Quality of "shed-carried" TRV valves?

Apr 06, 2005 15 Replies

Had been looking at buying ACL Drayton (Invensys) TRV4's for the house, but at over £18 each, it mounts up a little. I'm wondering what people's experiences are of the TRV's that are on offer in Wickes, Homebase, Focus and B&Q? IIRC, they seem to vary in price from about £5-12 each. Not sure if they're branded or not.


a

Get what you pay for maybe ?

If you want to pay a lot less for trv4's have a look on Ebay.

p.s..... I have 3 boxed unused trv4's if of interest.

With luck you will still be able to get spares/replacements for the Drayton in 10+ years (which ain't long in home owning terms :) ) Trying to find a part for an unbranded one....

Your decision but I know what I would buy (and I've only required one Drayton top in 22 years with 11 rads)

Peter

Go for good, ie branded, ones. They last longer. And when they fail - as they will - there's a good chance you'll get ones which are a simple replacement. Shed ones may have rather 'non standard' fittings.

Hi Justin,

Could be! Are they the white ones or all chrome? How much and whereabouts in the country are you? I tried emailing you, but it bounced.

alan

In message , al writes

Should be able to get TRV4's at bit less than GBP18.

I've used TRV4s and been very happy with them (8 years so far installed and no problems), in previous threads here they have got plenty of 'votes' (see Google Groups). In the grand scheme of things the extra cost isn't really significant IMO, replacing one cheapy valve in few years time would wipe that out in hassle AFAIAC.

They are also one of the better looking ones IMO, certainly I'd stick with a good brand.

Brand new,White, chromed top, 15mm............ £25 for all three, but I don't know how we could do the transaction if you were interested..... unless you live up the road from me. (Grimsby) email ... snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

I bought about 10 of them for something like £10 each from a small independant plumbers merchant (in High Street North, Dunstable) about 3 years ago. I was buying a load of radiators too, and they weren't bottom of the range cheap ones -- don't know if I would have got same price on just the TRV4's alone.

Don't worry about it ... ordered 6 on Ebay for £50. Hoping they'll get here for Saturday as Sunday is the last day I have really to install them! And no ... I'm a couple of hundred miles away :(

a

Speaking of which ... planning on picking up the rads in Wickes. Seem to be a good price and look OK. Any comments on their reliability and ease of fitting?

a

don't touch the screwfix ones, they are of variable quality, and a few have failed in my house(leaks, and sticking on or off etc).

Steve

I've bought both (and wished I hadn't). Go for the TRV4's

Which Screwfix ones? They do Pegler Terrier IIs at a quite reasonable price (c. £7-8 ea if you buy 10) and they should be as good as Draytons. IMO TRV4s are sold on looks: fine if you really must have a shiny dome (fnaaar :-) but they do go wrong - I've replaced knackered TRVs as well as other makes. True you can get spares for them so it may be less hassle to fix them when they do go wrong, though in practice it's easy enough to replace the whole valve (carrot & spud the header tank, close the other rad valve, drain off a pint or so of water or suck it out with the wet vac and sling on the new valve).

Are you including the Danfoss-Randall ones in that ..??

Stuart

Shift THELEVER to reply.

I should add, that due to time constraints (I need them this weekend) ... Screwfix and the like are no longer options. Has to be somewhere I can drive and pickup. That's Homebase (terrible selection of about 3 rads!), Focus (not even sure they do plumbing) or Wickes. Can do B&Q, but 15 min drive so would have to be better than Wickes!

a

Chris

plc who so ususlly sorce thru dranfoss.

Regards Mark (Leeds)

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