New house :radiators not working

SMW87

Hi all.

We recently bought a house and after a few weeks decorating we decided to put the gas heating on.

Unfortunately only the small radiator below the boiler works, the rest have no heat in them or v v little (all turned to highest point). I left it on for a hour with no change.

We had a gas safety report done when purchasing and ran the tap to check hot water.

So if water is hot, boiler works (quite new looking) does anyone know what it could be? The owners didn't live in it for a good few months. Does it sound expensive??

Would it just need bled? can you even bleed a radiator on gas system yourself? Never had it before.

Thanks in advance!

S

ispookie666

Do you have a hot water cylinder or is it a combi boiler?
If you have hot water without any problem - Good news - Boiler works.
If no hot water - It does not look promising.
One radiator working(its possible that it is in the same circuit as the hot water) - but its usually the towel rads which are plumbed this way.
I would bleed all the radiators - its an easy job. Have a look on Youtube.
Are you certain the thermostat is calling for heat? If yes, it could be a stuck 3-port valve.

SMW87

I think its a combi, but unsure. Hot water coming from downstairs and upstairs tap instantly though. Towel radiator isnt working.

Yes when i click auto on thermostat and raise the temp to 20oC you hear the boiler kick in, the same way when i turn water tap on.

Is it ok to bleed on a gas system? Does it not have to be balanced?

Sorry if these appear to be silly questions.

Le_Kirk

You are bleeding water from the radiators (well actually air) not anything to do with the gas. Are you sure that the radiators are turned on? There might be TRV's (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) at one end and a lock shield at the other. Both valves need to be open by turning the valve anti-clockwise.

If you heard the boiler kick in when demanding heat from the thermostat that is good news.

Have a look on the boiler and see if you can find the manufacturers name and model number. Maybe the person from whom you bought the house left you an instruction manual???

Balancing refers to the amount of hot water that passes through, for example the upstairs as opposed to the downstairs radiators.

TeamPlum

Have you ever bled a rad before? If not be careful with a combi, as it will drop pressure in the system - be sure you know how to raise the pressure.

Annie1960

When I moved last year I could not get the rads to work at first. It turned out that the thermostat was set too low. When I raised this the rads came on.

littlerock

Our combi boiler has separate settings inside the casing to turn on the hot water and central heating separately. Seems obvious but maybe the central heating needs starting up. Alos depending on the time of year, the central heating will not come on unless we turn up the room stat. But I assume you have individual valves on the radiators and they are all on.

macman

It would help if you told us the make and model of the boiler, so we can determine if it's a combi or conventional system. If you have a hot water tank, then it's not a combi.
No one can help you without some basic info.
If a combi, check the pressure and top up via the filling lop if needed to around 1 bar when cold. Next suspect would be the divertor valve. If it's a conventional boiler, then (as above) I'd suspect a sticking 3 port valve, which will probably be near the HW cylinder.
It could also need flushing.
A gas safety check does not tell you anything about the functioning of the CH or DHW systems, it merely checks the gas supply and the boiler's gas function. You'd have done better to book a boiler service, as there is no requirement to get a gas safety cert unless you are intending to rent the property out.

maninthestreet

Is the pump working???

SMW87

Got it sorted folks, too embarrassed to say what it was lol...

Thanks for all the replied

southcoastrgi

TBH for the people that bothered to post & anyone else that may be in the same position I think you owe it to them to say what the problem was