central heating pipework

[britishgirl]

Originally Posted by tspill

If there is rust on the radiators, I would replace them along with the valves. If you do this, the system will be as good as new.

Decent radiators are around £50-60ish each (depending on size) and once the system is drained, takes a plumber maybe 30 minutes to replace each.

Getting tradespeople at the minute seems to be. nightmare as they are so incredibly busy. I have an electrician friend who is saying that since March, he has never been so busy. Worked all through lockdown.
Not sure how to deal with this though.

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Do you think it would be a good idea just to replace all the radiators and hopefully the pipework is still in good condition,and just get a heating engineer in to replace the boiler?I am not trying to put you on the spot its just we know someone who has replaced radiators in the past but not a plumber just a very competent diyer who would be happy to do the radiators,because as novices we see the main components to be new boiler which we need an expert to fit,change radiators which we can do,existing pipework fingers crossed should be ok and repair if needed or are we being naive as to the work involved

[britishgirl]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

My Mate did my new boiler. He is now booked through until the Spring.

A lot of catch up going on due to some Tradesmen going into furlough a while back for some weird reason.

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Yes that we are being told that staff are still on furlough,it makes everything so difficult

[Mr Tom Morrow]

If you do go down the route of buying your own Rads be careful you get what you want.

I have just checked 2 websites for a 600mm x 1200mm single panel Rad.

The one site is selling them for under £20 but the BTU heat output is only 2524

I would use Wolsley at £56 with a heat output of 3897.

You get what you pay for.

Edit. I don't like Screwfix Rads. Thin steel. Valves etc brilliant however.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by britishgirl

Do you think it would be a good idea just to replace all the radiators and hopefully the pipework is still in good condition,and just get a heating engineer in to replace the boiler?I am not trying to put you on the spot its just we know someone who has replaced radiators in the past but not a plumber just a very competent diyer who would be happy to do the radiators,because as novices we see the main components to be new boiler which we need an expert to fit,change radiators which we can do,existing pipework fingers crossed should be ok and repair if needed or are we being naive as to the work involved

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Personally, if there is rust showing, I would be assuming that the inhibitor had been diluted and that all the radiators were starting to rust from the inside. So would be replacing them all and the valves. If one is rusting, you could just replace that one, but in all likely hood another will need replaced in a few months; and another etc. etc.

Replacing radiators is not difficult and I have done many in the past, so if you trust the DIY friend and you cant get a plumber, then that is an option.

As Mr TM says, dont just check the size, but also the BTU/KW output ratings as it is this that matters. There are different specifications in terms of numbers of panels and number of convectors (the wriggley bits between the panels). These all add to the output.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by britishgirl

Yes that we are being told that staff are still on furlough,it makes everything so difficult

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Are there any local independent plumbers in you area? They are often a lot cheaper.

[parisdisneyfan]

The other guys are professionals but from my novice point of view when we replaced the nearly 50 year old boiler in the house we bought last year, we were warned, and it did happen in about 3 places, that with the new powerful boiler and the flush out that we could find leaks happening. The boiler company were fab and came out each time and fixed them with no charge. The last one was the worst as we just kept seeing the pressure dropping but couldn't find the leak! Our leaks were 2 at joints and one was a leaky end bit where you drain the system - not sure of the real name. We also discovered that the pipework is a very random design of how it runs round between the rads so when we have had rads replaced we have had to have new pipework too

Think you would have to have a boiler connected as that has the pump bit in to push the water around!

Good luck with it all

[britishgirl]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

If you do go down the route of buying your own Rads be careful you get what you want.

I have just checked 2 websites for a 600mm x 1200mm single panel Rad.

The one site is selling them for under £20 but the BTU heat output is only 2524

I would use Wolsley at £56 with a heat output of 3897.

You get what you pay for.

Edit. I don't like Screwfix Rads. Thin steel. Valves etc brilliant however.

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thank you I didnt realise there was different quality of radiators,but logically I should have thought of it but at least I now know to check btu output

[britishgirl]

Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan

The other guys are professionals but from my novice point of view when we replaced the nearly 50 year old boiler in the house we bought last year, we were warned, and it did happen in about 3 places, that with the new powerful boiler and the flush out that we could find leaks happening. The boiler company were fab and came out each time and fixed them with no charge. The last one was the worst as we just kept seeing the pressure dropping but couldn't find the leak! Our leaks were 2 at joints and one was a leaky end bit where you drain the system - not sure of the real name. We also discovered that the pipework is a very random design of how it runs round between the rads so when we have had rads replaced we have had to have new pipework too


Think you would have to have a boiler connected as that has the pump bit in to push the water around!

Good luck with it all

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Thank you its good to hear about it from the point of view of someone who has done similar,
it might be a case of replace the radiators,then have the boiler replaced and keep our fingers crossed that pipework holds and if it doesnt have it repaired where it is not holding,because the consesus seems to be 15 years for pipework is not old

[britishgirl]

Originally Posted by tspill

Are there any local independent plumbers in you area? They are often a lot cheaper.

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I will check this out,and see if any are able to come out

[Anne]

Originally Posted by britishgirl

thank you I didnt realise there was different quality of radiators,but logically I should have thought of it but at least I now know to check btu output

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We replaced all of our radiators with ones bought from Brooklyn Trading. No problems with them what so ever and in fact our plumber often buys them from there now as he couldn't believe the prices and quality.