Heat pumps

[old man]

1 hour ago, Bigbob said:

We have insulation between the beams on the floor of the loft then its floored its rather nice painted green and got fields ect on it , its where  the previous owner played with his trains , Then i put fibreglass insulation between the roof beams and held it up stapling garden fleece over the top . My mates often said its warm in here you got the heating on ?. Then we only run the heating from mid October to March . The gas board are saying as the boilers nearly 20 years old its needing replaced its getting serviced on friday so we will see but if they still have trouble accessing parts i still think another boiler will cover my needs i know a farmer who has a heat pump and moans about it but its a big old farm house 

Maybe he needs a bale burner?

[Bigbob]

They moan they have trouble getting the parts when they service it , But thats there problem they are happy to take the monthly payments 

[Yellow Bear]

1 hour ago, Bigbob said:

They moan they have trouble getting the parts when they service it , But thats there problem they are happy to take the monthly payments 

Parts and maintenance of refrigerant based machinery has always been a problem, particularly degassing for a repair.

How long before the gas they are using becomes a health hazard/greenhouse gas and need to be replaced like the last time with something less efficient and twice the price.

[discobob]

12 minutes ago, Yellow Bear said:

Parts and maintenance of refrigerant based machinery has always been a problem, particularly degassing for a repair.

How long before the gas they are using becomes a health hazard/greenhouse gas and need to be replaced like the last time with something less efficient and twice the price.

I think he was on about his 20 year old boiler

[Yellow Bear]

1 minute ago, discobob said:

I think he was on about his 20 year old boiler

On rereading I think you are correct  --   but as my post I maintain heat pumps will be worse.

[discobob]

1 minute ago, Yellow Bear said:

On rereading I think you are correct  --   but as my post I maintain heat pumps will be worse.

Oh I agree - no doubt!!!

Unforetold consequences and all that......

Plus the forever moving goalposts that are in a completely different stadium!!

[figgy]

I looked at heat pumps when I built my house a decade ago. I would have needed two as one wasn’t big enough. The cost of buying alone made them a ridiculous proposition. The lifespan and service costs was another. 
 

in the right situations they can be the best solution. But for most of us, they are not good enough yet. 

[Bigbob]

On 27/09/2023 at 13:34, Bigbob said:

They moan they have trouble getting the parts when they service it , But thats there problem they are happy to take the monthly payments 

Well my boiler passed with flying colours , The engineer said its a older boiler  over 20 years but fine for its age . It was going so well till i asked is that the wife  ?. hows the heating boiler 

[Vince Green]

On 27/09/2023 at 13:34, Bigbob said:

They moan they have trouble getting the parts when they service it , But thats there problem they are happy to take the monthly payments 

Old lady we know, a friend of my late mum was without hot water and heating for over a week because 'they couldn't get parts' .

When we spoke to a friend who was a heating engineer he said it was rubbish and if you went up to the local heating supplier you would get what you wanted.

But people like British Gas order their parts from their central stores which in turn orders the part from their chosen  supplier.  Hence the delay.

[Yellow Bear]

38 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

people like British Gas order their parts from their central stores which in turn orders the part from their chosen  supplier.  Hence the delay.

^^^^^^ This and charge you twice as much for the privilege of waiting 

[Bigbob]

3 hours ago, Vince Green said:

Old lady we know, a friend of my late mum was without hot water and heating for over a week because 'they couldn't get parts' .

When we spoke to a friend who was a heating engineer he said it was rubbish and if you went up to the local heating supplier you would get what you wanted.

But people like British Gas order their parts from their central stores which in turn orders the part from their chosen  supplier.  Hence the delay.

Yes last year we where without hot water for two days while they sourced a part 

[JohnfromUK]

5 minutes ago, Bigbob said:

Yes last year we where without hot water for two days while they sourced a part 

My previous boiler was one of the first condensing boilers made (in around 1987).  It ran near perfectly for 28 years, but there was one wax type thermostat (like a car engine thermostat) that 'blended' very hot water with cool water to ensure the firebox stayed hot and condensation free - and all condensation occurred in the separate condenser section (which was made of stainless steel) by blending in cool return water.  This thermostat used to fail every 3 or 4 years, but was cheap to buy - but very hard to obtain.  The first time it failed I was without a boiler for several weeks and I had to import the spare from France (where the boiler was made).  I bought two (I think they were around £15 each then) and kept one always in reserve - and ordered a new every time I used the spare.  Worth doing for cheap parts if they are hard to source.

Other than that the boiler was excellent and eventually replaced as part of a system rebuild after 28 years operation.

[discobob]

17 hours ago, Vince Green said:

Old lady we know, a friend of my late mum was without hot water and heating for over a week because 'they couldn't get parts' .

When we spoke to a friend who was a heating engineer he said it was rubbish and if you went up to the local heating supplier you would get what you wanted.

But people like British Gas order their parts from their central stores which in turn orders the part from their chosen  supplier.  Hence the delay.

Our old boiler was a model that BG didn’t stock parts for. When we had a problem that had already occurred in the past and we called out BG to be told they have to order the part and it would be a couple of days - I opened a drawer and pulled out the part

He wasn’t happy but I forced the issue with him so he fitted it. 
 

BG also tried to BER the boiler at 4 years old. It was replaced at 18.5 years last year but was still working

in fact, the boiler got a lot more reliable after ditching British Gas. I now have a shooting buddy who is gas safe and he fitted our new boiler