Installer installed undersized radiators

[SafeGasInstall]

How much were you charged and what boiler did he fit you ?

 

[chris watkins]

Not sure what you mean by design perimeter.
When I did the measurements, outside temp was 0C, inside was 10C and inside with rads on for a few hours was 12C.
The installer didn't do any calcs like that.

I've already spoken to the installer and it was only then that he came and measured the rooms and the rads. He came back and admitted that the downstairs (2 x Living room) are undersized and he'll change them for £45 each but that he reckons the upstairs (bedrooms) are fine and not willing to do anything (unless I pay full price obviously).

Construction is brick (terrace)

Sorry, am I missing something here, you paid to have new radiators installed to heat the rooms & now they don't he is asking you to pay for bigger ones. ??? Why would you even consider this !

To be able to select a rad to heat a space you need to set some perimeter such as out side temp normally -3, inside normally 21 or 22 & what the average water temp is going to be i.e. what water temp you are going to set the boiler to (what is yours set to ? ) old days 76.5 now 60 or lower. You also need to work out how quickly the heat will be lost from the rooms so you need the know how big there are & windows doors as well as their construction (u values).

Was this guy cheap ?? if yes you now know why. Was he recommended or long established ??? if no you now know for next time.

 

[Rickster123]

What does that bit in bold mean?

Also, surely after spending a large sum of money on central heating that doesn't heat, i.e. not fit for purpose, there must be some comeback?

Sorry my iPad had one of its helpful moments there it should read : better to just spend the cash on larger rads. What paperwork did you have? Written quote with rad sizes? Written invoice and receipt for payment made? What guarantee did you get?

 

[WHPES]

You can get an approximate idea of the output your rooms need using this application here:

Radcalcs radiator btu sizing site

You can look up the output of your existing rads from the manufacturers website.

Sometimes it's possible to upgrade from singles to doubles etc.

Always better to go for oversize than undersize radiators (says me shivering in my living room because I made do with a left over radiator cos I was too tight to part with cash for a bigger new one :tounge_smile: )

 

[mountainman]

Yeah i admit these are undersized, it was my mistake but i want you to pay me for putting right my mistake ...yeah right ..

Solicitors make similar mistakes all the time and charge their customers again to put rings right.

 

[diyer]

Yeah i admit these are undersized, it was my mistake but i want you to pay me for putting right my mistake ...yeah right ..

I can just about understand the charge £45 for the downstairs rads, where he admits the mistake, as that is just the upgrade cost of a single to a double. But he's saying the upstairs are fine as they are and have to pay full price if i want to go from single to double.

And you thought that was the correct way and didnt question it??

I've never had CH installed before and didn't know better. The guy was Gas Safe so there is a bit more added trust.

Where about are you ?

Why? Not sure I want to say in case the guy is on these forums...

 

[Gray0689]

I think you be better to get a decent plumber in to check it all out as your installer sounds a muppet
And gas safe only means he is legal to work on gas nothing else

 

[SafeGasInstall]

I understand , but if he was here he would have or he will click on straight away !!!
I don't understand how is he going to change a 1000/600 k1 to a 1000/600 k2 for a total of £45 ????

 

[michael c]

safe gas is only asking your location so we can recommend a forum member to you to price up upgrades or give a second opinion. In this case without doing the calcs it may be that your upstairs rads are adequate but are losing excessive heat to downstairs rooms. I would ask to see a break down of the guys heat loss calculations for each room to show you exactly what rads you should have.
On principle i wouldn't want to pay more as you paid and installed trust in his professional opinion. However, it is worth considering it would be a lengthy and difficult process to take the guy through the courts for larger rads.
I would advise getting a second recommended engineer to inspect your system, however, as if he has undersized the rads i would be consious over were else he has cut corners. Remeber an installation is only as good as the installer.

 

[diyer]

How much were you charged and what boiler did he fit you ?

About £2.5k and I chose the ideal logic+

Sorry, am I missing something here, you paid to have new radiators installed to heat the rooms & now they don't he is asking you to pay for bigger ones. ??? Why would you even consider this !

To be able to select a rad to heat a space you need to set some perimeter such as out side temp normally -3, inside normally 21 or 22 & what the average water temp is going to be i.e. what water temp you are going to set the boiler to (what is yours set to ? ) old days 76.5 now 60 or lower. You also need to work out how quickly the heat will be lost from the rooms so you need the know how big there are & windows doors as well as their construction (u values).

Was this guy cheap ?? if yes you now know why. Was he recommended or long established ??? if no you now know for next time.

See post #26 for the reasoning regarding downstairs rads. I don't want to accept the upstairs rooms rads, that's why I'm on here asking for advice.

The guy was competitive and relatively established I think but still Gas Safe. Wasn't recommended though as I was new to the area.

Sorry my iPad had one of its helpful moments there it should read : better to just spend the cash on larger rads. What paperwork did you have? Written quote with rad sizes? Written invoice and receipt for payment made? What guarantee did you get?

I think the only quote I had was by text. I do have a written invoice but it doesn't show the rad sizes and paid by cheque. There was a one year guarantee which has expired.