would anyone like to enlighten me as to why my central heating didn't go on this morning?

[Fruitbatlings]

No idea if this should be in "Geeky stuff" but as far as I'm concerned - boilers are for geeks

So, my hot water is working fine. I think I have a combi boiler but I am completely clueless about these things.

Do you think it has anything to do with the system pressure?
It's on zero.
But why would the hot water be working if the pressure is so low?
Or is that a really stupid question which I probably won't understand the answer to?

The thermostat is 20 degrees and the heating is on a timer which should have gone on at 6am this morning.
Thank god it's not freezing.....yet!

realistically will he fit in it until he is 4??? It does look quite small.

I only say this because the 2 way elite is a stage 1 & 2 car seat so more like 7 years old.

Trip to milton keynes to compare in real life?

www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/shop/rearward-facing-seats.html

Your ds will probably fit into his stage 0 one until he is over a year old, it's until their eyes are level with the back of the seat and then they are too tall.

yes, might be an idea. Yes, you're right, it does look rather small and yours is a little cheaper so could be worth a trip over there.
DS is starting to look pretty squished already but not planning on moving him until he's around one yr.

Didn't know you were in Colliers Wood: I was being driven through there about an hour ago - probably a bit late to pop in though.

It's a shame you went to Wickes for a rad key, you have one of the best plumbing stores in London in Colliers Wood - Burge and Gunson.

Seen the pictures, the first picture is the right end - the square thing in the middle fits in the key. That is a double radiator and you have to do it with BOTH of the square pins in the end shown on the 4th photo down - one at a time, not both at once.

If you are turning and no air (or water) is coming out it could be one of three things:

1. You are not turning it far enough - if you turn it too far it will fall (or with 2 bar, pop) out: make sure you catch it in the key and put it back in.

1. There is no pressure in the system: well we can rule that out because the pressure guage is telling you there is 2 bar in there now you have topped it up (good job you did).

1. The radiator is turned off: make sure it is turned on by turning the valve at one or both ends on. If there is a TRV (thermostatic valve), set this at its highest number; if it is an ordianry valve turn it fully anti-clockwise.

Forget about setting the right pressure until we have the rads and pump bled - 2 bar is plenty.

Forget about a screwdriver or spanner too - your pictures show exactly the square pin that fits in the square hole in the key.

Thanks ever so much MrAnchovy I actually went to Robert Dyas for the key as I was in Wimbledon but would I find a better key in Burge and Gunson? - I've just realised where that is! (duh)

I'll have a go in a bit, I'll hopefully get DH onto it too....

The pressure has fallen again since last night. I had topped it up to 3 but has now fallen to 2.5.

I'm sure it's the radiator in our bedroom as it wasn't getting very warm - I had thought it was the thermostats actually on the radiator but couldn't work out which way to turn them (plus one knob is missing anyway)

I've got prospective parents coming over for a meeting at 10am (I'm a CM) so I will sort it out when they go. I'll let you know if we can get it working
Thanks again

bugger bugger bugger

Just about to get into the shower and we have no hot water now.
The burner isn't going on at all!

Something I haven't noticed before. Black really sticky tar like stuff - picture on profile......

wtf is that?

I can't really tell from the picture, it could be dirty water escaping from the internal auto-bleed valve which could be stuck open with a piece of junk (that would explain the dropping pressure) but it looks like it could be something melting due to overheating which is not good.

That would also explain the no hot water - if it gets too hot, the burner will cut out to stop very bad things happening. If this is the case the boiler is potentially dangerous.

You need a plumber to look at it: it could just be a new thermocouple or it could be a new boiler

at least it's warmish today......

It's died on us now.
I had to call the emergency gas people last night as we could smell gas and it was leaking water
The engineer said we'd have to call out a heating engineer as he didn't know what was wrong with it - it was full up with water though and water was dripping out all over the place.
Is a heating engineer a plumber? My Mum knows a very good plumber and has offered to pay (thank god for mothers!)

I'm terrified we'll have to buy a new boiler as we are stretched to our limit financially and have no spare cash - do boiler companies allow you to pay in installments?

I think we'll be taking out boiler insurance from now on that's for sure. Live and learn eh?

Not all plumbers have the gas qualification (CORGI) that enables them to work as heating engineers, but most do.

People like British Gas charge a ridiculous price for fitting boilers, if your mum's friend can't do it, find a local tradesman that can.

If you are not moving for a few years, buy a decent boiler (Worcester Bosch, Viessmann) if you possibly can. Paying by installments might be difficult; you might be able to pay for the boiler itself with a credit card but your mum's friend will probably want cash.

Hasn't Corgi changed it's name to Gas Safe or something now?

Ask to see their paperwork and check out it's a legal registration number (I speak from bitter experience, was given a fraudulent corgi registration number!)

Yes sorry, Gas Safe Register is now the place to check your plumbers registration.

We can't even pay by credit card as that's been maxed out

I might google boiler companies and see if there's anywhere that'll allow us to pay monthly. They are so expensive, I'd be surprised if you can't get one on finance. I mean, who has £1000 spare cash knocking about?! (I wish!)

So, we do need a new boiler!

Just seen on the British Gas website, I can pay in installments

Got a BG engineer coming over tomorrow.....

Oh dear £££££££££££££££££££££££ hope it's not too expensive.

haha, yes I've been warned about British Gas!
I've had one quote (local plumber) of £450 to fit. We'll just get a really cheap boiler as we're not planning on living here too much longer.

I bet BG is triple that! We shall see......