I've just moved into a flat with a boiler system for heating my hot water, only I don't seem to have any hot water. There's a switch near the boiler which I've turned on but I can't see anything else that needs turning/switching. When I run the hot water it is warm to coolish but not as cold as water from the cold tap. There are no noises coming from the tank. Any ideas?
Is there a pilot light that needs lighting? Does the boiler run your heating too, if so is that working?
Have you moved in immediately after someone else moved out? you might just have the remnants of the hot water from a day or two ago.
If a rented flat call the landlord/agent and ask It may be that the gas was turned off and is still off or was turned on again and the pilot light needs relighting on the water heater
Tony
Hi Andy
Thanks a lot for your reply. I suppose there might be a pilot light somewhere. There's a pipe coming off the tank that lokos like it goes through the wall to a gas fire in the living room so maybe there's one around the fire somewhere. Also the previous occupants moved out in November ...
On 15 Feb 2007 04:05:14 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com mused:
Er, it would be in the boiler, the fact you thought it may be in another room worries me somewhat.
Best bet would be to call your landlord\favourite heating engineer to come and get it sorted.
Hi Tony
Thanks for your post. Unfortunately I've just bought the place ( so I've never needed to know about these things before now!) The gas is on - the oven and fire both work and the rest of the heating is by storage heaters. Everything else seems fine apart from the hot water. I'll check for a pilot light.
It's somewhat unusual to have gas *and* storage heaters.
When you say "boiler system" do you mean a boiler (metal box on wall with a flue) (possibly a gas multipoint water heater eg Main) or a hot water cylinder (copper cylinder with foam insulation) which might have an immersion heater as the only means of heating the HW.
Is the gas fire made by Baxi - if so you probably have a back boiler behind it.
Can you hear a boiler cycling on and off - if the water is only heating up very very slowly maybe the pump has failed (quite likely if it hasn't been used for 3 months) and the system is working on very sluggish gravity circulation.
It's normally a condition in the sale agreement that the seller warrants the heating systems in good working order for 7 days after sale, but if the house has been empty for 3 months - repossession? - this might not have been arranged.
If you don't have a current Gas Safety Certificate ("Landlord's") then it would be well worth paying a CORGI to check the installation, especially if you have a back boiler or any other open flued appliance.
Owain
On 15 Feb 2007 04:05:14 -0800 someone who may be snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote this:-
It would be useful if you could post some photographs somewhere so that people can get an idea of what you are talking about. Might avoid people talking at cross purposes.
Owain, thanks a lot for your post. it's a hot water cylinder with an immersion switch and the fire is made by Baxi. I can't hear a boiler cycling and I'm not sure I've seen a Gas Safety Certificate. I think you're right I better pay a CORGI to come and have a look at it. Cheers for the advice
Then you probably have a back boiler. The panel below the gas fire should lift / flip off / up / down quite easily and you'll see a thermostat knob, gas valve and ignition button. Instructions for lighting are usually on the inside of the lift-off panel.
They really do need an annual safety check, though.
Owain
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