Heating problems

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12 Dec 2011
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Glasgow
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United Kingdom
Very much hoping someone has the patience to read this and help!

Moved into a rented flat about 2months ago and noticed some issues with the heating at the time- they didn't seem like the mattered & I'm friendly with the landlord so I didn't want to kick up a fuss but we've just got a gas bill and seem to be paying for heat we're not getting!

Will give as much info as possible, I suspect I'm looking at multiple issues rather than 1 causing all the following.

So:

All heaters have their own TRVs; no room thermostat at all; combi boiler Alpha 240E; bled all of them when I moved in but they didn't really need it.

1- The living room heater is crap. At the bottom, it barely heats at all but even at the top when turned up full it only gets warm-ish. This persists even with all other heaters turned off, but if I put on the one in bedroom 2 just on the other side of the wall, it gets even colder! I suspect it needs to be power flushed regarding the cold spot at the bottom? No others have the cold spot that I've noticed. Landlord thinks this is furthest from the boiler. The 'in' pipe gets very hot.

2- Bedroom 1 heater only works at 3+ unless turned up full then turned down, and even by this method it usually cuts out totally. Seriously hot at 3+, which would be fine if I could turn it down... Works fine if turned right up to 5 and left. This is the closest to the boiler.

3- Hall heater only works at 2+ but gets REALLY hot at 2, again would be fine if I could turn it down for the cost. Again works fine left at 5.

4- Bedroom 2 heater is fine.

5- Hot rail in bathroom doesn't have its own thermostat and just comes on and off according to if the heating is on. Works fine.

6- Unrelated to the radiators, but the boiler has periods of making 'clicking' noises sometimes, only when the heating is on.

If there are any DIY methods of fixing even some of the above that would be great, I'm fairly handy I just know next to nothing about central heating systems.

Just paid £80 for a months gas, which seems steep for having on 2 heaters for about 6hrs a day...then again I'm a student so most things seem expensive on my income!

Also, would running 2 or 3 heaters at 1 or 2 (if this was possible) be much more expensive than running 1 at full (5)?

Thank you very much in advance for your help- have enough stress in my life finishing my final year at Uni without the heating being screwed.
 
All heaters have their own TRVs; no room thermostat at all.
That's wrong for a start. The rads will close down when the rooms are up to temperature, but the boiler will carry on running until it reaches the temperature set on the boiler. This wastes gas.

Current regulations require a wall stat. The radiator in the same room should not have a TRV.

Get a wall stat installed and turn the TRV in the same room to max.

The system probably needs cleaning. Power flushing is very expensive, so DIY cleaning should be tried first. Use a product like Sentinel X400 (don't use cheap imitations).

TRVs may be sticking - remove the head (large screw underneath - no water will come out)and check that the pin goes down and springs up again.

The system is probably not properly balanced.
 

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