Broken Heating - Landlord Not Fixing

Bargain.hunter_4

Hi All,

Any help would be appreciated as I am completely stuck as to what to do next and do not know where to turn for help.

At a high level, I have been in a house for close to 6 months and the central heating is not working.

Essentially, there is a fault which means, whilst it burns gas and runs up bills, the radiators are only luke warm and so it is costing a fortune to heat the house.

The landlord and agency are aware of this, but no-one seems to be doing anything. Also, I am under the impression that they were aware of this before I moved in.

To add to this, there is a high pressure water cylinder as part of the system and this is losing water through the overflow, which I am concerned means that is probably unsafe aswell.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what to do, as the agency is just fobbing me off with promises which never materialise.

I appreciate any help anyone can give as this is becoming a nightmare.

Thanks in advance

Freddie_Snowbits

OK, try this part of the parish. They are better disposed in that part
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16
(Com'n Squawky!, move it!)

Bargain.hunter_4

Hi All,

Any help would be appreciated as I am completely stuck as to what to do next and do not know where to turn for help.

At a high level, I have been in a house for close to 6 months and the central heating is not working.

Essentially, there is a fault which means, whilst it burns gas and runs up bills, the radiators are only luke warm and so it is costing a fortune to heat the house.

The landlord and agency are aware of this, but no-one seems to be doing anything. Also, I am under the impression that they were aware of this before I moved in.

To add to this, there is a high pressure water cylinder as part of the system and this is losing water through the overflow, which I am concerned means that is probably unsafe aswell.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what to do, as the agency is just fobbing me off with promises which never materialise.

I appreciate any help anyone can give as this is becoming a nightmare.

Thanks in advance

bris

Make sure the valves are fully open and bleed the radiators. You may also want to check to see if there are and thermostas on the wall, boiler etc and turn them up.

Bargain.hunter_4

Thanks that, will post on there

Freddie_Snowbits

OK, seems the radiators are not hot at the top?

Need to bleed the radiators.
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/bleeding_a_radiator.htm

Oh and have a cloth, do not turn the thing tooooo much, as the liquid is hot

artbaron

Had this with mine. A couple needed bleeding, which I did, but on three of them the thermostats had gone. British Gas fixed them for free when they did an annual check-up (I'm not covered for radiators but the guy was a nice chap and did them anyway)

G_M

Well, it's a toughy.
Is there a valid gas safety certificate? If not LL is breaking criminal law. Contact Environmental Health. If yes, well, the LL's obligation is to provide a heating system. Definition? Well, the boiler works, though the system is inefficient. If the rads really don't heat up, again Environmental Health might get involved.

The leaking boiler might need attention. Only an engineer can say, but again, a gas certificate would indicate it was inspected within the last year at least.

Bargain.hunter_4

Has a gas certificate, but it s faulty and when they inspected this was clear.

The annoyance is, its costing me a fortune... money which I will not see again as I am using electric heaters that I have purchased.

Also, I am concerned about the safety of my cylinder

G_M

The certificate indiates that it was safe (not the same as efficient or working) at the time of inspection. Any issues would have been highlighted at the time, though provided safety is not the issue then a certificate can be issued.

To enforce repairs to improve efficiency you'd need EH to define it as not adequately heating the property.

Sounds like it might need a power flush - sludge builds up in the pipes and rads, so the hot water can't circulate properly to heat the rads. But that's justa guess. PF costs a out £100. You could suggest this to the LL and even, if he isn't interested, offer to pay if he gives permission.

Bargain.hunter_4

Nah, its not sludge, its been plumbed incorrectly... bit of a nightmare to be honest... would EH help with this?