Central Heating - On already...!

So much for the Indian summer! Apart from a minor blip (when Timmy and Gayle were lucky enough to have booked in to tie the knot) the weather really has been totally miserable, so much so that over the weekend we decided enough was enough (even though we are barely into October) and attempted to put the central heating back on (and not a minute too soon either, from what I hear there have been several frosty starts around town since)...and annoyingly, it wasn't the simplest thing in the world to actually do either, firstly we discovered that the batteries in the combined thermostat/scheduling device had flattened, and then, thanks to them being out of the machine for too long, all the settings vanished, so I had to re-learn how to configure it (and it has a rather frighteningly counter intuitive, instruction-free control panel)...still not sure it's entirely set up correctly as we didn't get heat until about 10am on Sunday, but yesterday morning it certainly worked - I awoke to a wonderfully warm house, content to wander to the bathroom in the all-together without risk of freezing my nether regions, very pleased also that the thermostat was placed in the stairwell, as the whole house was equally toasty when it came time to drag myself downstairs to make Flyingpops' coffee drink...a good thing too as I am temporarily unable to locate my dressing gown! ;)

Roll on Christmas (my favorite time of the year)... ;)

It was all going so well!

It sounded a bit like one of the radiators was coming up to the boil (same noise a kettle makes), but in fact (now the hot water is under the same level of pressure as the cold water) it had sprung a leak! So he's coming back to replace it...also the taps in the bathroom won't stop dripping, so I'm not sure they are quite up to taking the pressure either (however, I am told that they might well settle down after a couple of days, so I'll just keep half an eye on them for the time being)...

Anyway, little problems aside, it's all in, job done...hot water on demand, no more flicking a switch and waiting, no more timers - just boiling hot water at the twist of a tap...I had a lovely long soak to celebrate... ;)

Now if I could only find my mobile phone and my PSP, both of them seem to have gone missing in the chaos...

Update - found them both tucked safely in my camera bag...phew! ;)

1000th Post!

Another little landmark - and it just so happens - post **1000** on Finkblog turns out to be about plumbing (hrm)! ;)

Anyway, a brief break for an 18th birthday celebration last night (congratulations Anna!), work resumed at about 9am this morning -

- the boiler came back out for a while for the elaborate pipework to be installed -

- the hot water tank lost it's jacket -

- and got kicked out into the road -

- where someone down a few doors spotted it and promptly negotiated it's removal for scrap value (saves us a dump run) -

- the naughty old boiler came out and joined it (but no-one came begging to take it away, tellingly) -

- and then the floor started coming up...

I'm trying to ignore the other noises coming from upstairs (which are ranging all the way from creaky, saw-like, hammer-murder and clanky to chainsaw, hammer drill and Jason Donovan on the radio)...best off sticking to being "coffee bitch" and keeping out the way, I think...that combination could be dangerous! ;)

New boiler update - work in progress!

Well, it's all happening here (note to self - got to be careful, just noticed I'm on post 999, next post must say something about this landmark!) -

- anyway, the big toys came out (diamond blades!), time to make a hole through the wall of the outside cupboard -

- about 3 minutes of drilling later the guide poked through -

- and then the blade started to appear (with lots of smoke and dust) -

- and almost before I could focus on it (well, okay, before I could focus on it), out it popped -

- "Bit of PVA on there mate and you got a pretty unique door stop" (think I might do that!) -

- Anyway, here is the hole -

- and poor Santa and Snowman (who got a bit of brick dust, but should be used to "light dustings" of things, if you ask me) -

- and then, even as I was flickr'ing the last bunch of pictures, I got a call, it was in already! -

- the inside looks like a bloody motorbike engine -

- believe it or not there is a spark plug on the injection system (yes, injection system!) which super heats 80 meters of micro-size aluminium tube (which loops the round bit at the top), then the bit at the bottom is a massive heat exchanger (*exactly* the same technology used as a heat sink on a PC processor, but reversed to work as a heat dump)!

Amazing stuff! Learning a lot here... :)

Plumber arrived and work has commenced!

Well, after a cup of coffee anyway... ;) That's the boiler in the big cardboard box (a "one man lift" apparently, so no strained backs today) -

- equipped also with an absolute mountain of copper fixings -

- meters of copper pipe, and about 5 boxes of tools (useful for holding the doors open, if nothing else) -

- First job is to drain the system down, which he said he was expecting to "be like treacle" but turned out to be as fresh as a mountain spring (this is very good news apparently!) -

- he even tasted some, but I managed to resist the temptation -

Outside Cupboard - Before

This is where it's going to go when it's installed, the spur for the power is already there (that was done during the week) just below the shelf -

Preparations complete - New Boiler

So, we are ready! For those of you who have ever dared to look inside our cupboard by the front door, be amazed! Yes, you can take your hands from where you were covering your face to stop the avalanche crushing you, for all of Flyingpops' shoes have migrated into the hall! -

- the freezer (once lost under piles of winter coats), is in the living room (where I will defrost it later, if I find time, as it's not been done since we moved in) -

- all the myriad complex hanging contraptions have gone from around the broken old boiler, here you can also see the (now illegal) flue arrangement... -

- The bathroom is standing by (hopefully he will fix the toilet so it actually fills itself up too, although I have to congratulate us on how green we have been as a result, recycling the bath water to flush the toilet is commendable, but getting just a little tiresome now)...

Perhaps normality can resume soon...it will be truly wonderful to be back in a house with hot water, central heating and freely flushing facilities...even if it is costing us our entire savings for doing the bathroom up, oh well...gotta be done... ;)

More later...

Broken Boiler

We are obviously lined up for all the good luck at the moment, had the fellow round to take a look at our boiler and it was basically written off as a death trap, to make things all the much more convenient, it's now illegal to install a boiler inside a house connected to the outside only by a flue (in case it becomes blocked and forces carbon monoxide to vent into the house, thus killing all the occupants) so it can't go in the same place...(I suppose at least giving us a large new cupboard space to use)...anyway, after much poking around, the outside cupboard was decided on as a new destination (as I find it rather tricky to get up into the loft if the pilot light ever went out or anything)...so, the water supply, electricity etc. is all having to be re-routed, and all this is going to happen over the weekend, starting tomorrow...

Pics later...wish us luck!