Hi guys,
First post so be gentle!
I have checked other related posts but they don't seem to describe my exact problem......
Just moved into rented house. Renting from a mate (at mate's rates) so not to keen to pressure him for too much help at this stage!
A new combi boiler was fitted about a year ago and he had the system flushed about two months before the old boiler packed-in!
I noticed when I moved in a few weeks ago that the boiler pressure needed topped up every few days or so (from about 1.25 to 1.5 bar) and my landlord confirmed that 1.5 bar is the desired pressure - there is no make/model details on the front of the boiler so I'll need to take the front cover off and investigate.
I noticed last Tuesday that there was a slow leak in the valve of the upstairs bedroom radiator after I turned the valve a little to close it (my living room is open-plan with the stairs and upstairs with no radiator in the hall upstairs) so I could concentrate a little more heat in the living room (not sure if this is a good idea or not?!).
Anyway, two other valve started leaking so I went to the local plumbing supplies store and bought new valves for all 6 radiators. I put TRV's on 4 of them (kitchen, Living Room and both bedrooms) and normal lockshield valves on the bathroom and hall (hall is a little porch between the front door and living room door) and that stopped the leaks. I re-filled the system and bled the radiators then filled the system again to 1.5 Bar.
Since the valves have been replaced the boiler pressure drops dramatically from 1.5 Bar to 0.5 Bar and (0.25 Bar this morning!) although the heating is still on and slightly warm.
The pressure only seems to drop (dramatically) when the heating goes off and the Hot Water is available always.
I have checked the drain valve (not sure if this is the PRV but it's what i used to drain the system before changing the valves) and it is not leaking.
It would appear that there isn't an invisible leak as the pressure tends to remain within 0.25 Bar (up and down) when the heating is on.
Also, the radiators with TRV's on them sometimes go off completely instead of being cooler but I assume that this is normal if the selected temperature on the TRV has been reached?
Finally, when I first filled the system back up the upstairs radiators were really warm but the downstairs radiators were cold (some of the flow pipes were warm though) and I had to shut off all of the upstairs radiators so that the downstairs ones could heat up! I am now trying to find a balance between upstairs and downstairs but it seems like there isn't enough hot water to go around the entire system!
Anyone have any suggestions? I live in Scotland and this is the wrong time of year for the heating to be playing up!
First post so be gentle!
I have checked other related posts but they don't seem to describe my exact problem......
Just moved into rented house. Renting from a mate (at mate's rates) so not to keen to pressure him for too much help at this stage!
A new combi boiler was fitted about a year ago and he had the system flushed about two months before the old boiler packed-in!
I noticed when I moved in a few weeks ago that the boiler pressure needed topped up every few days or so (from about 1.25 to 1.5 bar) and my landlord confirmed that 1.5 bar is the desired pressure - there is no make/model details on the front of the boiler so I'll need to take the front cover off and investigate.
I noticed last Tuesday that there was a slow leak in the valve of the upstairs bedroom radiator after I turned the valve a little to close it (my living room is open-plan with the stairs and upstairs with no radiator in the hall upstairs) so I could concentrate a little more heat in the living room (not sure if this is a good idea or not?!).
Anyway, two other valve started leaking so I went to the local plumbing supplies store and bought new valves for all 6 radiators. I put TRV's on 4 of them (kitchen, Living Room and both bedrooms) and normal lockshield valves on the bathroom and hall (hall is a little porch between the front door and living room door) and that stopped the leaks. I re-filled the system and bled the radiators then filled the system again to 1.5 Bar.
Since the valves have been replaced the boiler pressure drops dramatically from 1.5 Bar to 0.5 Bar and (0.25 Bar this morning!) although the heating is still on and slightly warm.
The pressure only seems to drop (dramatically) when the heating goes off and the Hot Water is available always.
I have checked the drain valve (not sure if this is the PRV but it's what i used to drain the system before changing the valves) and it is not leaking.
It would appear that there isn't an invisible leak as the pressure tends to remain within 0.25 Bar (up and down) when the heating is on.
Also, the radiators with TRV's on them sometimes go off completely instead of being cooler but I assume that this is normal if the selected temperature on the TRV has been reached?
Finally, when I first filled the system back up the upstairs radiators were really warm but the downstairs radiators were cold (some of the flow pipes were warm though) and I had to shut off all of the upstairs radiators so that the downstairs ones could heat up! I am now trying to find a balance between upstairs and downstairs but it seems like there isn't enough hot water to go around the entire system!
Anyone have any suggestions? I live in Scotland and this is the wrong time of year for the heating to be playing up!
