Help!! with Lukewarm Radiators

[Sn@@kered]

Hi
I will be grateful for any suggestions on a way forward

Bought new 5 bed , 3 bath family house 10 years ago

The hot water and heating was great, with great pressure in all 3 showers upstairs. Not individually pumped. Was fitted with BOILERMATE upstairs and a boiler downstairs in utility.

5 years ago, told Boilermate needing replacing as stopped working. Replaced with latest Boilermate, from the literature could handle the house. The heating and water ok, but pressure upstairs never the same. The pump runs for ever, even in summer, at 2 am!

4 years ago, told that boiler in the utility room was knackered , replaced with Viessman 100W.

2 years ago, leak from Boliermate, from a corroded filter inlet (for hard water). Replaced it with something that cost £500 (another cylinder pipe looking thing).

3 months ago had new bathroom fitted and replaced radiator with heated towel rail.

PROBLEM NOW
1. We seem to get much less hot water. Have to run bath really slowly to get hot water, otherwise it runs cold.

2. Radiators are lukewarm. House not warm as used to be. NO air or hot spots on radiators, I checked. Just uniformly warm, not hot.

3. Rooms seem to get to 18/19 degrees, main thermostat never goes clicks on/off, above 19 degrees. Back in the day we were toasty and the thermostat wold click 23/24 degrees). I changed thermostat about 2-3 years ago.

Since then I have totally reglazed house, changed the doors , to high end insultation.etc. The hot water just doesn't seem hot enough. I'm told this is a safety feature, health and safety!!. Before used to be nice and hot, but now can keep hand under hot water (although quite warm).

4. The Boilermate room (airing cupboard) used to be stifling, not anymore.

5. The central heating seems to turn self on and off, despite still being warm, seems to have to fall to switch off too early, when house still too cold for use. I can hear heating coming on all the time, wondering why it went off, when house not warm and thermostat is around 19 degrees, although rotated to max.

Told by engineer that has been servicing/replacing for us over the years, should replace the lot to Megaflow system! I was surprised, as when he fitted boilermate, it was supposed to be good enough?? Anyway turned up the heating knob on Veissman and was a bit better, not great, so have lost some confidence in him.

How can I sort out this problem. I'm totally confused. Don't want to spend a large amount, if the issues are not clearly understood.

How do I get the right person to diagnose the problem, as many local plumbing heating company's seem only specialising in a quick fix, per hour, not diagnosing what the problem is. We used to have to turn heating down as was too warm, now..... too chilly!

Sorry for long post


Sn@@kered

 

[oldbuffer]

1. The Boilermate is a thermal store. Its full of water heated by your boiler. When you open a hot tap, cold water from the mains flows through a coil immersed in this hot water and heat is transferred into the flowing cold to provide hot water. If you have to reduce the flow rate to the hot taps to maintain an adequate temperature, it suggests that heat is not being transferred sufficiently from the thermal store to the hot water side. This could be caused by:

a. A lower than optimum temperature of the stored hot water. It should be a minimum of 75 degrees to a maximum of 82. The boiler should be set to maximum heat.
b. There is a blending valve on the hot water outlet. This mixes cold with the outgoing hot to achieve a temperature of around 55 degrees. If faulty, it may be adding too much cold.
c. If the Boilermates's internal coil is scaled up, this will reduce the efficiency of heat transfer. They can be descaled with an appropriate pump and chemicals.

2. If the boiler is struggling to heat the house, it, and / or the central heating system components, may need a service. I'm assuming the Viessmann was adequate when installed.

3. Do make sure the Boilermate is full of water, although normally they cut out with a warning light if the level falls too far.

 

[Sn@@kered]

AT - Old bluffer

Thank you.

1. When u talk of optimum temperature do you mean Boilermate or Veissman? The Boilermate, I don't know how to turn up the temp as it is a sealed unit, with some bottons in front to adjust heating, water only or togeather. ALso has a timer, which is set to 24 hr.
The Veissman is on max and seems to go up and down. When on to about 70 degrees, , down to 44 degrees, when it goes off.


2. The boiler, you mean the Viessman? When installed the chap said it was the business!! Super reliable. I got it serviced about 4 weeks ago.

3. How can I check the boilermate is full of water?