In this case, I'm the most important one. To me. Hence not fiddling with anything dangerous I'm not sure I'm competent with. And also long experience saying a pro you expect to be caring and competent is motivated by money and little else. In the majority of cases. Sadly.
And that resulted in Grenfell. Self certification, as it were. Not a good idea where the object is only to save money..
Yup its a fair observation. If the system does not work well enough as currently installed, then changing to a boiler where there is incentive to run lower flow temperatures is only going to yield benefits for less of the year than it might otherwise.
If someone is competent to work on water, what makes you say the principles for gas are any different? The outcome of faulty work may well be - but that's a different argument.
Would you be quite happy if a pro plumber installed pipework that leaked, but only unhappy if it happened with gas?
I have nowhere suggested a DIYer who isn't competent should work on gas. Or take down a load bearing wall. Or do any electrical repairs. Best to stick to slapping on some paint.
In those days nobody knew the meaning of efficiency. Many lofts weren't even lagged.
Yes, pretty much all of that :-).
Main issues in this Victorian terrace are drafts, east facing with little solar gain to the rear, and solid stone faced walls.
I have treated a few rooms and the results are very good indeed. Rooms that were near impossible to heat are now a steady 20C, and the rads don't need to stay hot except in very cold weather.
As part of that I have replaced the existing rads with equivalent sizes but a factor of 1.5 output. This is partly to help heat up from cold, but also based on my recalculation. Bills haven't changed that much - maybe 20% less. But the house is a lot warmer.
But my point was that the original system was never capable of heating the house to 'modern' 21C expectations - and that had little to do with the boiler. A combination of poorly specced radiators (has the metric changed over the past 30 years?) and building construction.
More unhappy, yes. And while techniques are similar they are not exactly the same. So they would only be competent if they read up about gas plumbing.
If you already have all the skills needed for plumbing, moving on to gas requires little extra. But I'm not suggesting you use push fit plumbing for gas. ;-)
The plumbing aspect is one part of it, but there is obviously more to be aware of. Accidents with the gas side of things are very rare, but problems with CO poisoning are more common. So understanding the requirements for flue placement and assembly, adequate ventilation etc are equally important. Also worth noting that someone skilled in plumbing will generally be able to tackle most plumbing jobs, but gas skills are slightly more modular - so being competent to install a boiler does not imply you are aware of the specific requirements for an unflued device like a hob for example.
Thought it was perfectly 'legal' for anyone to connect a gas cooker to the plug in type connector. Are the requirements of a hob only somehow different? Although I do know the plug in type of connector isn't allowed for a fixed hob.
I have seen a number of discussions revolving around BS 6172 which say that either Fixed or Flexible connection can be made to hobs, unless the Manufacturer's Instructions say Rigid only.
The are further conditions that the flexible pipe must not be in contact with a surface >70C or is likely to be chafed, as in by a drawer.
It is...
There are for example minimum room volume requirements, and a minimum size of ventilation required. I presume (I have not checked) these also apply to free standing cookers, and the onus would be on the installer of the bayonet connection point to ensure they are met in any room they install the point in.
It is, but its a common belief that its not, based on historic guidance in BS 6172.
The 1982 version said: "Built-in ovens, drop-in hotplates and other individual units should be connected to the installation pipe by means of rigid or semi-rigid gas connections. Appliance flexible connections of the type used with gas cookers are not appropriate for these appliances since they are not intended to be movable by the customer. The gas connection pipe size should be not less than that of the inlet connections of the appliance."
The 2004 version of the BS 6172 doc probably (I don't have a pre amendment version to check) originally had similar wording, but was amended to have the same words as now shown in the 2010 version:
"11.1.3 A gas hob shall be connected to the termination point by means of rigid pipework or, unless stated otherwise in the manufacturer's instructions, a flexible connector and self-sealing plug-in device conforming to BS 669-1."
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