Central Heating

roamer

We got our central heating installed about 5 or 6 years. It has never worked properly though.

Im not sure how its set up but the boiler is in the shed and pipes run under the ground into the house (hot press I suppose). One or two radiators get boiling but none of the other ones in the house get anything more than barely warm.

We have had a few plumbers out in the last few years but none of them seem to know whats wrong with it. I imagine they do, but there just not interested in doing the job.

Last year we got a stove in the kitchen and we thought this would solve the problem. Same old though, 2 rads warm only and the kitchen like a bloody stove.

If I knew what the problem was Im pretty sure I would be able to fix it myself.

Sorry, about the vagueness in description of the problem
but im not a plumber :-)

Oh and one more thing theres no lid on the chimney of the boiler. But the boiler didn't even work right when it was on.

gibo_ie

now i am not a plumber but from past experiences it sounds like you have an airlock in your system. Usually you can *bleed* the rads by opening a small screw on the top of the rad with a special key until the air goes out and water starts to flow out. Also your whole system may need to be bled. this inolves (getting a plumber to: -- ) connect a hose onto one of the inlet pipes and emptying the system to a drain outside (dont forget to tie up the ballcock in the attic) then reconnect and fill up again. But this is a job for a professional.

Best of luck,

rooferPete

Hi,

The problem could be as simple as one pipe dipping on a run causing a little pocket of air which will slow the flow of the water through the system.

Another possibility is the pump may not be adequate for the size of the system, all central heating pumps are not the same even though they can look the same on the case.

Another is the pump was never bled properly which should be easy enough for the average plumber to have checked out.

Is the system pressurised or open, one has a small header tank in the attic and the other has what can often look like a red ball ?

.

roamer

I have tried bleeding the radiators before and it didn't work. Perhaps the whole system needs to be bleed. Ill look into that. What is the process involved? Is there anyway to figure out if it does need to be bled or not?

There are two pumps. One is in the shed near the boiler. The other is in the hot press. I assume that the plumber would have installed the correct pump at the boiler when he was installing it.

The pump in the hotpress has been there for years though, perhaps it is causing the problem. What is the average lifespan of a pump?

rooferPete: It is an open system. A black tub in the attic.

rooferPete

Hi Roamer,

As I understand it the open or gravity system can be more prone to air in the system than sealed / pressurised systems, the open system was needed with solid fuel boilers more than the newer gas and oil systems.

I am wondering why you have two pumps on the system ? I have three different heating systems oil, gas and solid fuel soon to have a pellet boiler installed.

Each boiler has a seperate pump because the original solid fuel system (back boiler) must remain as an open system, but it is isolated from the other boilers as the back boiler would be equal to another two radiators when the fire is not in use.

I can understand why I have more than one pump, have you just linked the new stove and the oil boiler together ?

I think you may need a good plumber / heating specialist who can survey the system you have and make any minor changes you need.

I will be disconnecting my solid fuel boiler to allow the system to be changed to a pressure vessel and more effeciency, perhaps that may be an option with your system.

.

roamer

I think one pump pumps the hot water from the shed into the hot press, its a good distance. Then I imagine it goes into the hot tank in the hot press. From there, the other pump pumps it to the radiators.

Ill have to get a plumber out to look at it. Anybody able to recommend a reputable one in the South Mayo area?