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central heating not working in bought house

135

Comments

  • Angel777
    Angel777 Posts: 913 Forumite
    Thank you for the advice.

    I was thinking that i will try and bleed radiators and if no joy just get a plumber in, i am always weary of being ripped off but i know not all are like that.

    will keep you updated - i just want it to work!
  • teabelly
    teabelly Posts: 1,229 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Could be the diverter valve or the pump if bleeding radiators doesn't help. If you have hot water then it isn't completely knackered :)

    Find the manual for the boiler. If it is recent ish the usually have a diagnostic mode which will show what it is up to. If the pump isn't working then it will probably show up as an error code.

    The CH could have been working fine the last time it was used. If old style then the pumps don't get turned over regularly. Most modern boilers have a pump 'kick' which turns it over every day to make sure it doesn't seize.
  • wymondham
    wymondham Posts: 6,356 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Mortgage-free Glee!
    teabelly wrote: »
    Most modern boilers have a pump 'kick' which turns it over every day to make sure it doesn't seize.

    what a great feature. one example of modern being better than old!
  • Angel777
    Angel777 Posts: 913 Forumite
    Really if i have hot water does it mean that its completely gone? oh no.

    Well i am going to bleed the radiators and then see.
  • sarah_elton
    sarah_elton Posts: 2,017 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    My mum sold our family house that she'd had since new build for 14 years. She sold it, and a week later the boiler packed up. :( There had been no indication at all of anything wrong before we left - it just went. :( Unfortunately these things can happen.

    When I bought my flat, the owner had left a lovely long letter explaining how the heating, hot water and everything worked. It was really nice as systems you don't know can be totally confusing. I'll do it for the next owner when I sell, and will keep doing so in future. I think seller's should be obliged to leave house instructions. :)
  • sarah_elton
    sarah_elton Posts: 2,017 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Angel777 wrote: »
    Thank you for the advice.

    I was thinking that i will try and bleed radiators and if no joy just get a plumber in, i am always weary of being ripped off but i know not all are like that.

    Get a recommendation from friend/family if you can...
  • Incisor
    Incisor Posts: 2,271 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ... When I bought my flat, the owner had left a lovely long letter explaining how the heating, hot water and everything worked. It was really nice as systems you don't know can be totally confusing. I'll do it for the next owner when I sell, and will keep doing so in future. I think seller's should be obliged to leave house instructions. :)
    Hah, I invited my buyers around between contract and exchange about 3 times to explain heating and anything else, even passing the message that we were not going back after completion, and still they were not interested. No helping some people.
    After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
    Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
    Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
    By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
    To dissolve the people
    And elect another?
  • mlz1413
    mlz1413 Posts: 3,070 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Angel777 wrote: »
    Really if i have hot water does it mean that its completely gone? oh no.

    Well i am going to bleed the radiators and then see.

    if you ar getting hot water then the boiler is working. To me it sounds like either a valve/diverter is stuck hence only getting hot water. Or you haven't worked out the programmer yet.

    The programmer or timer is probably a small box with a digital time reading and the front flips down. Inside are buttons that show things like 'once' 'all' and 'constant' you can put on water and/or heating at upto 3 different times a day. If previous owner were hard sorts then the heating is probably in the off position.

    If you can't get hold of the old owners then its probably easier just to call out a plumber, ones out of the paper are likely to be local so maybe able to fit you in quicker, otherwise recommendation is best, good old yellow pages after that.
  • Angel777
    Angel777 Posts: 913 Forumite
    Thanks mlz1413.

    I am going to call a plumber tomorrow, if there are any mse plumbers in the manchester area, please let me know.

    Thanks.
  • Mutton_Geoff
    Mutton_Geoff Posts: 4,028 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    No disrespect to anyone, but this sounds more like finger trouble than anything. If the hot water is fed from the same boiler then most of the system is working. The only bit that isn't is the feed from the boiler to the radiators. This is almost certainly the diverter valve in the wrong position. This could be because the programmer isn't calling for heat (ie CH off) or the valve is manually latched in the wrong position.

    If it's a combi boiler, could be something similar but it almost certainly isn't air in the radiators. This usually manifests itself in a single cold radiator (where the air collects) or several being hot at the bottom and cold along the top. It almost never results in all the rads being off, so please don't be misled by the helpful advice here. If you haven't bled rads before, you'll also need to find the key spigots on the radiators (sometimes on the back) and know how much to undo them by etc. If you loosen it right off and it falls out, you'll end up with brown water all over your floor, so please be careful. Budget £50-100 for a plumber and be done with it.

    How about the current BG offer of a £49 boiler service and be nice to the engineer that arrives, he/she will have seen almost every combination of system and know exactly what's up within minutes.
    Signature on holiday for two weeks
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