Brought house poor heating

garsam

Hi. Ive just moved in to our new home on fri 20th, a 3 bed semi built in 1960s. But we have a problem with the central heating. When we had our viewing we asked about the heating ect. The vendor said although the boiler is 15 years old it has always had a annual service from BG and it is in good working order. The day we moved it it was cold so we put the heating on to only find that only a few rads get hot. most get luke warm and one doesnt get hot or even luke warm just stays freezing. We didnt get it looked at apart from the survey. Which they recommended to get it inspected. I just wanted to know where we stand with the seller? As he has said it is in good working order. Is it worth chasing him or better just leave it and lesson learnt?

Thanks
Gareth

Fire_Fox

You will never be able to prove the heating wasn't in good working order on the day that you asked (presumably a couple of months ago), and you presumably don't have it in writing anyway. Buyer beware - the surveyor advised you to get the heating checked and you failed to do so. Have you bled the radiators? Have you checked the cold radiator has not been closed off with a spanner?

jackieb

Have you tried bleeding the radiators?

garsam

hi thanks for the reply, we have it in writing that he said it was in good working order in a questionaire from the solicitors. Yes ive bled them it seems like they are blocked. I think I will have to remove and flush them out.

BitterAndTwisted

Bleeding the radiators is the first thing I'd try but please, please ensure the system is switched off before you start. A radiator key can be found at any hardware/DIY store for about a pound or less but exercise caution if the radiator valves have been painted over: you don't want the damned things open and not closeable again!

Fire_Fox

garsam wrote: »

hi thanks for the reply, we have it in writing that he said it was in good working order in a questionaire from the solicitors. Yes ive bled them it seems like they are blocked. I think I will have to remove and flush them out.

That only proves the vendors claimed the system was working on the day that they completed the form, how long ago was that?

poppysarah

You could get a power flush done... less effort than taking them off.

garsam

hi. about 1 month ago he filled it out. i think im on a losing battle and should forget it and try fix it myself

marcg

There are various things a DIYer can do in this situation to get the system working. First, with the heating on for 10 mins or so:

- to check for air in the system (rads needing bleeding) feel the radiator: if it is hot midway up but cold at the top then the top half is full of air and needs bleeding (use a radiator key to open the little valve at the top side of the radiator; keep a cloth handy to catch the dirty water when it overflows). If all the radiators are full of air you may need to top up the system with more water - there will be a tap feeding the boiler to do this. Also check the pressure meter on the boiler to see that there is enough water in the system to give 1 bar of pressure.

If this doesn't work then:
- put your ear to the lukewarm or cold rads and listen for the sound of running water. If there is no running water then there may be a blockage or the pump on the boiler may need replacing. Or, simply the valves on the radiator may be turned off:

On one side of the radiator you may have something like a thermostatic valve (big fat valve with vertical slots in it). On the other side of the rads you probably have a normal valve under a white bakelite cover. Pull the cover off and underneath will be a flat head which you grasp with a wrench or flatnosed pliers.

The thermo valve shuts off water flow when the temperature in the room reaches a certain level. If it is turned down to zero then the water won't be able to flow through the radiator.

The normal valve is used to balance the system - water can flow through the rads closest to the boiler much more easily than the ones at the far end upstairs. Therefore the rads nearest need the normal valve turning down a bit to constrict the flow, thereby increasing the pressure of water heading further downstream toward the more distant rads.

It sounds like someone may have gotten this last bit wrong on your system - meaning the closest rads are hot and the water coming back from them is telling the boiler the whole system is hot and it doesn't need to keep heating the water. Do the other checks first though - balancing a system is tedious and if it's already done right it would be annoying to mess that up by opening valves where you don't need to.

poppysarah

If it's your house it's your heating.

mlz1413

garsam you said in the first post:
"The vendor said although the boiler is 15 years old it has always had a annual service from BG and it is in good working order"

And from what you are posting the boiler is fine, its the raditors that are poor.

Tend to agree with you that you are on a losing battle. For future purchases / lettings ask if the heating can be put on for your viewing.

Good luck for a quick solution, I've got problems with my boiler at mo and waking up to a cold house is horrid.