Boiler not producing hot water

daysocks

Hi all

Boiler is a Main Combi 24 HE.

I need some advice on where to go from here. We moved into our rented house Dec 2015, and the boiler hasn't ever produced hot water - it gets to about 40C in the kitchen (with the hot water temp on the boiler set to full), but the shower and bath get lukewarm at best. It will also go cold... my last shower, 20 minutes ago, I was in for 15 minutes and it went cold 5 times!!

Obviously, the landlord knows about this. They keep sending people out and it's never fixed.

The first guy came out and said it was a flow issue and to buy a new shower head. :rotfl:
One guy said he needed to order a part and we never heard from him again.
One flushed the system and it got a bit warmer for a day then went cold again.
The last chap came on Thursday just gone and adjusted the thermistor and changed the shower thermostat - we got one good shower (not great, temperature hot but not very hot and was all over the place to boot!) and now I just had the worst shower yet I've ever had in this place.

I am of the opinion that it's on its way out, as it seems the last time this boiler was produced was 2012? Is it worth keeping going back to the landlord ad nausem? If we went every time it went cold we'd be there every two or three days! Should I get my own engineer out and if so how much could I be expecting to pay? Help

Hedgehog99

This isn't a remedy, but it helps a good engineer identify the problem:

Have you tried turning your heating thermostat up high (30 degrees) just while you shower?

If that gives you a consistent warm shower, tell your landlord to get a decent engineer out - preferably one who specifies they work on your make of boiler because they'll have the relevant parts with them.

daysocks

Thanks for the reply!

The thermostat is permanently on as high as it gets these days and the temperature has never been warm or consistent at any setting (excepting the day after the last two engineers fiddled with it, and even then never consistent).

footyguy

daysocks wrote: »

Hi all

Boiler is a Main Combi 24 HE.

I need some advice on where to go from here. We moved into our rented house Dec 2015, and the boiler hasn't ever produced hot water - it gets to about 40C in the kitchen (with the hot water temp on the boiler set to full), but the shower and bath get lukewarm at best. It will also go cold... my last shower, 20 minutes ago, I was in for 15 minutes and it went cold 5 times!!

Obviously, the landlord knows about this. They keep sending people out and it's never fixed.

The first guy came out and said it was a flow issue and to buy a new shower head. :rotfl:
One guy said he needed to order a part and we never heard from him again.
One flushed the system and it got a bit warmer for a day then went cold again.
The last chap came on Thursday just gone and adjusted the thermistor and changed the shower thermostat - we got one good shower (not great, temperature hot but not very hot and was all over the place to boot!) and now I just had the worst shower yet I've ever had in this place.

I am of the opinion that it's on its way out, as it seems the last time this boiler was produced was 2012? Is it worth keeping going back to the landlord ad nausem? If we went every time it went cold we'd be there every two or three days! Should I get my own engineer out and if so how much could I be expecting to pay? Help

As you are renting, I would not expect you to pay anything for this repair!

Contact the landlord again and tell him the 'repair' carried out last Thursday did not work either and you want action now to secure a good and proper repair.

If you still experience problems or delays (and if I understand you correctly, you have been having this issue for over 12 months now) then contact the CAB or perhaps a specialist housing support charity such as Shelter who will help you in enforcing your rights as a tenant.

(It may be they eventually say to instruct your own engineeer to carry out the repair, but they will tell you how to ensure the landlord pays if it comes to that stage)

J_B

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

Have you tried turning your heating thermostat up high (30 degrees) just while you shower?

daysocks wrote: »

Thanks for the reply!
The thermostat is permanently on as high as it gets these days and the temperature has never been warm or consistent at any setting.

HH said to turn up the *central heating thermostat*
Room stat
Do you have one?

daysocks

Hi, yes we have one, the heating is kept up high as it is a very cold house It seems to make no difference to the hot water.

I will have a chat with Shelter on Monday and get back in touch with the landlord :T

Ectophile

I can't see what difference the central heating temperature would make to the hot water. Some boilers have two thermostats - one for hot water and one for heating. Some don't.

Two thoughts.

First, if the "24" means it's a 24kW boiler, then it will be struggling to heat the mains water at this time of year - the incoming cold water is really cold because the ground the mains pipes are running through is cold. Try not turning the hot taps full on. Instead, open them, then close them a bit to reduce the flow. That should make the water hotter, but it will take longer to fill a sink or bath.

Second, if it's cycling on and off when delivering hot water, then it may be that the heat exchanger is clogged and the boiler is actually overheating. That can happen on combi boilers after a while if the central heating pipes are filling with rust. That's an expensive fix - which the landlord should be paying for.