If anyone wants advice on gas/central heating/boilers. feel free to ask

House built in the 90's with a back boiler? Are you sure?


well estate agent said back boiler behind the front room gas fire...in the rest of the house i could only see a hot water tank and room thermostat ..rightmove states built in 95

house was full of stuff as the old guy has just had a stroke...only had a quick initial look round... had potential....think they're going to empty it next week so i said i'd go back for a second more detail look.
 
Hi

Looking for a very slim radiator to fit a 330mm wide and 1000mm hight space. Any suggestions on what to look for and where?

The only ones I have been able to find online is type and make:


Not sure on the quality.

Thank you
 
Can someone advise how a: Ideal logic max 30kw with a 10 year warranty compares to a: Viessmann 050w 29kw with a 10 year warranty?
Thanks
 
It’s not impossible but it’s highly unlikely...

Thanks

Well personally I've only experience of normal boilers...since my first house I've only had combi's

As mentioned couldn't see any sign of a boiler anywhere...only a hot water tank and a room thermostat down stairs ...and a gas fire

Bit of advice needed mate .What should I look for when I go back ?

Cheers
 
Here's an odd question, and maybe this a question for the sparks not the plumbers.

Is there a way to limit the power to the immersion? I just got solar panels installed and I'm often generating more than I can use.

I could of course fit a hot water diverter, but they're fairly expensive and the payback time is way too long.

I do have a wifi switch on the immersion so I can turn it on remotely provided the solar production is good. But since the immersion is such a high power item, it demands too much power all at once and I end up drawing from the grid.

So is there a way to slow it down? So it heats longer and slower rather than full pelt?

We don't currently have a feed in tariff for excess power so anything I don't find a home for is lost.
 
Thanks

Well personally I've only experience of normal boilers...since my first house I've only had combi's

As mentioned couldn't see any sign of a boiler anywhere...only a hot water tank and a room thermostat down stairs ...and a gas fire

Bit of advice needed mate .What should I look for when I go back ?

Cheers
I’ve seen backboilers that we’re fitted in the 90’s and even early 2000’s so it’s not that unlikely that you have a back boiler. They even released a condensing back boiler when standard efficiency boilers were no longer allowed.
I’m not sure there are many of them in the country through ao you probably don’t have a condensing one.

When you go back you could always ask to “test” the heating, then go and stand in the living room or wherever you think the back boiler is and you’ll no doubt hear it roaring away. Another big give away will be a huge air vent in the living room, usually somewhere on the outside wall.
 
Can someone advise how a: Ideal logic max 30kw with a 10 year warranty compares to a: Viessmann 050w 29kw with a 10 year warranty?
Thanks
Much of a muchness id say. This might not apply to where you live but you don’t see many veissmanns down my way. Logics are everywhere so parts and finding an engineer to work on it won’t be a problem.
 
not a heating question but was hoping a plumber could help me out with an electric shower part/problem

my parents gainsborough princess ii shower constantly drips when off from the hose...long story short i had a look and eventually think its the thermstatic control spindle thingy that the control turny thing connects to...theres a rubber washer on the end of it which looks a bit rough round the edges.

trouble is i cant seem to to suss out how its removed to be replaced?
...at the monent as its an old shower at least it can still be used so dont want to knacker t trying to remove it improperly...i've attached a photo of it

thumbnail_IMG_20200805_153320.jpg

its the black rubber washer behind the red plastic bit...the red bit is free to turn round pretty freely...but unless you've got to be a bit brutal with it and prise it off i cant see how it can be removed in order to prise the washer off??

unless the circlip thingy has to be removed the other end....then the body bit unscrewed...then get to the washer that way..which to me seems a bit unlikely?

anyway any help would be most appreciated
 
oh ...pretty sure the washer is the problem as i wrapped some ptfe tape round it to check..and the dripping stopped

....but soon as you start using the control and turning it...obviously the tape just gets trashed
 
Done it now....brute force and a screw driver

shower now works a treat
 
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I do have a wifi switch on the immersion so I can turn it on remotely provided the solar production is good. But since the immersion is such a high power item, it demands too much power all at once and I end up drawing from the grid.

So is there a way to slow it down? So it heats longer and slower rather than full pelt?
A crude solution and I think you'ld want a normally closed switch too (since you have a wifi switch).

Ideally, you have a device that can sense excess supply and use that for PWM to provide current to the heating element.
 
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A crude solution and I think you'ld want a normally closed switch too (since you have a wifi switch).

Ideally, you have a device that can sense excess supply and use that for PWM to provide current to the heating element.
Thanks, I've since coughed up the case for a proper water diverter. Still not a financially sound decision as the payback time is too long, but you can't put a price on the pain of watching excess power go to the grid...
 
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Here's an odd question, and maybe this a question for the sparks not the plumbers.

Is there a way to limit the power to the immersion? I just got solar panels installed and I'm often generating more than I can use.

I could of course fit a hot water diverter, but they're fairly expensive and the payback time is way too long.

I do have a wifi switch on the immersion so I can turn it on remotely provided the solar production is good. But since the immersion is such a high power item, it demands too much power all at once and I end up drawing from the grid.

So is there a way to slow it down? So it heats longer and slower rather than full pelt?

We don't currently have a feed in tariff for excess power so anything I don't find a home for is lost.

Your not Dave Edwards from Scotland :)

 
back to what i was asking about back boilers and one fitted into house i might put an offer in for

my gut reaction was to rip it all out and the gas fire....getting it properly de-commisioned etc..do away with the hot water tank etc and put a traditional combi somewhere..hopefully using most of the radiator pipework already there

maybe remove the entire flue /chimney if possible to free up space in the lounge...depending on how it's built...going by the looks of it in the bedrooms up to the loft it doesnt look the size of a regular chimney....but thats a separate issue.

been doing a bit more research into them and apparently theres a couple of options...my first one...then there looks to be an option of removing it all and replacing the back boiler with a combi boiler in the same place...didnt think that would be an option...or a good idea?

EDIT...i think i might have read that last bit wrong!....think they meant leave the back boiler in situ...and fit the combi somewhere else :confused:

rough google quotes for the last option seem to be around the £3000 - £ 4000 depending on the boiler


mains gas is on the kitchen wall..though the kitchen is quite small..probably why the back boiler was fitted...i know combi boilers can be quite small these days so would probably fit somewhere...there is a under stairs cupboard (has an outside wall for the flue) in the kitchen which i originally thought i could maybe put a washing machine and boiler in...but due to the sloping ceiling i wasnt sure i'd get the height...dont know what the legal min height has to be for combi / flue placement..i imagine high enough to stop kids poking things in from outside

another option would be fitting the combi in the hot water tank cupboard upstairs...which is near the bathroom and above the kitchen ...which would probably be a good option but as i work shifts i was'nt sure noise would be a problem .

anyway a lot of if's and buts and maybes but i was after peoples opinions and ideas on the best way to go...and rough ball park costs....bit concerned about that side of things taking up a big chunk of my doing up budget......house needs a a big renovation job ..done a couple of houses up and quite an able diy'er so planned to do what i can myself

cheers all
 
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Bought a house years ago with a back boiler to a parkray(?) fire. One of the mortgage conditions was that the (defunct) back boiler be removed within x years. We only stayed for a couple of years and it’s one of the jobs that never happened. I never really knew why the requirement was made and To be safe we never used the fire - it was the last room on the list and we didn’t really use it.
 
....bit concerned about that side of things taking up a big chunk of my doing up budget......house needs a a big renovation job ..done a couple of houses up and quite an able diy'er so planned to do what i can myself

cheers all
I’d find out how old the back boiler is. You would need the gas council number (gc code) for this or the model number.

Back boilers have ages ranging from 50years (I’ve recent worked on a 1970’s back boiler - baffling really) to 25years.

If you’ve got a “newer” back boiler would it hurt to keep it and rip out when funds allow, especially if you’re worried about it eating into your budget.

Plenty of people have had back boilers replaced over the years and it doesn’t mean your house needs a complete renovation - especially if you think the radiators and pipe work are salvageable.

Also, you did read that bit wrong, you can’t fit a combi where the back boiler used to be!
 
Thanks....
Yeah been reading a few posts on various DIY sites...a lot of people have been saying that in the 30 odd years they've had them there's never been any problems.. reliability outweighs effeciency etc..or few that only cost 50 quid to fix etc etc

Baxi ones seem to be well regarded..with the view of leaving those in until it conks out

Was thinking ..if I did put an offer in..first thing to insist on would be a gas safety test to see if it works alright and is safe to use

..then I could at least use it if I moved in...
if it's not... even though I planned to probably rip it out any way I could at least use it to negotiate the price down a bit more.
 
Got a unrelated plumbing question if anyone can help...didn't want to start a different thread

Just fixed me mum and dad's toilet...noticed it hasn't got a waste over flow...just an open hole...removed when they had an extension built so the toilet wall is no longer an outside wall...to be fair it's been like it for years but Its not great if the toilet over fills.

Any the old chap being Mr bodge it was on about running a waste pipe to under the toilet seat into the bowl ..which although would work Id rather do it more properly..

My thought was there's a sink next door so run the waste pipe along the wall and into the sink waste pipe somehow..thought a T piece of some sort would be needed and some sort of reduced

..but a quick reccy would suggest that toilet waste pipes are an odd size compared to a lot of other pipe work

Wanted to know best way to do it and if anyone knew what sort of fitting would be needed ..screw fix catalogue didnt seem to have anything ?

Have enclosed a pic of the waste pipe I'd thought about tapping into
 

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Got a unrelated plumbing question if anyone can help
Assuming the cistern has ye olde flap flush valve, I'd replace that with a dual flush that drains into the bowl should it overfill. Would also give the water saving of a short flush & save having to bodge an overflow. Something like this:


If the cistern is close coupled to the pan you'll also need a new "doughnut".


There's also a lever version if that's preferred.

 

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