New boiler disaster

thedr

Hi everyone.

I had a new combi boiler installed at the end of last year. It was a disaster. I sensed there was a problem. The guy came back twice but denied there was any problem. I then asked the Gas Safe inspector to come over. He shut down the boiler straight away because there was a gas leak. Thankfully he then made the engineer come back and fix everything. The Gas Safe guy then inspected it.

Now it is all safe. There is another problem. The problem is the engineer (who chose the boiler) installed a boiler that was too low a kilowatt. It manages a low flow of hot water. And the engineer installed a little tap on the boiler so that I can limit/unlimit the flow of water to make it hotter or cooler to the sink in the kitchen.

Thing is I object to this. I am a busy person. I do not expect to have to manually adjust the flow to get hot water. That is not what I expect from a new combi boiler. And it's obviously down to the fact that the engineer chose a boiler with too low a kilowatt. It is 24KW and obviously should have been 28KW or 32KW. So now I'm told I might have to increase the flow or decrease it according to the seasonal change of water temperature. It just feels a bodge.

OK, so the system is fairly useable (although I never get a really hot bath any more). So, my questions are this:

1. Should I ask the engineer for a part refund?

2. If the engineer refuses for a part refund could I take him to small claims court?

3. Is there anything else I could do?

I feel angry and conned. I trusted his judgement and I've ended up with less than satisfactory system.

bris

What size is the house?

thedr

bris wrote: »

What size is the house?

2 bedroom flat.

The guy did a job for an identical flat next door and I'm sure he used a more powerful boiler.

jblack_2

He's the 'expert' so you have taken his advice and gone with the boiler he's recommended.

If he didn't explain the flow rates etc of the recommended boiler and the fact you wouldn't have the expected results then I'd suggest he's at fault.

If the boiler is not capable of supplying hot water to a kitchen sink I'd be questioning the mains pressure too. What system did you have before?

Seems like a very strange set up having a tap at the boiler like that. You'd be able to control the flow by opening the hot tap less, surely this would have the same effect?

thedr

It was an old fashioned cylinder boiler before.

I think the mains pressure is too great for the boiler to handle. It only just about warms it up. Hence the restraining tap which slows down the flow and is for the sink feed only.

He didn't explain anything about the flow rates.

jblack_2

I'd be looking to get the situation sorted to an acceptable outcome. It sounds like a bodge job to me.

Still doesn't make sense about the tap though (Without seeing it's hard to be sure.). This is not an acceptable solution and needs sorting.

thedr

Sure. I think I'm going to need to put things in writing.

Zandoni

My Combi will not give really hot water when the tap is fully open, all I do is just adjust the flow at the tap I'm using. It stands to reason that in the winter the water is that much colder and any boiler will struggle.

thedr

I know combis struggle with cold water in winter. I'm not expecting miracles. However, my boiler took 3 minutes for the water to get hot, with a reasonable flow of water. That's not what I expect from a new boiler.

I did try turning the tap right down, but the flow was really low.

And I think it signifies that he's fitted an inadequate kilowatt boiler. I think people actually do fit too low a kilowatt. However, he chose the boiler, not me.

C_Mababejive

What a joke. The sooner people realise that stored hot water is the way to go the better.

pinkshoes

I think I'd start by going to have a look at the neighbour's boiler that he installed, and ask them if they have the same problems.

I think I'd then be tempted to pay for an independent expert to come and take a look, and if they think the wrong boiler was fitted, I'd be insisting they take it out and put the correct boiler in.

I certainly wouldn't want a partial refund - no refund would make up for a rubbish system and I certainly wouldn't buy any house or flat that has a rubbish system.