Heatless

Nov 05, 2015 17:40

Our boiler broke on Tuesday. Again. It's only two months since it last failed, and it failed several times last winter, too. In the past, we've always managed to get it fixed the following morning, although for a while now, the nice (and prompt) British Gas men who have saved us have shaken their heads and sucked in a disapproving breath, saying ( Read more... )

diary, ow and oops

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Comments 7

bunn November 5 2015, 18:03:37 UTC
Pants!

I'm glad to hear you have not reverted entirely to the Dark Ages, although of course it is important to Be Prepared.

If your boiler has lasted 14 years it's done a lot better than ours, I think we've had three boilers, each eye-wateringly-expensive in that time. Although I do think that was unlucky. Just don't assume a new one will be better. They put circuit-boards into them now. Circuitboards, which don't take kindly to the presence of water. WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?

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ladyofastolat November 6 2015, 07:27:03 UTC
I think ours has a circuitboard already. I don't tend to pay too much attention when the Boiler Men explain what they're doing. The way I see it, the only important thing is Man Came, Brought Heat. However, I'm fairly sure that this particular nice Boiler Man said that the problem was with the circuitboard this time.

The trouble is that all the nice boiler men say that it's getting really hard to get parts for ours, so the fear is that one day, when it breaks, it will be unfixable. At least a new one - or so they imply - would be more reliably fixable if it breaks. But perhaps they have a vested interest in telling us that...? They quoted us around £5000 for a new one, with scaffolding getting involved in it somehow. A reputable local company have quoted lower, but, still...

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bunn November 6 2015, 09:01:15 UTC
Scaffolding?! Surely they are only about 2-3 feet squarish?

Who knows the mysterious ways of the plumber, though? :-/

I always try hard to listen keenly when they are telling me what broke, but it's one of those fields where the information just has no hold on my brain and washes away.

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king_pellinor November 6 2015, 10:08:28 UTC
The problem is that the boiler is almost exactly in the centre of the house, with a flue taking the steam away.

New boilers also need a pipe to get condensed water away, and a different sort of flue. So to replace the boiler in the same place means mucking about with where the flue leaves the house, and installing a pumped drain. This means working half-way up the wall of the house, at a level which I'm told is fractionally above the limit for working on ladders.

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leesa_perrie November 5 2015, 19:08:27 UTC
Ah, that sucks!! *hugs* Hope it's fixed soon!!

Our boiler must be pre-historic then, seeing as it's the one the house came with when we bought it 17 or so years ago. I can't remember for certain how old the house was, but I think it was 10ish years old at that time!! So 27 or so years and still working fine!!!

I've heard the newer ones tend to break down more, so am not in a rush to replace it. If anyone says something about the environment to me, I point to the solar panels on the roof of our house and say, one step at a time!

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ladyofastolat November 6 2015, 07:29:45 UTC
Ours came with the house, too, but the house only dates to 2001. A colleague who lives a few doors away has also had quite a lot of problems with his identical boiler - although fewer than we have, I think. He says that an engineer told him that they're constantly being called out to our estate, because all the boilers are rubbish. But maybe they say that to everyone, in the hope of getting paid a fortune to install a new one?

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wellinghall November 6 2015, 07:37:20 UTC
Sadly,14 does seem quite old for a boiler these days. If you do bite the bullet and go for a new one, it should at least be more efficient.

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