Hello all,
>
>I'm not in the UK, but as this is such a nice newsgroup with a lot of
>knowledgeable people I thought I might ask this here.
>
>My parents bought a house a few months ago. What worries us is the
>underfloor heating. There is a pool which is heated by the central
>heating system via a heat exchanger. Unfortunately, it turns out that
>the heat exchanger is shot. This meant that the pool water and the
>central heating exchange water. Not just a little: You could just as
>well have skipped the heat exchanger according to the plumber. Both
>the pool and the central heating systems are a D-I-Y setup and the
>professionals had difficulties understanding it. Therefore, we don't
>know if the water has gotten into the underfloor heating, but it's >possible. >
>Is this something you should be worried about? Could the pool water
>have damaged the UF heating? Of course, the system is now shut down.
The pool water won't generally have concentrations of chemicals enough to damage the heating system directly (humans swim in it). However, the risk would be from oxygen being continuously introduced into the heating circuit. This would typically cause problems with iron and steel components - e.g. boilers and conventional radiators. UFH pipes, from what I've seen are either plastic or copper wrapped in something to protect it from the concrete. You could confirm that. I would expect that flushing it through with fresh water and refilling would be adequate. There might be some accumulation of rubbish from the pool if the filtration wasn't working.
I you want to replace the heat exchanger, you have an excellent local manufacturer.
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>If it's a problem, how difficult is it to replace the UF heating? Is
>it better to leave it alone and go for ordinary radiators?
If the floors are concrete, pretty difficult, but I don't necessarily think you have reached that point.
>Next question: The central heating doesn't work. It turns out that the
>heat pump (air to water) is a lot older than the house, apparently
>bought second hand. My parent's were quoted the equivalent of £3000
>for a new heat pump, plus installation costs and necessary repairs to
>the system. Is that reasonable? I don't remember the input power, but
>the output is supposed to be about 10kW. I've become all confused
>after reading data sheets from different manufacturers: Is there a
>standard air temperature where the output power is measured? If not,
>how are you supposed to compare different manufacturers?
>
>I suppose the writing was on the wall. The previous house burnt down,
>this house (built on the same basement) has been flooded and the two
>previous owners went broke on the house without finishing it. The
>sewer is damaged, there is no ventilation, electrical is not what it
>should be and so on. But, hey, it's for all those suprises you own a
>house, isn't it? ;-)
>
True, but you do get to have artsoppa on Thursdays, koettbullar with lingonberries and Westerbotten ost, which IMHO, more than compensates. :-)
.andy
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