fruitbat:

We've just moved into a 4 bed house

You haven't said whether you are owner or tenant. The answer makes a difference at least in part.

fruitbat:

The house is hot in places and cold in others

Are you saying that where the house is cold the radiators are colder than the radiators are in the places the house is hot?

Re balancing, there are plenty guides if you Google. At this stage I would suggest you do your own balancing and then take stock.

fruitbat - I've seem somewhere that british gas charges £600 (but maybe they're a rip off)

Exactly, BG are renowned for charging way over the odds for a power flush, even the heating engineers in London will do a power flush for around half that figure...and that's London.

This site is just for quick comparison purposes and not intended to advertise.

http://www.powerflushdoctor.co.uk/cost/

Balancing involves going around the house and adjusting each radiator flow on the opposite valve to the TRV, until the the whole system is running at it's optimal performance.

It seems expensive to me.

The system will be drained and flushed which involves connecting a hose to the drain point and opening the taps and waiting a while - maybe half an hour in total.

The radiator valves can cost anything between £10 and £40 each and can be fitted in about 20 minutes each.

I don't know what re balancing radiatoes involves, perhaps just releasing the air in each one. If so, that's 10 minutes each.

Servicing the boiler could mean anything. If there's no noticeable fault, they will tap the side, look at the taps and dial and then leave it alone. Another 10 minutes.

A good digital room thermostat could cost £100 and, depending where it is, might take a couple of hours to fit.

I believe someone else has taken over Corgi's work but you can still use the web site www.trustcorgi.com to find other candidates for the job.

Hi - yes I've bled the radiators. A lot of them are hot at the top but not at the bottom which I thought meant there was sediment in them - hence the power flush. Am interested you reckon should only be £200. I've seem somewhere that british gas charges £600 (but maybe they're a rip off)

I will go around and do another bleed of the radiators tonight to be sure and check the valves are open.

thanks for your replies!

Hi fruitbat,

Absolutely agree with conmankiller here: get some more quotes.

Also - and apologies if this seems really obvious - but have you bled all the radiators (with the central heating system off)?

I have a similar problem with my house at the moment and I've had to make sure each radiator has had the air removed and the valve on each is open. Central heating is basically a network of pipes with hot water running through them, so the pipes at the start can get more hot water than others further along the network - opening and closing the small valve taps (if you have them) 'balances' the system so each radiator gets a decent amount of hot water.

I'm no expert on this - it may well be a bigger issue with the boiler - but it's worth exploring all the options (without damaging anything!) before you pay out mega-bucks...

It's a large system that you are planning on improving and servicing, without being at the scene it's very difficult to comment whether the price seems reasonable.. or on the expensive side. As a rough guestimate it does look on the expensive side though.!

Supply/fit thermo valves for 10 radiators x £40 = £400 (can be cheaper!)

Power flush = £200 (tops)

Re balance radiators = £100 (in time??)

Service boiler = £60 (usually a emissions check)

Fit thermostat = £40

Total reasonable price = £800 (ish - tops)

I would recommend in your position that you get at least a further Two free quotes... for the exact same work to carried out from other local reputable heating engineers, so that you can compare the prices quoted.!

Hi,

We've just moved into a 4 bed house which has a Potterton Kingfisher 2 boiler and 15 radiators. The house is hot in places and cold in others and there is no room thermostat

We don't have a lot of money so we have had a quote from a boiler repairer to do the following:

Supply/fit thermo valves for 10 radiators

Power flush

Re balance radiators

Service boiler

Fit thermostat

The quote is £1250 and he said specifically that this includes a price of £40 per valve supply and fit for the thermostatic valves.

It feels a bit expensive to me - what do people think. Does this quote sound reasonable?

thanks