This is what our years of experience and knowledge are there for. But, we always find it difficult to inform a homeowner they have a dangerous gas appliance. Which ultimately leads to a costly repair or an emergency boiler exchange.
Do what is right – repair or replace?
We always look at this type of situation from the customer’s perspective. However, we have to do what is right by law. If a gas appliance is dangerous, we must isolate it from the gas supply until we fix it. Unfortunately for this customer, the appliance is old with many parts obsolete. We had to carry out an emergency boiler exchange.
First, we need to agree with the customer what type of boiler would be best for them. The existing conventional boiler feeds an indirect hot water cylinder and radiators. The entire system is old and so we recommend switching to a combination boiler and flushing the system. The customer agreed, so we set to work.
Convert to a combi
For our next task, we have to remove the old boiler. The boiler is located under the stairs, making this job awkward. We noticed the existing gas pipework wasn’t suitable and required upgrading. We can do all of this whilst the flushing machine works on the system.
The existing system used a header tank in the loft to feed water into the radiators. Whenever installing a combination boiler, we want to convert this to a sealed system. By doing so, the new Vaillant combi boiler and heating system will work more efficiently. The conversion works as there is a mains supply of cold water under the kitchen floor. We pipe through to the under-stairs cupboard and install a high-level filling loop and gauge for ease of use when filling the system. We also found existing heating pipework under the kitchen floor for the new boiler to use, saving us time and disruption to the rest of the property. This connects to the bottom of the boiler and we install a magnetic filter for protection. We commission the new boiler, test and make sure the customer is happy after a very expensive service visit!
On a positive note, they now have a high-quality A+ rated, Vaillant boiler fitted to a sealed system, which will be a massive help in controlling energy consumption. If you have worries about an old boiler and live in the Leeds area, please get in touch.