Radiator replacement pricing

[RickS]

Hello

I have just been quoted what, to me, seems quite a lot for replacing four radiators & valves and flushing the system through. Therefore I wonder if anyone knows a reasonably priced plumber in the Norton junction area please?

 

The price I was quoted was the best part of £1800 and that was from my marina, about £570 was just for the rads and valves

[Tonka]

Just now, RickS said:

Hello

I have just been quoted what, to me, seems quite a lot for replacing four radiators & valves and flushing the system through. Therefore I wonder if anyone knows a reasonably priced plumber in the Norton junction area please?

 

The price I was quoted was the best part of £1800 and that was from my marina, about £570 was just for the rads and valves

can you not diy?

[RickS]

I did think that might be possible, but if it gets complicated (radiators needing extra bits of pipe as can't source same size ones) I am out on a limb. Flushing the system through feels as if it might be difficult as well

 

[Tracy D'arth]

2 minutes ago, RickS said:

Hello

I have just been quoted what, to me, seems quite a lot for replacing four radiators & valves and flushing the system through. Therefore I wonder if anyone knows a reasonably priced plumber in the Norton junction area please?

 

The price I was quoted was the best part of £1800 and that was from my marina, about £570 was just for the rads and valves

Ridiculous!  Price the rads & valves on Screwfix/Toolstation/PlumbCenter etc.  If you can find the same exact sizes the work is marginal, DIY.

1 minute ago, RickS said:

I did think that might be possible, but if it gets complicated (radiators needing extra bits of pipe as can't source same size ones) I am out on a limb. Flushing the system through feels as if it might be difficult as well

 

Why can you not find the same sizes?  Myson still sell imperial sizes. A local plumber will be cheaper than the marina,

Checkatrade?  My Hammer?

[RickS]

As an example of possible sizing issues, two of my four rads are 950mm wide - can't find any that size, just 900 or 1000. Maybe I haven't searched enough.

[Tracy D'arth]

3 minutes ago, RickS said:

As an example of possible sizing issues, two of my four rads are 950mm wide - can't find any that size, just 900 or 1000. Maybe I haven't searched enough.

50mm is no problem, there are extenders for the valves so 900mm and an extender and it fits!

[frangar]

Google adjustable radiator connector....and pick a size that suits....they work well..Used them on my boat for about 20 years after I couldn't source the same size rads....and flushing through involves a hosepipe in at the high point and a one connected to the low point...or a bowl and a pump/wet & dry vac.

[RickS]

I have put in a request for a quote from checkatrade, so fingers crossed. Thanks for advice frangar, Tracy and Tonka. I may well have to consider dIYing it.

My original issue is that the central heating system is not getting warm at all. The hot water works fine fro the Eberspacher but the rads don't even get warm. Tried adjusting the water flow valve to make the heating go to the rads (I know I'm not explaining that very well) but no joy.

Was advised it was probably a block somewhere in teh system - could be pricey to find. Possibly best solution is to replace rads (they are pretty old) and then flushing the system through (?) which should clear any block - hence this high quote.

 

Any way to check whether any block is in a particular section of the system? Presumably as the pipes don't get warm at all the blockage must be before the first radiator?

[Tracy D'arth]

All depends how it is plumbed.

Have they ever got warm?

There is not much to flushing a system, basically you fill it and empty it a few times. It just involves hoses and a wet vac. It may all work when its cleaned out.

[RickS]

Had a new Eberspacher fitted last September and hot water and rads worked OK. For some reason, the rads now no longer heat up but the hot water is fine.

[Tonka]

5 minutes ago, RickS said:

Had a new Eberspacher fitted last September and hot water and rads worked OK. For some reason, the rads now no longer heat up but the hot water is fine.

And nobody has adjusted a valve or anything? Have you checked the fluid level in it?

[Tracy D'arth]

Have you topped up the system header tank and bled the radiators?

[RickS]

Header tank level is fine (between min and max) and I bled the radiators and checked the system air bleed valve. Nothing in the rads and only a tiny amount of air in the system in general.

 

Was advised to try adjusting the balancing valve (?) on the hot water feed to the calorifier to force the hot water into the radiator part of the system but nada. Pipes that side of the valve not even warm. Does that mean that any block is right at the start of the system as it were?

 

Wasn't at the boat for quite a lot of the warmer weather this year and hot water was provided by the immersion for short periods (I know!). Now that it is going to get cooler soon, I thought I would check that the radiators worked as they did last year - and that's how I found them to be not working

[Tracy D'arth]

This balance valve, is it a gate valve with a circular red handwheel?

[RickS]

It is, yes. It is attached to the pipe going to the calorifier coil.

[David Mack]

Years ago, having installed my own central heating in a house, I was asked by friends to look at the heating in the house they had just bought. Boiler seemed to be working fine and water was heating, but radiators remained cold regardless of thermostat and timer settings. The motorised diverter valve seemed to be working fine. I concluded there must be a blockage and tried to find it. It turned out to be a gate valve on the radiator circuit where the gate remained firmly in the closed position, although the handle could easily be screwed between the open and closed positions. Replaced the valve, refilled the system and all was well.

You may have something similar.

But whatever your problem is, replacing the radiators is unlikely to make any difference whatsoever, so seems pointless. I would look for other causes first.

4 minutes ago, RickS said:

It is, yes. It is attached to the pipe going to the calorifier coil.

Do you have any valve(s) on the pipes leading to or from the radiators?

Edited September 12, 2023 by David Mack

[Tonka]

29 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Years ago, having installed my own central heating in a house, I was asked by friends to look at the heating in the house they had just bought. Boiler seemed to be working fine and water was heating, but radiators remained cold regardless of thermostat and timer settings. The motorised diverter valve seemed to be working fine. I concluded there must be a blockage and tried to find it. It turned out to be a gate valve on the radiator circuit where the gate remained firmly in the closed position, although the handle could easily be screwed between the open and closed positions. Replaced the valve, refilled the system and all was well.

You may have something similar.

But whatever your problem is, replacing the radiators is unlikely to make any difference whatsoever, so seems pointless. I would look for other causes first.

Do you have any valve(s) on the pipes leading to or from the radiators?

On my system there is a gate valve on the hot water side and the radiator side. If I open the hot water side one more then 3/4 of a turn then the radiators won't get hot as the all the heating goes through the easier path being the hot water tank

[Rob-M]

Do the pipes warm up either side of your valve to the radiators..?  If the valve is open but the pipes aren't getting hot I would guess the valve may be stuck in the closed position.

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, RickS said:

It is, yes. It is attached to the pipe going to the calorifier coil.

Common for a gate valve to break the thread inside when closed hard leaving the gate in the closed position. The wheel will turn from stop to stop but not lift the gate out inside. If it feels quite free this could well be the problem. I suggest you drain down and take that valve out for look. If you have to replace it, use a quarter turn ball valve, much more reliable.

[RickS]

David Mack - There isn't a separate valve on the pipe leading to the radiators. The radiators are pretty old - about 25 years plus - so prepared to accept that there may well be a lot of gunge in the system. I accept that even if the gunge came from the rads, changing them won't be enough on its own, so the pipes will need flushing, which I suppose would happen when new rads are fitted. Thinking through the problem other than that is fine if you have better plumbing knowledge than me - so it may not occur to me to try other options.

Rob-M - the pipes to the rads go underneath some fitted cupboards so it is quite difficult to tell - certainly not getting warm at the first rad valve pipework.

Tracy - good point. The only reason I think the valve is good is that when I close it down fully to the calorifier, the pipe between the valve and the calorifier does not get warm and the diesel heater closes down farly sharpish when it gets too hot. when the system is drained it sounds like a good idea to change it anyway as it has been there a while I assume

[Tracy D'arth]

36 minutes ago, RickS said:

David Mack - There isn't a separate valve on the pipe leading to the radiators. The radiators are pretty old - about 25 years plus - so prepared to accept that there may well be a lot of gunge in the system. I accept that even if the gunge came from the rads, changing them won't be enough on its own, so the pipes will need flushing, which I suppose would happen when new rads are fitted. Thinking through the problem other than that is fine if you have better plumbing knowledge than me - so it may not occur to me to try other options.

Rob-M - the pipes to the rads go underneath some fitted cupboards so it is quite difficult to tell - certainly not getting warm at the first rad valve pipework.

Tracy - good point. The only reason I think the valve is good is that when I close it down fully to the calorifier, the pipe between the valve and the calorifier does not get warm and the diesel heater closes down farly sharpish when it gets too hot. when the system is drained it sounds like a good idea to change it anyway as it has been there a while I assume

OK, so the valve is in the calorifier circuit and working. Not the problem.

When you bleed the rads, does water spirt out freely?  If you do a good bleed of them all, does the level in the header tank go down, it should.?

[RickS]

When I bled the rads, water came out almost immediately on three out of the four, the other one a small amount of air came out first.

Not a particularly heavy flow though, more just dribbling down the side of the radiator. Didn't realise water was coming out at first, and the aur wasn't strong either. I assume because it isn't pressurised as in a house?

[Tracy D'arth]

5 minutes ago, RickS said:

When I bled the rads, water came out almost immediately on three out of the four, the other one a small amount of air came out first.

Not a particularly heavy flow though, more just dribbling down the side of the radiator. Didn't realise water was coming out at first, and the aur wasn't strong either. I assume because it isn't pressurised as in a house?

The lack of height in a boat reduces the flow. Does the level in the header tank drop though?

I am suspecting an air lock in a pipe that has a rise and then a fall in it. The pump is not strictly a pump but a circulator and it will not pump water past an air lock. Check the pipes looking for a high spot where air can collect.

[RickS]

Header level didn't change noticeably whilst I bled the rads, but did go down a bit (not past minimum level) slowly over the summer.

 

I will bleed them again tomorrow and see if I can identify any high points.

 

Just trying to get my head around how this all works, is it reasonable to say that if the first radiator in the chain does not get warm at all, then any block will be between that radiator and the diesel heater?

 

Thanks Tracy for your time and advice

[Tracy D'arth]

3 minutes ago, RickS said:

Header level didn't change noticeably whilst I bled the rads, but did go down a bit (not past minimum level) slowly over the summer.

 

I will bleed them again tomorrow and see if I can identify any high points.

 

Just trying to get my head around how this all works, is it reasonable to say that if the first radiator in the chain does not get warm at all, then any block will be between that radiator and the diesel heater?

 

Thanks Tracy for your time and advice

True to a certain extent but depends how it is all plumbed. The best way is a flow and return to each radiator, all connected in parallel.

But some are all tapped off one pipe that goes all the way round with 2 tappings on the same pipe to each radiator.

An air lock can be on either the hot flow pipe or the return back to the boiler or even both!  The result is the same, no flow = no heat.