central heating possible problem.

[panpete]

Be very, very suspicious of the quotes you get from warmfront. It may be worth asking around locally for a recommendation for a plumber just so you can get an alternative quote: there's been quite a lot of suggestion that Warmfront pad their quotes up by nearly as much as the government rebate, so you don't actually save much, if anything.

As for your rads - if the pipes are getting warm, then something is happening. I think the first thing would be to bleed them all and see what that's like. Worst case is that they may be sludged up, but let's take it one step at a time.

When you say "hot water heater", can you be a bit more specific? Is this some form of electrical heating?

What do you mean, about being very suspicious.
Warm front will quote me, and I am under no obligation to have the work done, obviously I wont get the grant.
do you mean that they will quote me more than what I may get in a grant?
Can I not just ask for work to be done upto the grant amount and leave the rest of the work which I would otherwise have to pay for?

If I ask for a quote locally from a plumber they might try and rip me off and try and manipulate me into coughing up, as they are all on the make.
I have bled my rads and water comes out, suggesting no airlock.
When I say hot water heater, I mean that I can turn my heating and hot water on with the boiler, or just my hot water.

 

[berniedicters]

OK, two pictures.

What do you mean, about being very suspicious.
Warm front will quote me, and I am under no obligation to have the work done, obviously I wont get the grant.
do you mean that they will quote me more than what I may get in a grant?
Can I not just ask for work to be done upto the grant amount and leave the rest of the work which I would otherwise have to pay for?

If I ask for a quote locally from a plumber they might try and rip me off and try and manipulate me into coughing up, as they are all on the make.

Well, they're not all on the make in quite the way you think, and certainly no less than the warmfront people. There have been a lot of concerns about WarmFront's tactics from the consumer rights organisations, because they do tend to come on a bit strong, and have been quoting enormous prices for jobs which "normal" plumbers have been quoting much less for.

You might find this thread instructive: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=8034807#post8034807

Clearly, people have had good experiences with them, too, so it is more a question of treading carefully rather than ruling them out completely.

I have bled my rads and water comes out, suggesting no airlock.
When I say hot water heater, I mean that I can turn my heating and hot water on with the boiler, or just my hot water.

OIC. So what it sounds like is that your radiators definitely ARE sludged up. It may still be worth talking to a couple of plumbers - you can make it very clear to each of them that you are only looking for quotes at this stage: you're perfectly entitled to do that, and be as businesslike about it as you want - and getting quotes for them to flush out the system and then add protector to it. Avoid "power flushes" - your pipework may not be up to it, and it's often just an excuse to screw a ridiculous amount of money out of a householder.

 

[panpete]

just saw this post, sorry and thanks

 

[maomao]

My expensive Worcester Bosch boiler fitted two years ago has broken down twice this year. First time they changed the heat exchange plate and said it was dirty. I had a service directly after this and my service engineer says the system cannot be dirty because it was powerflushed twice in 2015 (once when old boiler broke down and once on fitting the new one) and because there is a filter fitted. He opened the filter and showed me the lack of dirt on the magnet (though surely that shows magnetic dirt only).

This time Worcester Bosch haven't told me what they did to fix it and didn't try to explain to my wife who was home they just left a letter saying our system water was dirty and we will be charged for further repairs (we're currently two years into a six year guarantee).

So either WB or my regular engineer is lying/wrong. How do I tell which and can I contest the WB engineer's findings? Can I do a Fermex test myself? Are they likely to accept that as proof?

 

[equationgirl]

My expensive Worcester Bosch boiler fitted two years ago has broken down twice this year. First time they changed the heat exchange plate and said it was dirty. I had a service directly after this and my service engineer says the system cannot be dirty because it was powerflushed twice in 2015 (once when old boiler broke down and once on fitting the new one) and because there is a filter fitted. He opened the filter and showed me the lack of dirt on the magnet (though surely that shows magnetic dirt only).

This time Worcester Bosch haven't told me what they did to fix it and didn't try to explain to my wife who was home they just left a letter saying our system water was dirty and we will be charged for further repairs (we're currently two years into a six year guarantee).

So either WB or my regular engineer is lying/wrong. How do I tell which and can I contest the WB engineer's findings? Can I do a Fermex test myself? Are they likely to accept that as proof?

I suspect if you do the rest yourself they will void the warranty.

They are supposed to be an inhibitor chemical into the system to prevent gas build up (it might help sludge buildup, iirc), are they doing that?

 

[cybershot]

My expensive Worcester Bosch boiler fitted two years ago has broken down twice this year. First time they changed the heat exchange plate and said it was dirty. I had a service directly after this and my service engineer says the system cannot be dirty because it was powerflushed twice in 2015 (once when old boiler broke down and once on fitting the new one) and because there is a filter fitted. He opened the filter and showed me the lack of dirt on the magnet (though surely that shows magnetic dirt only).

This time Worcester Bosch haven't told me what they did to fix it and didn't try to explain to my wife who was home they just left a letter saying our system water was dirty and we will be charged for further repairs (we're currently two years into a six year guarantee).

So either WB or my regular engineer is lying/wrong. How do I tell which and can I contest the WB engineer's findings? Can I do a Fermex test myself? Are they likely to accept that as proof?

Is it a model with a filter included?

 

[maomao]

Is it a model with a filter included?

Filter fitted as optional but Worcester Bosch own brand one fitted at same time as the boiler. The first engineer asked me if I had a filter on the system after he had finished. Which makes me think he didn't look at things very carefully.