Central heating / hot water upgrade
 

I've just bought a flat (1900s conversion). I having a new bathroom and
combi/condensing boiler put in and wondered what the general consensus
was on the central heating. Do I need to / should I replace the rads
and flush the system if I'm going to put in a new boiler or will it be
okay just to connect the new boiler to the existing system?

Central heating / hot water upgrade
 

On 28 Feb 2006 03:52:20 -0800, "D S" wrote:

I've just bought a flat (1900s conversion). I having a new bathroom and
combi/condensing boiler put in and wondered what the general consensus
was on the central heating. Do I need to / should I replace the rads
and flush the system if I'm going to put in a new boiler or will it be
okay just to connect the new boiler to the existing system?


It should be properly flushed and cleaned before the boiler is
installed or the warranty on the boiler may well be voided.

The same should be done, typically with a desludging cleaner after
installation to neutralise fluxes etc.

If you identify the boiler, you should be able to find the
installation instructions on the manufacturer's web site. That will
give anything specific, but the above is normal good practice.

Domake sure that the installer does it.


--

..andy

Central heating / hot water upgrade
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
D S wrote:

I've just bought a flat (1900s conversion). I having a new bathroom
and combi/condensing boiler put in and wondered what the general
consensus was on the central heating. Do I need to / should I replace
the rads and flush the system if I'm going to put in a new boiler or
will it be okay just to connect the new boiler to the existing system?

A lot depends on the age, condition and adequacy of the existing radiators.
With a new boiler, you will very likely end up with a non-vented
(pressurised) system - whereas it may be vented at present. If the radiators
are suspect - particularly if corroded - the higher pressure will probably
finish them off, and you will have leaks all over the place. At very least,
it's a good idea to replace the valves - and probably mandatory to fit TRVs
on most radiators, if they don't already have them.

The other question is one of heating capacity. Are the existing rads the
older, non-finned, variety? Do they produce adequate heat? If the heating
needs a boost, replacing non-finned with finned of the same size increases
the heat output by about 50% without taking up any more wall space.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Central heating / hot water upgrade
 

Cheers guys, sounds like I need to have a proper look at the rads...
and then rip them out and put new ones in. Haven't actually completed
yet, I'm just trying to get on top of the issues so when the keys are
mine I can get started straight away. It is a bit of a project so no
doubt I'll be a frequent visitor to this site!

Central heating / hot water upgrade
 

If installing a combi,
this uses mains pressure.
older radiator valves where not designed for this, expect leaks! On
Tue, 28 Feb 2006 12:12:04 +0000, Andy Hall wrote:

On 28 Feb 2006 03:52:20 -0800, "D S" wrote:

I've just bought a flat (1900s conversion). I having a new bathroom and
combi/condensing boiler put in and wondered what the general consensus
was on the central heating. Do I need to / should I replace the rads
and flush the system if I'm going to put in a new boiler or will it be
okay just to connect the new boiler to the existing system?


It should be properly flushed and cleaned before the boiler is
installed or the warranty on the boiler may well be voided.

The same should be done, typically with a desludging cleaner after
installation to neutralise fluxes etc.

If you identify the boiler, you should be able to find the
installation instructions on the manufacturer's web site. That will
give anything specific, but the above is normal good practice.

Domake sure that the installer does it.

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Central heating / hot water upgrade
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
fred wrote:

If installing a combi,
this uses mains pressure.
older radiator valves where not designed for this, expect leaks!

Well, there *some* truth buried in there somewhere - but you're mixing up
two things.

A combi uses mains pressure for domestic hot water - but that doesn't go
anywhere near the radiators.

Most combis use unvented (pressurised) systems - and thus run the heating
circuit at a higher pressure than vented systems - but still not usually as
high as mains pressure.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Please reply to newsgroup.
Reply address IS valid, but is disposable in the event of excessive
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