DIYbanter - View Single Post - Electricians got rid of my room thermostat!

wrote:
wrote:

Hi everyone,

We've just had our house rewired and part of the work was to fit a new
programmer and digital thermostat to our central heating system. It's
just one of the many major jobs on our list since buying our place last
year.

Before the rewiring started, we had a crusty old digital programmer and
an old-style rotary room thermostat. The electricians finished the
rewiring yesterday but failed to connect up the central heating
electrical components properly, so last night we had no heat from our
radiators. When I went into the garage to investigate, the boiler was
running fine but the pump for the central heating wasn't doing
anything.

The electricians came back this morning to sort it out... and their
solution was to remove the room thermostat altogether! As I understand
it, the boiler and pump will now run continuously when the programmer
is set to be on. This just doesn't sound right to me, and certainly
sounds expensive! We don't have thermostatic radiator valves at present
(although plan to have them fitted on all but the bathroom radiator at
some point in the near future).

So here's the first question: does this setup sound wrong to anyone
else, or is it just me? Reading around Google Groups, it seems that
this might actually contravene 2002 building regs.

The electrician's parting shot was to say we should get a plumber in if
we want the room thermostat installed again. Personally, I'd have
thought wiring the boiler and pump to the appropriate gubbins would be
an electrician's job. Assuming the electrician's a dead loss, who
should I call? A plumber? The folks who service our oil boiler? Another
electrician?

Final question (if it can be answered briefly!): how exactly should the
programmer and room thermostat be wired to the boiler and pump? Before
the rewiring started, I could swear that the the room thermostat
connected to the pump (and not the boiler) and the programmer to the
boiler. I guess that means that the boiler was still trying to heat
water when it wasn't needed before the rewiring work started? It just
wasn't get pumped around....

It wouldn't surprise me if it was incorrect before the rewiring, as
much of the work on the house has been done by cowboys prior to us
buying it. We've already found a lot of other things that were done
without any attention to building regulations.

If anyone could offer their opinions, it would be an enormous help!

Many thanks,

Chris Wood

What a joker, I wouldnt get them back. Yes of course you need a room
thermostat. TRVs alone, even if you have them, are not a good option,
as theyre neither accurate, nor programmable, nor easily controlled.

I hope you havent paid them in full. This is the advantage of paying by
cheque, or saying ok send me the bill and I'll pay within 7 days.

If you havent paid, you can get someone competent to sort it all out
and deduct all costs from the bill. Personally I'd only pay after they
agreed the revised sum as full and final settlement. Its clear youre
dealing with cowboys there.

If you have paid, I'd write to them and say unless they pay for to have
it fixed within x days, you'll take it up with trading standards. And
if they dont, do. Unauthorised removal of the stat from the premises
quite likely constitutes theft as well. Trading standards are gonna
love them.

I thought Trading Standards always said they never got involved with
individual cases.

D