Date: July 2009

Description: The owner of this home had already decided that he wanted a combi boiler installed before we arrived. They currently had a system boiler and showed us the one he wanted from a manufacturers brochure. We discussed several other options and the fact that the least expensive boiler wouldn’t necessarily produce the expected results. In the end we decided on a different manufacturer with a warranty that was four years longer than the one he had picked and a boiler which produced more litres per minute as required for his needs. Due to lack of storage space we found another location to install the boiler so that when we removed the tanks from the airing cupboard the entire space would now be usable.

The old system boiler was removed along with associated immersion and F&E tanks from the loft and airing cupboard. We also had to re-route some pipe work. The previous central heating engineer had also left us some extra work that he was too lazy to do himself. He had screwed in a wet copper heating element into the hole usually used by an electric immersion element and left the primary coil hooked up to the old lead pipe work which probably ran to an old back boiler arrangement. We planned ahead just in case the pipe work was full of water and fortunately for us we did. The old lead pipes were still VERY full of stagnate water after twenty years. Thanks!

Once everything was removed we installed the new Viessmann 100-W 30kW combi boiler into a utility room at the rear of the property and started re-routing the gas and the flow and return pipe work. The hot and cold where already in place for the cloths washer. Once the flue was in we spliced in a spur to the house ring main.  We had one more job to do which was a radiator swap in one of the bedrooms upstairs. We had already flushed the entire system so put in the new radiator and were ready to fill the system and start commissioning. The entire system was completed in only a few days and the home owner is saving money due to an efficient and properly sized boiler.

As we are authorised Viessmann installers we added an additional two years to their standard three year warranty so the home owner is now enjoying the luxury a FIVE year parts and labour warranty on the boiler and a ten year warranty on the heat exchanger.
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Date: Mar 2009

We have worked in this property before and this time around were asked to remove the old balanced flue boiler which was consuming large amounts of natural gas and replace it with a more economical system. As the client already had a pumped shower being fed from an insulated cylinder in the loft we opted for a conventional boiler. We modified the gravity hot water, pumped central heating pipe work to a fully pumped S-Plan and added the required controls. We also corrected some major and minor electrical issues found along the way. [[Show as slideshow]]

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The Basics:

Over the years one of the more frequent questions that homeowners ask me is how to locate which of their radiator pipes is the flow pipe and which is the return pipe. The question usually revolves around the need to install TVRs (Thermostatic Radiator Valve) at each radiator. In most cases TVRs are unidirectional. In other words it doesn’t matter if the valve installed on the flow or the return side of the central heating circuit.

When you search for a new valve make sure that you can install on the flow or return side of the circuit. If however you need, or just want to locate the flow and return side it is very easy.

Make sure the heating and hot water system is turned off and all the pipes in the house are cold. With all pipes cold switch the heating system on. Make sure to lease the hot water circuit off if you are able to do so. Some systems require the hot water to be on in order to have heating. As soon as the heating is turned on start checking the pipe work nearest the boiler for the pipe that heats up first. That should be the flow pipe. The flow pipe is the one with the pump attached to it. Start working your way around the radiators in the house and check to see which pipe heats up first. That too will be the flow pipe. Mark the flow pipes with the letter ‘F’ and you will evetually have all the flow pipes marked.

Depending on the type of TRVs you buy you will now be able to install them on the flow side or on either side as you will know which direction the water is flowing through the system.

A very boring subject indeed so if you’ve made it this far congratualtions and good luck.

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Date: August 2008

Description: This property was previously owned by the council. You can tell because it has the old forced air heating system which over the years becomes a forced dust blower system! The new owner of the property wanted the system removed and a combi boiler installed. As there was no existing pipe work for water of gas we had to add everything. We started by removing the old system and making repairs to the poorly cut electrics that were done during the heaters original installation.

Once that was accomplished we ran new pipe work throughout the property and with a mix of barrier pipe and copper made our connections back to the new boiler. We connected the boiler up and within a couple of days the property was up and running.

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Date: July 2008

Description: The bathroom appliances were not only worn out but behind the scenes there were a lot of issues which required resolving. The floor was sloping which made the toilet look lop sided, the toilet was leaking behind the plywood boxing, the pipework was still lead including the tub overflow and the plaster and lathe walls required partial replacement before we could start any major work.

Once the ceiling and walls were repaired and skimmed the walls were tiled and the appliances were installed we left the home owner to enjoy a relaxing whirlpool bath.

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Date: June 2008

Description: The remit  was to swap the bathroom built on an outside wall to a larger room next door with no outside walls or windows and add a seperate shower . The windowless room was created when an extension was added to the rear of the house years earlier and was being used as a storage room.  All other appliances were to be reused and of course all pipe work was to be extended with new. The largest issue here was the fall required for the length of  waste pipe for the toilet. We did have to lower a section of ceiling in a downstairs utility room to get it installed correctly. All outside waste pipes were replaced and previous poor workmanship repaired at the same time (see cowboy award).

Due to the bathroom wall being installed to an inner room with no outside windows we had to add a ventilation system. We chose an automatic unit and wired it up in the loft. There older (MCB but no RCD) consumer unit meant we had to also add RCD protection to the lighting and fan. Once all of the mechanical work was completed we moved back into the old bathroom to remove all of the redundant now pipe work and wastes ready for a new floor and life as bedroom.

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Date: April 2008

Description: We’ve known this customer for a long time and when we were askded if we would split the job so that he could do some and we would do some the answer was yes. The old bathroom was very tiny and we suggested pushing the wall to the right of the toilet about four inches towards the box room next door so that the tub could be located under the window. The basin and toilet then fit along the left hand wall giving the appearance of a much larger room. You must trick the eye!

We removed the old pipe work and did a first fix for central heating, toilet waste and hot and cold feeds. We also replaced the flooring as the old T&G had been cut so many times it would have been impossible to tile as required. We temporarily hooked up the toilet and tub and then departed until the plastering was completed. We did the second fix on our next visit a few days later and then popped back as required to help out with bits and pieces.

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To further complicate this story, the return pipe from the central heating (which was piped correctly) shared the return pipe for the gravity hot water (which was now the flow pipe) the system would never work propery as it would always fighting itself.

We flipped the pipe work back around and also moved the radiator. They now have correctly working system with a highly efficient A rated boiler, the entire system has been flushed and we added new radiators and Thermostatic Radiator Valves.

The house gets warm quickly and efficiently.

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Date: February 2008

Description: The house required a new boiler and the client also wanted it moved to the basement area and out of the kitchen. There were some challenges as we had to use a very long flue run to get the system hooked up but we were able to accomplish the job as requested. We cleaned up some other issues that we found along the way and the house is now very cosy and fuel efficiency has gone way up.

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