I didn't get an alert so have only just spotted Esse's message, which I presume relates to a visit to us by their Tehnical Director.
Esse sent a report after their Technical Director's visit, but it bore so little resemblance to what had happened that I assumed they'd sent a report from a visit to someone else who had problems with their 990 CH and their Plus 2 electric companion cooker. I've had a little time off this summer from dealing with our Esse problems as it was having a bad effect on me, but I see from their post now that I was apparently right - they sent me the wrong report.
David Randlesome visited us on 10 May, not 31 May. On arrival he remarked that he felt that we had been badly treated both by Esse and by Fabrica Design (Esse's local agent). I agreed. We had been worried about the 990 CH's installation for some time and had asked Fabrica Design for advice. They had not responded except to say that they had used a 150mm diameter flue liner, but on 10 May David Randlesome arrived with the information from Fabrica Design that they had flattened a 150mm liner to fit it into our chimney, which measures 125mm in one direction. This explains why two separate experts had thought that the flue liner installed by Fabrica Design was 125mm diameter rather than the 150mm required for the 990 CH. David Randlesome agreed that it would have been helpful if Fabrica Design had told us this before, ideally before carrying out the installation. We would have paid the additional cost of an external twin-wall flue if we had been told that it was necessary. On 10 May, David Randlesome advised us that Fabrica Design's “solution” of flattening a 150mm liner to fit the chimney was acceptable and that it would provide the same cross-sectional area as a circle of the same diameter. As he is Esse's Technical Director I assumed he had expertise to back up this assertion and I only questioned it after our meeting. On David Randlesome's advice, I asked after the meeting for an exact specification of the flue liner installed by Fabrica Design – we have never been given this, either by Esse or by Fabrica Design. So I contacted Poujoulat, the manufacturer of the liner which Fabrica Design said they had used; they told me that none of their liners should be modified in shape as this can break the locking bands, allowing fumes to escape, and reducing the liner's life expectancy. And the flatter an ellipse the smaller its area by comparison with a circle of the same diameter.
Once we had verified Fabrica Design's assertion about the flue liner we talked about fuel. We bought the Esse 990 CH to burn wood and I assured David Randlesome that we had not changed our minds about this. He adjusted the firebox area of the 990 CH, removing the grate and installing what he referred to as a “wood-burning kit” which he said Esse had developed some six months before for the 990 CH. I said how unhappy I was that Esse had not been replying at all to my pleas for help at this time as it might have been helpful to have had the wood-burning kit sooner. David Randlesome agreed.
Using lighters and wood which he brought with him, David Randlesome lit the 990 CH. It performed as never before, rapidly reaching a high temperature and heating the water in the tank. David Randlesome looked at our central heating set-up. There was one valve which should have let hot water through to the downstairs radiators; otherwise, David Randlesome said that our central heating set-up was fine.
We visited the wood shed. David Randlesome split a piece of wood and put his moisture meter to it. He told me that the reading was 21% which surprised me as I had found nothing over 15%. He said however that the wood we were burning was fine and that he accepted what we have said from the outset, which is that apart from a few days immediately after the 990 CH was installed and before our own moisture meter arrived we know that we have not burned wet wood.
The Plus 2 had had one thermostat replaced previously, by Fabrica Design; it did not improve the cooker's performance. Fabrica Design had told me that they would send the removed thermostat to Esse for testing; I asked David Randlesome if this had happened, and he said that he couldn't remember but that really there was little point in testing oven thermostats unless they were in ovens as tiny differences in installation can make big differences to performance. On 10 May David Randlesome changed both thermostats; the cooker is at least as bad as before. And although I had complained about the unreliable performance of the hob, David Randlesome had not been told about this so had not come equipped to deal with it.
Sadly, there are other issues, but I won't repeat those here as this is already a long message. I just felt it was important to put the record straight about David Randlesome's visit. If Esse's message relates to a visit to another customer, it's good to hear that their problems have been solved.