heating doesn't seem to be getting hot.

[bengie]

right, i'll try and explain this as best as possible.

my HW is getting hot as it should but my heating isn't, the house doesn't get hot like it should as i can have my room stat set at 20 or higher but the house isn't getting above 12-15(thats where the stat is clicking off when turning it down).

i've bled the rads and i don't think its that as i am not getting isolated cold rads or rads with cold tops just a chilly house all round.

the 3-port was replaced 6 months ago, the boiler was serviced just before this(thats what prompted the new 3-port), a magnaflow filter was fitted at the same time as the 3-port(it got cleaned every week for the first month and twice since with less and less build up every time as should be i expect).

the system isn't new, the boiler is a Baxi solo that was installed easily 20 years ago and some rads are between 5-10 years old(hallway, conservatory) where most are about the same age as the boiler.

any advice as to what i could look at would be greatly appreciated.

 

[batty]

How old is the house, do you have cavity walls or solid, how long has it been playing up also how high is is boiler set. I have just had new boiler fitted but because its so cold it is on all the time. My house was built in the 50's has fletton walls and no cavity wall insulation so it is not overly hot at the moment I put an extra jumper on.

Batty

 

[bengie]

house is from the 30's with solid walls and we didn't really notice the problem until recently as we didn't even have the heating on until around october and it hasn't really got properly cold until the last few weeks. i looked at the boiler and it was set half way(settings are low 1 2 3 4 high and was set on 3) so turned it up a bit(between 4 and high) to see if that helps.

we have double glazing the front of the house and the rear upstairs, the conservatory isn't double galzed but the french windows from the dining room to the conservatory are double glazed, the side of the house is all single glazed.

 

[green-hornet]

I would suspect the position of the thermostat, if its in a room with secondary heating the set temp would be reached far quicker than what you would expect or require.

The thermo should always be placed in the coldest part of the home, this way temperatures are far easier to control throughout the home.

 

[NozSpark]

Is it just the fact that your house isn't warming up or is it that your radiators aren't getting hot??

 

[bengie]

itsa bit of both Noz really and on the stat location i want to sort this out as its been put half way up the stairs on the joists for the first floor, i think i might change it for a wireless one and fit it to the hall way at about 1.5m.

 

[NozSpark]

The thing is,,, if your rads aren't getting warm, then neither will your house!!

but if the rads are stinking hot, but the house cold.. then insulation and new rads would help...

otherwise for some reason the boiler isn't heating the water to the required temperature... maybe the boiler stat is faulty??

Unfortunately with the age of your boiler you could be looking at spending quite a lot in getting it working as you want... and then it sill won't be as effective and efficient as a new one!!

 

[bengie]

after turning the stat up the rads are getting a bit warmer and now there is a noticable difference in temp betweent eh top and bottom of a couple rads

looks like a power flush is needed afterall, hopefully it'll make a difference. I'll get one of the gas engineers from work to do it as they use council equipement(with permission obviously) so costs a lot less.

 

[NozSpark]

I was thinking of recommending a power flush,, but as it normally costs

 

[Andy™]

or you could always DIY it....

 

[bengie]

for the hassle of trying to do it myself tbh i'd rather pay a pro a few quid as its a lot cheaper in the long run than me busting it

 

[Andy™]

fair enough. id probably only get a plumber in after ive tried & failed 3 or 4 times and had no heating for a week! (even though my mate is a plumber!)

 

[Megaohm7]

If rads are not getting hot maybe system needs flushing thru and inhibiter put in system will help you . My parents had this done to their system and it is like the tropics in their bungalow. I would check out the room thermostat first though as dust can cause problems . hope this is of use to you ..

 

[bengie]

forgot to say over the last 2 weeks i have changed the programmer and the stat under advice from gas fitters at work due to other faults(heating not coming on when it should and HW coming on when it shouldn't).

 

[NozSpark]

Sounds like you're having a bad time with it?

Given the age of your system it sounds like a power flush wouldn't go amiss, but if the rads still don't get hot enough then I'd be looking at the boiler stat! (not the room stat)

 

[bengie]

cheers Noz, i'll get the gas fitter to check it