Clueless and looking for advice on boiler & gas system

[Stephen G]

I recently purchased a property and have zero idea on how the gas/boiler system works (photos attached).

Hoping for someone with more expertise to give some advice as I've no one else to ask.

Boiler with valve & switch:



Boiler brand on top:



Pipe with meter & valve directly below boiler closet:



Close up of meter:



System in kitchen:



System in kitchen:


Thanks for any advice!

 

[techie]

What are you asking for exactly?

 

[Stephen G]

What are you asking for exactly?

Apologies should have been clearer - we don't have any hot water and hoping to get that going but not sure how to work this boiler. Also haven't been able to get the stove working yet.

 

[andy48]

1. Your first two photographs show your hot water cylinder (it is not a boiler) with a top mounted immersion heater. The "brand" is likely to be only that of the immersion heater, not of the cylinder itself, although this is unlikely to matter. Provided all is working, you should get hot water heated by:
1.1 The boiler (shown in your 5th and 6th photographs). This appears to be a "heat only" Ideal Classic gas boiler. AND / OR
1.2 The immersion heater, but only if the switch shown in photograph 1 is switched on. In the photograph it appears to be "off".
1.3 Heating by gas is likely to cost around 1/3rd of the amount it would cost to heat via the immersion heater. Most people regard the immersion heater as an "emergencies only" heat source.
1.4 The amount of insulation carved off the hot water cylinder is going to cost you a lot in lost heat. Fit a jacket or replace the cylinder.
2. The water meter (photographs 3 and 4) is irrelevant to space heating / hot water. Check that the stopcocks below and above it are fully open and then closed back 1/2 turn.
3. The boiler does not appear to have a programmer fitted to tell it when to operate. Have a look elsewhere for it. Often in the kitchen or the hall. If you have one make sure it is programmed to turn the hot water heating and / or central heating on and off when you want it.
4. There is no room thermostat in your pictures. Again look elsewhere to see if there is one, often in the hall. If there is one, make sure it is set for the maximum room temperature you require.
5. Central heating works as follows:
5.1 The programmer enters a "central heating required" time and sends power to the central heating (room) thermostat.
5.2 The room thermostat decides if the room is warm enough. If not it sends power to a motorised valve.
5.3 The motorised valve opens, and as it opens, sends power to fire the boiler. The boiler starts the pump, and ignites, heats water which is then pumped round the system.
6. Water heating works as follows:
6.1 The programmer enters a "water heating required" time and sends power to the cylinder thermostat. (First photograph, white box right hand base of cylinder).
6.2 If the cylinder thermostat decides if the water is warm enough. If not it sends power to another motorised valve.
6.3 The motorised valve opens, and as it opens, sends power to fire the boiler. The boiler starts the pump, and ignites, heats water which is then pumped round a coil inside the hot water cylinder. This heats the water in the body of the cylinder indirectly to provide hot water at the taps.
7. There are variations on the above method. For example a three port motorised valve may be used instead of 2x. two port valves. However, the principle are broadly the same.
8. Things to check:
8.1 That gas is turned on and flowing. Easiest to check at a hob. There will be a valve for gas under the boiler. If it won't light make sure this valve is open.
8.2 Make sure the electrical supply to the boiler is turned on and that indicator lights (if any) also turn on.
8.3 Make sure the programmer is properly set. They usually have "over run" functions, see if these can be used to make the boiler fire.
8.4 Make sure the room thermostat is set to an appropriate value. Usually graduated in degrees centigrade, occasionally Fahrenheit if old.
9. If you can get the gas water heating going, make sure the immersion heater is turned off.

 

[MGW]

1.3 Heating by gas is likely to cost around 1/3rd of the amount it would cost to heat via the immersion heater. Most people regard the immersion heater as an "emergencies only" heat source.

Not quite correct, the problem is the boiler has to heat up, and the pipework boiler to cylinder also needs to heat up, so cost is dependent on how much hot water used, and what you pay for electric.

I have a iboost+ which tells me how much electric used that day, checking 3 days in a row, I got 0.54 kWh, 0.56 kWh and 0.69 kWh I only use the DHW to wash hands and the odd dish. My tariff at moment two amounts peak 31.31 p per kWh off peak 8.95 p per kWh, once I get solar sorted there will be a third amount, how much I would have been paid had I exported the power.

At the highest rate that is less than 4.83 kWh so 43p to £1.51 per week. Before I used oil, and to keep water warm to wash hands the boiler ran 1 hour 20 minutes per week, a 20 kW boiler, so around 27 kWh used with oil, to heat same tank that 4.83 kWh will keep warm with electric, so electric would need to cost 5.6 times the cost of oil or gas to break even.

I found my immersion heater had tripped, often the thermostat inside the immersion heater has a over heat trip and it can be reset. It can trip due to thermostat being set too high, either central heating or the immersion heater, or a fault with immersion heater, so if it keeps tripping stop using it, it can kill if it over heats also the wires under the immersion heater plate are live normally so it needs switching off before removing. It does seem at moment switched off but can't be sure without testing. Some immersion heaters also have a switch in the kitchen, and some times feed from an off peak supply only, clearly we can't say what you have.

As to the boiler, my boiler has a wall thermostat, and I can set how long the boiler runs to heat the DHW, there are three popular plans, C, Y, and S, there are others but not likely to find them.

This looks a little like a motorised valve, and this looks like the thermostat for the central heating boilers DHW. It could be a two or three port valve, and you may have a wiring centre (junction box) and some programmer which may be part of the wall thermostat to set up when it produces DHW.

Cost electric v gas depends on how much DHW you use, regular baths or showers using the stored water then gas is cheapest, but just for washing hands electric is cheaper, and in my case with solar panels no question electric is cheapest.