Heating system problems?

Question

We have a problem at home with the heating ystem. the radiators all over the house are only going luke warm to mid hot, and as a result the house is freezing. On top of that, if we want piping hot water from the hot taps, we need to have both the heating and hot water on all day at least. Without doing this, the hot water is barely warm.

Any ideas what the problem could be? and or the solution?

I've heard that bleeding the last radiator on the system until water is hot should do the trick. is this true? HELP

Answer 1

You just need to hope that Telmah is on line and sees your question. He knows all about heating systems and gives great advice.

Answer 2

Bleeding *all* the radiators is the first thing that you should do. You should do it a couple of times each year. Go and get a radiator key.

Get a big rag to catch the water which will be dirty. Wrap the rag around the bleed valve which will be at the top of the radiator on one end. Open using the key until it starts hissing air. Keep it open until water starts coming out instead and lock it back.

Upstairs radiators will need this more often than downstairs.

The pump may need air bleeding too and there may be some additional bleed points near the pump.

Answer 3

First thing to check is your zone valve, most heating systems have one three port valve that diverts hot water to heat your hot water tank and to provide hot water to the radiators.

The solenoid is a common fail point on these, thus your valve may be stopped in a position that is restricting flow in one or both parts of the circuit.

Check it by operating the thermostats with the heating on and see if it moves (it will make a whirring noise if working) if not try operating the hand lever on the side of the solenoid.

Usually a new solenoid will do the trick, if you can get the correct one, failing that you will have to replace the entire valve which is more expensive and requires some draining of the system

At the same time, check that the pump is switching on also

Answer 4

Whenever some one has a heating or boiler problem everyone says' Bleed the radiators' Do you think that your whole heating system suddenly got filled with air?? I don't think so!

From what you have described I would suggest that the boiler thermostat is faulty or needs turned up higher. I have no idea what type of system you have, how it is controlled, what kind of boiler or any other information. Could also be a sticky gas valve, slow/sticking pump or a dozen other things, can you see the flame? is it normal size?

Answer 5

it does sound like you have a lot of air trapped in the system, the first step is to bleed all the radiators: turn off the boiler and pump, start at the highest, furthest away from the boiler and work back.
you may need to bleed a couple of times (check 2hrs and 24 hrs later) to clear all the air.

Answer 6

When did you last have your boiler serviced? It sounds like it isn't running properly. Get a corgi engineer to give it a service and check your system. This should be done regularly for safety reasons anyway. Not cheap, but saves you money in the long run if your system is running efficiently.

Answer 7

you may have air in your system, taking up the space in the radiators, bleedinmg the radiators would help, you may also have a valve near the boiler that lets the air out aswell. have a look

Answer 8

bleeding may help but have you checked the heating element you may have to drain the sistem and run a cleaner through it may have a billed up of lime in and on the burner and pipes

Answer 9

I had asimilar problem it was sludge build up in the pipes , it was a solid fuel system, we changed to oil combi and had no problems since.

Answer 10

sounds like the pump in your boiler is on the blink get someone out to have a look at it
it's too cold not to xx