Anyone had central heating power flush?

[KettleOn919]

Can you tell me what happens, how long it takes, disruption etc?

My 95-year old mum recently had her central heating go haywire. The British Gas workman that came changed something called a power adaptor in the loft, and it's working again now. However he told us that there was loads of sludge in the system and the new valve would eventually fail again unless she has a power flush.

My mum is refusing because she thinks she will have to have her water turned off for a whole day and won't be able to use the toilet or have a cup of tea . Also she's worried about dangerous chemicals, noise, mess, disruption, exploding/leaking pipes, and workmen coming in an out all day.

Can anyone who has had a power flush done tell me anything that might help to reassure my mum? My sister and I are happy to go round and sit there with her while the workmen are in the house.

Many thanks.

I had it done years ago by British Gas or they wouldn't continue with the call out policy. Charged me £600 but that's another story.
It did take all day and it was midwinter and had to have the door open to drain it out. It didn't affect the water/toilet or anything else but it was a totally miserable day. If I was you I would suggest one of you has your Mum at yours for the day and the other stay in the house with the workman.

I had it done last year, took half a day. One door had to be open for the pipe that was carrying the sludge to flush away. It was very noisy though, lots of banging on the pipes.

I've had it done and it took half a day.
I think one of you should take your mum to their house and the other sit in her house.

Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately my mum is housebound and neither my sister and I drive, so getting her to or from our houses would be a problem. We both live about an hour away. I don't know whether we could persuade my mum to get in a taxi... very worried she is going to continue to refuse the whole thing!

We had it done recently. Dh was wfh as normal, I was out. They took the rad off the kitchen wall to hook their pump into the system, and back door had to be open to run the machine from outside. He says it took a few hours. It has made a big difference to the heat we get off the rads, so well worth it, but I can imagine how it would be disruptive to your mum and the house might get cold during the service.

Could you go to her and bring her to a nearby café or similar for a while, to break up the time, get warmed up, hot food etc?

Same as posters above, when I had one, they were in and out for quite a lot of the day, there were hoses running out from the kitchen into the drain outside.

We had the water turned on all day, so could still use the sinks and toilet.

The person who did ours had to get access to each radiator, so we had to move some furniture in one of the rooms that was blocking the radaitor but otherwise they just cracked on and we left them to it.

What timescale did he recommend getting the flush done? Is it something that can realistically wait until Spring so its not as cold for your mum having the door open?

I'm not sure about British Gas t&cs but my provider wouldnt cover any further breakdowns until I got a powerflush done - I had to give them proof of the powerflush (a receipt/invoice) before they would 'release' my account so I could get further call outs. Something to consider.

Interesting. I've been led to believe that

Sorry. I've been led to believe that providers like British Gas push Powerflushing as a bit of a sledge hammer to crack a nut and a good money earner for them and that more skilled contractors will be able to solve any problems much more cheaply and without the risks that high pressure through an old system bring.

I agree with Bluebar. I moved into my current house in 2003 and had had a British Gas service contract in my old house. They wouldn't cover me in my new house without a power flush, saying the system wouldn't work for much longer. Even back then, they wanted £500 to do it.

I didn't bother, and just got my boiler serviced by a local chap once a year. I think we eventually had a power flush in either 2018 or 2019 when having some other work done on the central heating system.

he told us that there was loads of sludge in the system and the new valve would eventually fail again unless she has a power flush

He's probably right about the "eventually". But she's 95. Even if she lives to be 105, "eventually" might still not have happened!

It is quite long and disruptive as PP have said but if you don't get it sorted the boiler can be badly damaged. If they do get it done then it's worth getting a filter fitted to tackle whatever is causing the buildup.