New to oil central heating

Denham

Hi Folks,
Were moving into a 4 bed bungalow with oil central heating. Not sure how it works there is no oil in the tank but should i ask the land lord anything b4 we sign the lease.... he said if u are careful its cheaper than electric night stoorage???? any tips on how to best use it... im a little worried a
bout it and think it might be better to rely on the stove any thoughts would be much appreciated....

regards

jimf

naturally enough the first thing you need to do is get oil the burner possibly will need
to be bled to get it going i would ask your landlord to get the boiler serviced for you
by a competent oftec service engineer then at least you know the boiler is working at max effiency if you do decide to go with oil heating

Denham

jimf wrote: »

naturally enough the first thing you need to do is get oil the burner possibly will need
to be bled to get it going i would ask your landlord to get the boiler serviced for you
by a competent oftec service engineer then at least you know the boiler is working at max effiency if you do decide to go with oil heating

cool
q's:
- cost to service
- how often to service

jimf

have seen services being advertised recently for as low as 45eu but imho not possible to do a proper service at this kind of money you certainly wont get an oftec reg engineer somebody on a horse maybe prices vary 80 euro being bout average

annual service would be recommended

Billy Bunting

Denham wrote: »

im a little worried about it and think it might be better to rely on the stove any thoughts would be much appreciated....

regards

The landlord along with having a duty of care is also legaly responsible for the servicing and maintanance of the heating system in the property. He should annually have the boiler serviced and be in a position to prove it.

irishproduce

Can I jump in on this?
My situation.
Moved in a year ago.
OIl was empty, filled it with 500 litres but that was gone in about 4 months. 3 bed house.
Got €200 in following that so 500 litres + € 200 whatever that is.
Then earlier this year, the boiler started gushing all this crap coloured liquid.
I shut it down and landlord notified (If you search my posts, you will see the photos I took of it to show folks here)

His mate called out to have a look at it (Assured me his mate is a boiler tech) and advised that the pipe from oil storage to burner was leaking & that I had to let oil run out and then have the pipe replaced. So, I did this, recently. Oil ran out after 3 days of use after the summer, I called him, f**ing 10 days later on a Sunday morning at 9am some other old fella arrives with some stuff, spends 20 minutes out the back and says job done. Pure amatuer by the way as in the pipe is sitting on the grass out there whereas previous one was on the wall.

I get another 500 litres dropped in. Now we have a problem because since the work was carried out, you literally can't go near the back of the house without your lungs being filled with the fumes from kerosene, so I go out to look at it and feel the pipe where it enters the boiler and it is all wet with kerosene.
I call LL again, get the run around and am told he will come to have a look. I asked him to have someone competent look at it as the idea of mates and Sunday morning jobbies turning up isn't filling me with confidence. So he says that all boiler guys are up the walls and there is a week - 10 day wait for his mate to be available.
Promised he would call today himself to look. I called him to speak about a time he could call as I am at work but he was unavailable and said he would call in the morning instead.
I called him back just to check that he had put in an appointment with a boiler tech, even though he wanted to look himself and he said that his mate would be available end of next week.

My query is around certification.
I have never used oil boilers before, any boiler really. Wife and son (while they are away on holidays at moment) will be in the house too shortly so I am getting tetchy.
Is there some kind of certification that I could ask to see that the work was done to a certifiable standard and then I can relax, that any issues have been repaired rather than odd jobby fellas looking at it?
I mean, his mate is probably a boiler tech because this LL does everything himself so I have no doubt if he was able to do a boiler, he would.
I am also worried about how much oil I am losing because I am paying for it all.
Rent aint cheap either, it is in a good area and a large house.

Thanks for any advice regarding certification and what I could ask to see.

shane0007

Yes of course there is. It is called an OFTEC CD11 Oil Servicing & Commissioning Report. It can only be issued by an OFTEC Technician. It will give you a full report and every part of system from the oil supply to the heating system.
Make sure that you check the reverse side of the cert as this will give you a breakdown of what must be checked within each category of checks. It should have ticks if passed, x's if fails, N/A if not applicable or N/F if not fitted.
Any fails should be noted on the front side of the certificate with an explanation or comment on the failure and it should have a recommendation of what action to take next.
Finally, it should have attached a print out of the flue gas analysis of the boiler.

Billy Bunting

If i was you i would take Shane's advice, forget your LL's "mate", as previously stated your LL has a legal responsability to maintain your heat, he is obviously looking to cut corners and so i would go it alone and deduct from rent, tell him the enviromental health officer advised you.

TPM

I know you dont want to be spending your own money on what the landlord should be taking care of but I agree with Billy and at this stage taking into account how much you have spent on oil, the messing with mates your landlord has been doing and the winter closing in fast, I would bite the bullet and organise a service/inspection from an oftec tech yourself. At least you will know where you stand, give the landlord a copy of the invoice and ask for him to pay yo uback(you may not get it though) and if it needs alot of work you can give the landlord a copy of the report and ask him to fix it

irishproduce

Thanks for all the advice folks.
I sent a typed formal letter this morning outlining my concerns about the boiler clapping out 3 times in the last 12 months and no one is certifying it or guaranteeing the work meets any standard.
I also advised the system is shut down as I can't guarantee my family's safety at this stage and that should professional certification not be provided, then I will have to organise the necessary work myself and invoice him because the house is only getting colder.

It is so unfortunate that it has come to this. We have a decent relationship like but I am just tired of this one thing.
What is the rough cost of the OFTEC CD11 work and is this a standard piece of work or is this the rolls royce of services? Because I could understand him declining if the OFTEC CD11 is the bees knees of services and would be optional. Will I ring somewhere and ask?

I might just get it done anyway because I suspect his mate might be round again to do the work and give me some written piece of paper that he serviced it...useless to me!

kscobie

How old is it/what type ?

irishproduce

I will check that out for you tonight Kscobie. I am working till about 8 but I will go out the back and check later. Thanks for any advice by the way. I have a feeling there is a reason no certification is being provided. The door where the buttons are hidden behind, you know where the controls etc are, well that door is being held on with a concrete block pressed against it. The yellow insulation is all ripped out through the top too.
I might take a photo later for ye as I am not sure i'll be able to tel the type that it is.
I suspect the boiler name will be inside where all these controls are, right?

Billy Bunting

irishproduce wrote: »

What is the rough cost of the OFTEC CD11 work and is this a standard piece of work or is this the rolls royce of services? Because I could understand him declining if the OFTEC CD11 is the bees knees of services and would be optional. Will I ring somewhere and ask?

I might just get it done anyway because I suspect his mate might be round again to do the work and give me some written piece of paper that he serviced it...useless to me!

An Oftec CD11 is standard issue by an OFTEC service Engineer, it is a full report on work carried out by the Engineer and lists any work that does not meet current regs, it will have writen results of the Flue Gas Analysis test carried out along with a print out direct from the Analyser, if you don't get these documents then its very questionable that the job was completed correctly.
There is no additional charge for the report, it is part of the service.

irishproduce

Thanks a million Billy!

jimf

as pointed out very well above by billy you are not requesting the bees knees of service you are are askin for a basic service carried out every day by oftec reg service engineers even if not oftec reg whom a lot of first class service engineers are not they will have a flugas analyizer and will be able to give you a print out of your fga test results and explained in detail to you the average cost of service 80/100 euro unless other non service parts are required

irishproduce

Denham must be thinking "What an A**" I have hijacked his thread entirely.
I will report back later this eve with the model if I am able to tell.
I have a feeling property owner will not want to do service as there could be some horror stories to come of it.
Regardless, I will have it done anyway

irishproduce

Ok, sorry for delay.
It is a "Grant Module 50 ~ 90"

I took a couple of shots just there earlier.
I could have taken photos of the copper pipe lying on the grass which leads into the side of the boiler but that only serves to show how amatuer it looks

dpofloinn

Looks like a DISASTER of an install

first off 2 safety valves fitted together a BIG NO NO and then the insulation left looking like a burst couch useless,It has amature hour written all over it

kscobie

Looks like a DISASTER of an install

first off 2 safety valves fitted together a BIG NO NO and then the insulation left looking like a burst couch useless,It has amature hour written all over it

+1

What you need is a compedent plumber/engineer to fix this mess for you.
The guy who installed that PRV surely arrived with a 10 gallon hat on the back of a donkey

irishproduce

I actually got an oftec guy out.
He is such a decent guy and easy to follow.
He is coming this week as he is quite busy but he even had the decency in him to call over Friday just to give it a look over and give me the thumbs up that it is safe to use for the moment.
One point he made though, he could see very quickly I had been leaking oil.
Have to consider now how to introduce this fact to the LL because it was because of his incompetent mates that I have been losing oil.

jimf

good for you you dont have to put up with this ****e treatment from your landlord
at the end of the day you are the customer
if i treated any of mine that way word would get around very fast and i know who they would not ring in future
cost of service and some reimbursement for oil leakage is the least you should expect

irishproduce

jimf wrote: »

good for you you dont have to put up with this ****e treatment from your landlord
at the end of the day you are the customer
if i treated any of mine that way word would get around very fast and i know who they would not ring in future
cost of service and some reimbursement for oil leakage is the least you should expect

Is it standard to ask for reimbursement for oil loss?
Would I be asking the dodgy tradesmen for that or LL.

On a separate note, woke up this morning for work and you know the vent pipe up near the roof, little black thing, never knew it was there to be honest, it is spraying water all morning all over the back garden. The grass/ garden is getting destroyed!
Hardly related is it?

Billy Bunting

Could be related or it could be your ballvalve on one of the water tanks needs replacing, ask your Oftec man to take a look for you.

As for rembursment for loss of oil, i would again ask your Oftec man for a rough calculation of usage and then work out what you have lost, i personally would be stopping it from the rent money but that may not be the legal approuch.

jimf

may not be legal billy but this landlord doesnt seem to do anything by the book
so yes have a go

he seems to have a good and reasonable tenant a lot more tolerant than id be and thats not maybe

irishproduce

Is there nothing the oftec guy doesn't know!!

Turns out it is an overflow from the tank in the attic. Ballcock is probably stuck but that is LLs issue so have notified him.
Ya, I will have a chat with LL and see what the story is regarding lost oil.

I feel for him a little because he has obviously cut corners by using the mates of his and now certification will highlight that it was a waste of money.

shane0007

irishproduce wrote: »

Is there nothing the oftec guy doesn't know!

That depends on the OFTEC guy. A good one is worth their weight in gold. A bad one, well, you might as well stick to the LL's mates.

irishproduce

As a follow on from all of this, oftec guy came and did all the service etc, all sorted anyway since about 10 - 15 days ago but he noted in his special comments area that I had been leaking oil in two areas on the line - he fixed them by the way. He told me when I spoke to him that he couldn't quantify how much I had lost but that it was because of this oil leaking into the ground that I could smell it in the bathroom. Question is, should I ask the landlord for some oil in return due to his mates carrying out dodgy work? If so, how much? I have spent €1200 on oil since moving in 12 months ago. Tricky one isn't it!

Billy Bunting

irishproduce wrote: »

As a follow on from all of this, oftec guy came and did all the service etc, all sorted anyway since about 10 - 15 days ago but he noted in his special comments area that I had been leaking oil in two areas on the line - he fixed them by the way. He told me when I spoke to him that he couldn't quantify how much I had lost but that it was because of this oil leaking into the ground that I could smell it in the bathroom. Question is, should I ask the landlord for some oil in return due to his mates carrying out dodgy work? If so, how much? I have spent €1200 on oil since moving in 12 months ago. Tricky one isn't it!

You have the report, take it to him or the private rental organisation and give them your story, i defo would be looking for compo.

shane0007

If it were me, I would not try to claim anything as it will only lead to a fall out. I would sharpen my pencil and keep it marked for future use when you need something from the landlord: "Remember when your mates messed up and leaked my oil, ......."