Problems With New Boiler Installation

[mickymouse]

We live in a house with 18 radiators and have recently installed a new boiler. We were quoted £2,500 for a Worcester Green R1, power flush and installation.

The problem is half of the radiators in the house are just luke warm whereas with the old boiler (which was leaking) the house was uncomfortably hot. Plumber has promised to come back and was talking about adding some sort of limiter to the radiators that do get hot which I'm sure will be at an extra cost.

Also, don't know if he did the power flush. However, I want to be clued up when he comes back. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Chalked]

18 radiators. How large is your house? How old is the system?
could just be an air lock.
the limiter he is talking about is already on the radiator. It's the valve on opposite end to the one you use to turn the radiator off/on. He can turn this valve down to restrict the flow, thus giving the other radiators more flow.

 

[mickymouse]

18 radiators. How large is your house? How old is the system?
could just be an air lock.
the limiter he is talking about is already on the radiator. It's the valve on opposite end to the one you use to turn the radiator off/on. He can turn this valve down to restrict the flow, thus giving the other radiators more flow.

The house a four double bedroom but large (ish). The system was installed yesterday.

 

[Dotty]

Just needs balancing I reckon.

 

[mickymouse]

Just had a call from the installer. Saying that is probably a balancing issue and that we need to add these special valves to all the radiators to balance them properly. This is starting to sound a bit dodgy to me!

 

[wildcard]

You don"t need to be clued up,you need your heating that you paid £2.5 k to be working.Get the installer back as it"s his problem.Try turning the rads u/stairs off & see if the d/stairs get hot.This will tell you if the rads need balancing.Hope you get it sorted soon!

 

[oz-plumber]

Hi Mickeymouse,

My intentions are not to be, or sound rude, but...
..the Plumber has promised to come back and and sort out the problems.

The new boiler was installed yesterday, on a larger than average system.
It is sometimes difficult to have a system operating at peak performance on the day of installation or in your case a boiler changeover.

You selected the Plumber for whatever reason on whatever grounds.
You would not have selected him if you thought he was going to do a dodgy job.
Give the guy a chance to rectify the situation.

If I was you I wouldn't start by having a go at the plumber at this stage, and I wouldn't start questioning him / her at this about their capabilities.
Of course, that is on the assumption that you didn't have any queries about their ability to perform the required work in the first place.

Chances are the problem is quite simple and will be resolved in an hour or two in balancing of the system.

If the Plumber comes back and can't resolve the issues, after 1 or 2 occasions then there may be a problem with the boiler installation.

Let us know how it goes, and if you have any more issues, feel free to have us give opinions on what other problems may be.

 

[mickymouse]

Oz-Plumber

Completely agree. Just panicking I guess and got concerned when being asked to change the valves on some rads which would be an extra expense.

Will take your advice and wait and see.

 

[Rickster123]

What size Worcester RI has been fitted?

 

[mickymouse]

What size Worcester RI has been fitted?

Greenstar R1 24

 

[Centralheatking]

Give the installer time to get it right THEN come back to us CHK

The house a four double bedroom but large (ish). The system was installed yesterday.

 

[morganb]

I think most of us have probably had this problem on a larger system, balance the system towards the end of the day then find out a couple radiators aren't coming on the following day. The installer is coming back to sort it so don't worry.

On the powerflush - it would of taken a full day, and involved the use of a largish machine with lots of hoses that pump water around the central heating system.

 

[doitmyself]

we need to add these special valves to all the radiators to balance them properly. This is starting to sound a bit dodgy to me!

You are right to think that it's a bit dodgy.

Every rad has two valves. One will be a plain turnable valve or a thermostatic valve (TRV); the other is a fixed lockshield valve. Any balancing required is carried out using the lockshield valve.

If you do not have tTRVs on your radiators and the installer is saying you need them to balance the system, he is talking nonsense. I suggest you find out exactly what valves he want to install.

Saying that, TRVs are not a waste of money as they will control the temperature in the room. If you don't have them,I'm surprised the installer did not recommend them as they are easy to install when the system is drained down.

If you do go ahead with TRVs, make sure the rad in the same area as the wall stat does not have a TRV.

 

[jonnyswamp]

Not every rad will have 2 valves, there are still plenty of one pipe systems about with a bent boiler union on one side and a wheel head on the other

 

[R.Oak]

As others have said you should let the chap sort it out, most likely an easy fix and will be sorted in no time.

In the mean time, you could upload a couple of pics of your existing radiator valves so we can better form an opinion on these special valves that have been mentioned.