Central heating

[rubynolegs]

I have just had a new boiler fitted, and had no choice of which one. my previous boiler was a Worcester floor standing and worked very well and kept us warm but breakdowns were costing up to �320 so i had a replacement through Warm front. They fitted a small wall hung Baxi 30 but this is not doing half the job as the old one. I have spoken to Baxi and they say it is designed to supply 10 - 11 standard domestic rediators. We have 17. This is a 250 year old stone house with 2 - 3 foot thick walls in various locations around the property, that are not insulated but some are 'rubble filled'. I am tempted to replace the boiler and buy a new Worcester Bosh but first i thought i would welcome comments about the boiler i have been given and whether its performance seems different because of the way they are made these days. I need to run the Baxi for twice as long to have the same warmth as with my old boiler and as soon as it turns off have to wrap a fleece blanket around me till bedtime as the heat seems to vanish.

[The Builder]

I'm not a heating engineer Ruby, but, with that house I would imagine your boiler would be hopelessly inadequate..........whoever sized the boiler maybe went solely by the size of the house rather than considering the heat losses............stone build/lack of insulation etc

[rubynolegs]

thanke 'builder'. i had seen something about considering construction types and heat loss but im no expert so didnt really onderstand it. your point makes sense tho. i have just done a check and the rads are hot downstairs and mildly cool upstairs...i had every rad bled today so air is not the prob.

[The Builder]

A couple of things to consider Ruby..................you know the boiler will have a output control...............probably two.........one for the heating, and one for the hot water. It's usual to have the heating control on about three quarters, but in your case it might have to be turned up to full. Also, look in the manual for the location of the circulating pump............these are usually switchable to different speeds. This is really scraping the bottom of the barrel, but, if the pump is set on too low a speed, then "possibly" the heated water is not circulating efficiently. I'm really trying to make the best use of an underpowered system.
Good luck

[rubynolegs]

will look into that, thanks ;-)

[gucciman]

you already have your answer from baxi, the boiler is designed to power 11 rads and you have 17, get in touch with warm front and get them back in to sort it out.

as far as sizing goes you may find that warm front just stick the same boiler in every house, from what ive seen they're only interested in fitting the system as quick as they can and then off to the next one.

im guessing that your boiler is not a combi in which case it will probably only have one thermostat on the boiler rather than 1 for water and 1 for heating.

and yes you can check the pump, turn it up to number 3 and see if that helps.

[rubynolegs]

thanks gucciman, i have read a lot of your replies and you seem to know about this topic, i will check out the suggestions you make, many thanks.

[Biggles200]

Just type into Google "Warm Front complaints" and you will have your answer. - You shouldn't have used Warm Front to install your boiler.

[rubynolegs]

didn't know that at the time...would have carried the repair costs and kept old one had i known...as to previous reply about bung them in quick...took 2 weeks and one day, 4 drain downs with doors open during the snowy period and a power flush that was abandoned because he was too busy and it didnt work the first time and a blockage was left somewhere in the system...i have seen Warm front and they sent an Inspector who noticed that no sludge trap was fitted and some piping is wrong. I am now compiling info for a major complaint. I am going to try and get a Worcester Bosch reinstated. At least it did the job. I do apreciate your replies. I tried to research the issue but kept just getting sites that sold boilers.

[gucciman]

worcester bosch are one of the very best boilers that money can buy.