I recently had a new boiler fitted into my flat and have some concerns about the solution provided for condensate.
When the job was first scoped out I was told that a pipe would be run outside to deal with the condensate, which would be a challenge because of the property but doable.
I stuck with the condensing water boiler because it was going to be a huge hassle to change to combi in my property, which was confirmed by all of the installation companies that gave me a quote. Didn't seem like any real reason to change either, as long as everything worked and my house had a working heating system!
Anyway, the guys I arranged to do the job came out and although there was a couple of visits required to get things working they got everything fitted and the boiler was working perfectly. I noticed there were no pipes going outside, so I did ask what happened to them. I was told at this point that they'd found an alternative solution that meant they didn't need to. I probably should have asked more questions, however I know nothing about boilers so, possibly naively, just accepted what I was told.
However, after a couple of days the system started making a dreadful sound, right underneath the boiler itself, and it just wouldn't stop. I had a look at where the sound was coming from and it was a small contraption inside a plastic box which was filled with water. I took a video and messaged the installer, who said that I just had to remove the plastic box and empty the water. So I did this, but a few days later it just filled up again and the same sound returned. I was then told that I would have to keep changing the box when it fills up with water. At this point I was a bit miffed. Was this normal? I had to yank the contraption thingy (I don't know what it is, you might have guessed) out of the plastic box, pulling some pipes out as well, with condensate dripping on the floor in the process, and take the plastic box and pour the water down the toilet. I'd never heard of anything like it.
Fast forward about 6 weeks and I'm going through this process every 2 days or so, sometimes daily if we are home and have the heating on a lot. I have contacted the fitting company and they have said they'll book someone to come and provide an alternative solution, but that they informed me that there isn't really a viable alternative that follows proper procedure.
My concern here is I feel like I shouldn't be changing condensate manually every couple of days and it just seems like a ludicrous process and I can't quite believe that it was ever fitted this way, without even notifying me at the time that this would be the case. The guys were really helpful and had to deal with a lot of obstacles when fitting the new boiler, which I really appreciated and I feel slightly guilty about raising concerns on a forum. But the honest truth is I know very little about boilers and I just wanted to check if I'm being unreasonable. Maybe it's a normal solution to have a plastic box that the condensate fills up into and then needs changed?
So at this point I'm just looking for some feedback on my situation and whether it all sounds standard or not. As I mentioned, the guys I got in were really helpful on the whole and to be fair they have said they'll come out at some point to look at changing the current set up when it comes to condensate. I'm just a little concerned about what's in place and having spent £2,500 on a new boiler I'd like to know it's all been fitted properly!
When the job was first scoped out I was told that a pipe would be run outside to deal with the condensate, which would be a challenge because of the property but doable.
I stuck with the condensing water boiler because it was going to be a huge hassle to change to combi in my property, which was confirmed by all of the installation companies that gave me a quote. Didn't seem like any real reason to change either, as long as everything worked and my house had a working heating system!
Anyway, the guys I arranged to do the job came out and although there was a couple of visits required to get things working they got everything fitted and the boiler was working perfectly. I noticed there were no pipes going outside, so I did ask what happened to them. I was told at this point that they'd found an alternative solution that meant they didn't need to. I probably should have asked more questions, however I know nothing about boilers so, possibly naively, just accepted what I was told.
However, after a couple of days the system started making a dreadful sound, right underneath the boiler itself, and it just wouldn't stop. I had a look at where the sound was coming from and it was a small contraption inside a plastic box which was filled with water. I took a video and messaged the installer, who said that I just had to remove the plastic box and empty the water. So I did this, but a few days later it just filled up again and the same sound returned. I was then told that I would have to keep changing the box when it fills up with water. At this point I was a bit miffed. Was this normal? I had to yank the contraption thingy (I don't know what it is, you might have guessed) out of the plastic box, pulling some pipes out as well, with condensate dripping on the floor in the process, and take the plastic box and pour the water down the toilet. I'd never heard of anything like it.
Fast forward about 6 weeks and I'm going through this process every 2 days or so, sometimes daily if we are home and have the heating on a lot. I have contacted the fitting company and they have said they'll book someone to come and provide an alternative solution, but that they informed me that there isn't really a viable alternative that follows proper procedure.
My concern here is I feel like I shouldn't be changing condensate manually every couple of days and it just seems like a ludicrous process and I can't quite believe that it was ever fitted this way, without even notifying me at the time that this would be the case. The guys were really helpful and had to deal with a lot of obstacles when fitting the new boiler, which I really appreciated and I feel slightly guilty about raising concerns on a forum. But the honest truth is I know very little about boilers and I just wanted to check if I'm being unreasonable. Maybe it's a normal solution to have a plastic box that the condensate fills up into and then needs changed?
So at this point I'm just looking for some feedback on my situation and whether it all sounds standard or not. As I mentioned, the guys I got in were really helpful on the whole and to be fair they have said they'll come out at some point to look at changing the current set up when it comes to condensate. I'm just a little concerned about what's in place and having spent £2,500 on a new boiler I'd like to know it's all been fitted properly!
