow for renovation works to take place.

The gas engineer says I can't have hot water because the radiators aren't capped off. They are closed off, with a minor hissing leak coming from the upstairs radiator. This prompted the gas engineer to tell me that I need all the radiators capped off to enable the water tank to heat up. He said something about the water tank or the boiler will just shut off if not enough water gets to the tank.

I was quoted £350 to have the radiators capped off and one of the radiators fixed back onto the wall. This was more than I expected.

Is this all fair, and is there no way I can have hot water without the radiator valves being capped off?

Should also note that it's a Baxi Bermuda 2 back boiler.

Thanks.

 

[45yearsagasman]

Not knowing the type of system you have makes it difficult to give precise advice. If all you had was rads removed and the system was not drained then you should be able to operate for HW only. Cap off the one valve that's passing slightly. Pics of the HW cylinder and the pipework around it would help.

 

[Mottie]

When I had half of my system removed for building works, I drained it down but still had hot water as I used the electric immersion to heat the water.