New heating fit and Part L Regs Hellllllllp!

[bubblegum]

Can someone please help me and tell me if my heating system has been installed correctly which has only just been fitted.

First of all I live in a 1 bedroom flat and has just been fitted with combi valliant pro boiler with all radiators fitted in every room except my small hall way which has the room stat fitted. All radiators are fitted with TRV,s except the radiator fitted in the living room. The Room stat has been fitted to my small hallway which leads onto the front door and in turn leads to a stairway leading down to the block of flats main door.

Now to the technical bit and hope I quote my friend correctly who says that:
The rad fitted in the living room with no TRV seems to be the last one in the system and is considered to be the by pass radiator and should be fitted in the same room as the stat, which in this case is the hall.
The hall is not fitted with a radiator and my friend says breaks Part L regs, whatever that is?

The hallway is small and the only sized radiator that can be fitted is approx 200mm allowing for pipe work and valves can be fitted but was informed by the original fitter that they did not make radiators that small but I am sure some manufacture must make them even if it’s a special order?

Does anyone know if stelrad do a radiator that size and if so how do I get one and more importantly if this has been installed all wrong do I convince the installer this is the case and get him to come back?

Has he broken Part L Regs and if he refuses to come back to rectify the mistakes is there a complaints procedure that I can take in contacting the body that run Part L?

Many thanks in advance

 

[EliteHeat]

Part "L" says that all radiators must have a TRV fitted except that which is closest to the room thermostat, which also must be fitted. Part "L" does not mention hallways, alcoves, utility rooms or other areas where radiators have not, could not or will not be fitted.

So, why are you talking to your friend and not your installer?

 

[bubblegum]

Want to get the facts right before i call him and if its fitted ok i dont want to make a storm in a tea cup, but having a radiator fitted in the living room that can not be controlled does not seem right?
Neither does not fitting a radiator in the hall along with the room stat, so what is the stat in the hall actualy doing and monitoring?

But if your telling me thats the correct way to fit a system then it seems i am stuck with it, but its sure getting mighty hot in my living room lol.

PS,
My mates a bit of a DIY buff

Many thanks for your help

 

[DP]

So who are you going to call when the boiler breaks down? You are already experiencing maloperations due to lack of understanding and knowhow of how a heating system should be fitted.

How do you know the radiators, gas line and plumbing is correctly sized or the boiler has been fitted as per Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations,

Good luck to you mate.

 

[EliteHeat]

but having a radiator fitted in the living room that can not be controlled does not seem right?
Neither does not fitting a radiator in the hall along with the room stat, so what is the stat in the hall actualy doing and monitoring?

Actually, I would interpret "closest to" as "being in the same room as". If you close the door how can the stat monitor the heat?

Personally I would have fitted a wireless programmable room thermostat to avoid this sort of problem.

 

[Paul Barker]

is there a complaints procedure that I can take in contacting the body that run Part L

Very good question. In a word, NO.

As a service engineer I see so many installs without trv on bathroom rad or somewhere lese but not where the stat is, it's not even worth mentioning.

On my last corgi inspection where they go and look at a job you have notified before you have a chance to get there, I understand from client he just checked boiler, flue and condensate. ddidn't check trv's or complient cylinder I fitted. I might aswell not have bothered.

Nobody will spank your installer for it, it's between you and him. Find out what should have been done write to him and suggest he come back to put it right.

If corgi aren't interested who else is going to be? There have been so many new regs blurted out like diarrhoea by government and their well paid self serving quangos that all the LA's are totally turned off by the issues except when approving plans for extensions and new builds. What goes on in your house they have no heart ro manpower to police.

Seemingly the nitwits who come to do your energy inspection when you sell are half blind or lack the superior intelligence of a heating engineer.

 

[bubblegum]

Does Part L say you must fit a controlable rad in all rooms or can you simply fit as many rads as you like in a property when fitting a new heating system, this is getting all confusing lol

 

[fitz1]

trvs only required to be in bedrooms arnt they ?(by law)

 

[EliteHeat]

Seemingly the nitwits who come to do your energy inspection when you sell are half blind or lack the superior intelligence of a heating engineer.

 

[EliteHeat]

trvs only required to be in bedrooms arnt they ?(by law)

No, that was the old "best practise" - been superceded now, to the best of my knowledge, by part "L".

 

[simond]

We've had all this out before in another thread. I can't remember the outcome but think it turned out inconclusive.

I believe that it is only mandatory to fit TRVs (which are crap anyway) in sleeping areas on boiler replacements.

Part of the trouble is that there are so many Government funded/sponsored organisations advising us - and they tend to blur the difference between their idea of good practice, and what are mandatory Building regulations.

 

[AlanE]

The best place for the roomstat, in my opinion, is in the one room in the house where you are concerned about comfort - the living room/lounge or what ever you want to call it.

The hall where many seem to be fitted is in reality the worst place since all rooms 'follow' the ons and offs of the thermostat. Open front door, hall cools and heating operates. The living room, and every other room in the house, now also increases in temprature.

No put the room stat in the room that you want to be concerned about comfort.

 

[croydoncorgi]

AlanE is right on the money!

The objective of Part L is to SAVE energy. If a TRV on any radiator helps do this, then Part L should be happy! At the same time, if the system isn't broken / inadequate, it doesn't need fixing!

A room stat in the hall MAY be unduly influenced by the cold air from the front-door, so the temperature in other rooms goes too high as well.

I'd disagree that all TRVs are 'rubbish' but it's definitely true that FAR too much is expected of them! (eg. what do you EXPECT to happen when a long curtain covers the TRV head and end of the radiator, creating an area with no air circulation??)

My own hall radiator (in a L-shaped Hall) DOES have a TRV head on it, for historical reasons and because in fact it DOES help rather than hinder the CH system. The PID room stat (in the other 'leg' of the L) is set a little bit high to compensate for it and the TRV helps even-out the effect of the front door being opened by increasing the radiator output until the local temperature comes back up