Advice - Plumber or Heating Engineer

EssexExile

Is there any point balancing a system that has TRVs? Don't they alter the balance as they open and close?

AskAsk

EssexExile said:

Is there any point balancing a system that has TRVs? Don't they alter the balance as they open and close?

i don't know.  the last time i had a burst central heating pipe, the plumber, who was gas safe, rebalanced the system when he finished.

fred246

You adjust the lockshield valve thereby limiting maximum flow through. So radiators that get very hot quickly need tightening so get more flow to others. Probably more relevant for larger houses.

nofoollikeold

1. If only one or two TRVs to install, you could freeze the pipework and do it without draining down.  There are other ways of changing valves without draining down, dependent on the type of system you have, but they are not as reliable as freezing or draining.  
2. If more than 2 then the wait for the freeze tends to get longer than the drain down time, so drain down.
3. What you want doing is plumbing work.  Plumbers who don't do gas tend to be a little less expensive than those who do.  
4. The point in balancing a system with TRVs is to get it to heat up evenly.  If you rely on the TRVs to self-balance, then some rooms will heat up really quickly while their radiators "rob" all the heat available, while others hardly start to heat up until the early ones have reached temperature and the TRVs have turned off.  

fred246

Our main living area is the last 2 radiators in a system with 25 radiators. So balancing makes an enormous difference. My system is great. The neighbours all have British gas contracts. They keep asking them to sort out the cold radiators but without success.

J_B

I didn't know that a plumber was different to a Heating Engineer

Every day's a school day!

AskAsk

J_B said:

I didn't know that a plumber was different to a Heating Engineer

Every day's a school day!

a heating engineer is more qualified as they are gas safe registered.  they will be familiar with boilers and central heating systems.

a plumber can be as knowledgeable, but won't be qualified to work with gas appliances.  some plumbers have limited skills, so they won't be versed with boilers and heating systems, but are more familiar with bathrooms and kitchens.

heating engineers tend to be more expensive as they are more qualified.  they also have knowledge of electrics as installing boilers involve electrical connections.

fred246

I got a few quotes for new boilers a few years ago. The level of knowledge seemed to be generally very poor. I remember asking about boiler sizing. One guy just waved his arms around. I laughed. "Do you work in KW or BTUs?" I asked. He looked blank. It'll be this big indicating with his arms. I realised he just didn't have a clue! They all must has passed some sort of test.

chrisw

AskAsk said:

J_B said:

I didn't know that a plumber was different to a Heating Engineer

Every day's a school day!

a heating engineer is more qualified as they are gas safe registered.  

A heating engineer usually has additional specialist heating training to a plumber but isn't necessarily gas safe registered. A gas engineer should be.

In practice, heating engineers usually are gas safe registered, but you should still check their registration if they will be opening up the boiler.

AskAsk

fred246 said:

I got a few quotes for new boilers a few years ago. The level of knowledge seemed to be generally very poor. I remember asking about boiler sizing. One guy just waved his arms around. I laughed. "Do you work in KW or BTUs?" I asked. He looked blank. It'll be this big indicating with his arms. I realised he just didn't have a clue! They all must has passed some sort of test.

i have found the ones i invite to quote to be very knowledgeable, but then again i only invited those with lots of good reviews.  i found their prices to be widely different, for the same boiler so it is worth shopping around.