Central heating replaced - should I say something?

KerryL

I'm not even sure I'm posting this in the right place, just looking for some advice really.

So I had my 27 year old central heating system replaced this week by a local well known company, although I had a combi boiler before I also had a hot water tank in the airing cupboard which they removed as they suggested there wasn't a need.

I knew that when they replaced the system the switches and controls wouldn't exactly match up to the points I had but I wasn't quite expecting this... (I hope this works!!)



I have had the Worcester Wave fitted (thought I'd have some luxury!), so perhaps that's a contribution.



The radiators appear to be smaller than what I had before (original radiators installed when the house was built around 1990), the pipework is a tad longer but perhaps that's me being too fussy!

There is old pipework in the airing cupboard from the water tank but perhaps that can't be helped.

And then there's the brick work outside they had to fill in from the old boiler....



Maybe I should have discussed with them before in more detail about how the new system would look, so perhaps my own fault - and perhaps this is the best they can do, I don't know enough about how it all works to say - should I ask questions and just accept it, or would you push for a better finish (if possible)?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Davesnave

Get your pictures hosted here, or somewhere similar, and add the codes they give you to your post.

https://imgbb.com/

You won't be able to directly upload.

macman

You can't have had a combi and a hot tank. A combi heats the water on demand, it doesn't supply a tank.
It's reasonable after an install to expect to have to do minor decorative work yourself, and you have had both boiler and rads replaced, which is bound to produce some damage to the decor.

Wookey

Radiators will be smaller compared to ones 30 years ago for a variety of reasons, older rads may not be convectors meaning they need a larger surface area to put out the same heat. Older rad sizes will depend on the manufacturer as well, if that maker is no longer trading then getting an exact sized replacement is next to impossible.

nofoollikeold

It is possible to have a combi boiler with a hot water cylinder. The cylinder is heated off the central heating circuit and provides a store of hot water. The "on demand" hot water is often used for the kitchen (if the combi is in or near the kitchen) and the stored hot water for a bathroom if some distance from the combi.

Its reasonable to expect the installers to do some making good. I'd expect the external brickwork to be filled in to a reasonable standard, although not as well as a bricklayer would do it.

Smaller radiators may be double replacing single panel ones, and providing they have the same or more heat output there shouldn't be any problems.

Smaller (narrower) radiators will require some pipework alterations. These are best made by extending the pipes under the floor and bringing them up to meet the new radiators, but this isn't always possible (concrete floors, tiles / laminate) and will leave small holes in carpet.

I_have_spoken

>There is old pipework in the airing cupboard from the water tank but perhaps that can't be helped.<

The copper has good scrap value so I'm surprised they left it

firefox1956

I_have_spoken wrote: »

>There is old pipework in the airing cupboard from the water tank but perhaps that can't be helped.<

The copper has good scrap value so I'm surprised they left it

Sounds like they already got the copper hot water tank !!
:D

KerryL

Thanks for all your replies.

Of course I wasn't expecting some d!cor imperfections, but I was expecting a good job. I guess what I'm asking is this acceptable workmanship... (hopefully the photos will load this time).

Brickwork:



Boiler switches in kitchen - big gap (side note, it's odd because I didn't have any pipework under the old boiler, just above)



The airing cupboard upstairs where the hot water tank was, yes I did have one with a combi potterton boiler, it would keep water warm for a day or two. In fairness they probably can't do anything with the pipes?



I'm a clueless lady on her own who is completely in the dark when it comes to plumbing, so I'm really after some advice from people who know a lot more about this stuff than me!

KerryL

Really struggling to post photos from a photo hosting site, can anyone help? Using imgbb.com

Owain_Moneysaver

KerryL wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies.

Of course I wasn't expecting some d!cor imperfections, but I was expecting a good job. I guess what I'm asking is this acceptable workmanship... (hopefully the photos will load this time).

The brickwork looks reasonably neat given they probably didn't have a spare brick for an exact match

The pipework in the cupboard is neatly done and could only be removed by lifting the flooboards.

The electrical work is untidy. Fixed wiring should be in cable not flex. I would have expected the hole to be filled in to plaster level round the back box, so you could inset a couple of replacement tiles later.

The sleeved pipe (by the electric flexes) if that is gas should have been mortared into the wall, and (if that is an external wall) the gas pipe should have been sealed to the sleeve with mastic on the inside and left open to the outside.

You appear to be missing a pipe, and have one pipe not connected?

A combi boiler would normally have
- gas (on right with the sleeve?)
- cold water in (and a filling loop to the radiator circuit)
- hot water out
- radiator flow
- radiator return
- condensate (plastic pipe on left)
- pressure relief discharge (or is that the one on the right with the sleeve?)

Owain_Moneysaver

KerryL wrote: »

Really struggling to post photos from a photo hosting site, can anyone help? Using imgbb.com

Near the bottom of the page, you've got an option for Thumbnail Image BB Code; it should look like

[ur l=https://ibb.co/gD8cgk][im g]https://thumb.ibb.co/gD8cgk/IMG_3375.jpg[/im g][/ur l]

Select that and paste it into your message.