Boilers

Should I get a plumbing and Heating survey when purchasing a property?

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It’s one thing getting a property survey but it’s a totally different kettle of fish having the plumbing and heating thoroughly checked. 

This is one of our favorite jobs at Flush. It involves a few hours of investigation into a plumbing and heating system. We will inspect how each part of the system performs and inform you what work may be required. This gives the potential purchaser a full understanding of the system and if any unexpected problems which may occur so they can be accounted for during the negotiation of the sale. In the past we have uncovered unsafe gas appliances, broken boilers and a huge list of plumbing nightmares. 

It’s advisable to have a plumbing and heating survey carried out if you’re unsure about any part of the installation, or if a surveyor has flagged anything concerning them.  

You should expect the drainage to be checked of all the appliances, toilets, basins, baths, showers, and sinks. The heating system will be checked throughout, checking the radiators heat up, and thermostatic radiator valves are operational. We’ll check showers function correctly and the condition and age of any taps. 

It’s also advisable to have a Gas safe certificate, this is a safety check of all the gas appliances in the property (Boiler, cooker, hob, fires, etc). This will check that the appliances are working efficiently, there’s no gas leaks and they have been correctly installed. A separate certificate will be provided for this and it should be carried out by an engineer who is Gas safe registered. 

We provide a 7 page document listing all the checks which have been carried out. Here’s a small example of what’s included. 

Or you can also see how we at Flush Plumbing and Heating carry out a survey here.

How to add pressure to your Vaillant Ecofit combi boiler

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Are you experiencing low water pressure on your Vaillant EcoFit combi boiler?

Pressure loss can be caused by a number of reasons. Something to bear in mind is that the pressure gauge on your boiler is a reflection of the pressure in your heating system – this includes your boiler, radiators and all pipe work that connects these vital components. This means if your pressure gauge is low it could be a leak somewhere between your boiler and radiators.

On many occasions no leak is visible and it’s completely normal to re pressurise your heating on an annual basis. However, if you find you’re pressuring the heating on a regular basis and no leaks are visible anywhere in the property then it would be a good idea to get your boiler serviced and please ensure the heating engineer checks the expansion vessel.

A deflated expansion vessel can cause the pressure in your heating system to increase and release water outside via the pressure relief valve once it hits 3 bars. Then when your heating cools the boiler will then read low pressure. Once the expansion vessel is recharged and sometimes replaced the water will have room to expand and the boiler will stop releasing the water when the heating is operating.

The video below shows you how to refill a Vaillant Ecofit Pure combi boiler.

Hope you find it useful!

Everything you need to know about hydrogen boilers

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The UK has long been committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and Flush Plumbing and Heating Ltd have always agreed with that ambitious target. To reach it, however, greenhouse gases will have to be dramatically slashed. In cases where they cannot be lowered any further, remaining omissions will have to be offset.

Making this more of a challenge is the fact that the population will continue to grow between now and then, and on average more than 150,000 new homes are built every year. This means more and more carbon emissions are set to come from the natural gas we burn when we heat our homes. With 37% of the UK’s carbon emissions already coming from the heating industry, this is simply not sustainable.

One huge step that can be taken towards meeting the target is to integrate hydrogen into the national grid’s gas network. Research shows that introducing just 20% hydrogen (which is more efficient, and doesn’t emit carbon when burned) alongside 80% natural gas across the country could save around six million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year. That’s the equivalent of taking 2.5m cars off the road in one fell swoop.

In order to accelerate a move towards using hydrogen in our heating systems, the government formed a Hydrogen Taskforce. It brought together 10 industry leaders from the fields of future energy and heating systems and tasked them with creating a pathway for a cleaner, greener future built on hydrogen energy. In terms of home heating, this means phasing out our reliance on the existing natural gas grid in favour of a hydrogen grid. Flush Plumbing and Heating Ltd also recommends keeping your boiler regularly serviced to ensure it runs in the most cost and energy efficient way possible.

The Taskforce produced a report called ‘The Role of Hydrogen in delivering Net Zero’, which can be read online. The report sets out necessary steps the energy industry and government must take over the next five years in order to quickly scale up hydrogen production, distribution and storage.

Right now, the national grid runs off 100% natural gas, but could also supply the country with a blend of 20% hydrogen and 80% natural gas without much upheaval. That’s because ever since it was legislated in 1996, all new gas boilers have been legally required to be able to sustain as much as 23% hydrogen in the energy supply. So the good news is, whenever the phase one 80/20 blend is rolled out, chances are your boiler will be ready.

At Keele University in Staffordshire, this 80/20 blend is already being used to heat 100 homes and 30 faculty buildings. Should it prove successful, the aim is to roll it out to the whole country by 2025. Of course, the ultimate goal is to have our natural grid run entirely off hydrogen gas. But before a fully hydrogen network is viable, the challenge is to devise carbon-neutral ways of producing hydrogen on a large scale. It will likely be a further decade until the industry adequately solves the problem as well as working out how to store and deliver hydrogen safely and efficiently.

At that point, all boilers will need to be hydrogen-ready. More modern boilers will likely need only a relatively low-cost modification, but older boilers might have to be replaced with newer models. These new models will be able to run on a 100% hydrogen supply, but will also accommodate 100% natural gas, or any blend of the two, in the run up to the full switch over. Manufacturers such as Baxi and Worcester Bosch already produce such boilers and are calling on the government to regulate that any new boilers installed in 2025 and beyond are hydrogen-ready.

Those hydrogen-ready boilers are not yet on the market. If you come to need a new boiler, then, the best bet is to go for a modern gas boiler which will be ready to run off an 80/20 blend whenever it is rolled out. As the average lifespan of a boiler is 10-15 years, that will likely see you through until a time when a full hydrogen network is up and running and hydrogen-ready boilers are widely available.

Flush Plumbing and Heating Ltd have long been committed to helping reduce carbon emissions. We are constantly monitoring developments in the industry and will be ready and waiting to offer these services to our customers the moment they become available.