hi all!
befor i tell you of my woes, let me say what the problem with my CH system was.
a few months ago, the CH pump (Grundfos) stopped working after many years of service.
fortunately, we were covered by a British Gas service contract, so they sent an engineer round, who, instead of changing the whole pump, just replaced the motor body, then left saying the system would be fine once its warmed up.
we soon found that the radiators upstairs only got lukewarm and the downstairs ones absolutely cold. i tried venting them, balancing, draining and refilling, but to no avail.
fast forward a few weeks, and i asked British Gas to send an engineer down as my family were freezing during the recent cold spells.
they again sent another engineer, who wisely replaced the whole pump.
again, he started the system up and again, the upstairs rads were lukewarm and downstairs cold.
he then started going on and on about how old my boiler was, how it could explode at any time and break through the floor and into the downstairs dining room!
then he said that the wrong size of piping had been used, to which i said that we never had any problems becuase of it before.
it was then that the engineer pulled his trump card -- he pulled a magnet out of his pocket and stuck it on a particular part of the piping, saying that "magnets dont stick to copper, do they?"
the reason for the magnet sticking on, he said, was that the magnet was attracted to the sludge stuck in the inside of the pipe.
at that time, i didnt realise that most of the piping in my system was done in steel piping, not copper and therefore the magnet would stick on it anyway!!
basically, he said, "you need a new boiler and you'll get a free system flush with it as well".
how much would it cost, i asked. around £1000, maybe £1500??
"and the rest of it, mate" he said. "you're looking at approx £3500".
and with that, he left us in the cold!!
it was then while i was downstairs making him a cup of coffee that i heard him talking to one of his mates on his mobile phone, about some other customer whom he has been trying for a couple of weeks to agreeing to change his boiler for a new one..........! thats when i clicked what agenda British Gas are working to...........
now you probably realise what my post is about -- its a rant about being ripped off by British Gas!
but read on.....this is the most hilarious part of my story...........
whereas the BG engineer had said that my system was doomed, and even replacing the bolier may not cure the problem--it may need a complete new CH system!!
i had heard many years ago about an additive you mix in with the water in your system, so what i did was to head down to my local B&Q store and bought myself 2 bottles: some Fernox Heavy Duty Restorer and a bottle of Fernox Inhibitor--total cost £40. while i was there, i checked the price os new boliers, and the highest was around £800--compare that to the quote given me by the BG engineer above!!!
All i did was to drain the system, add the restorer, filled up again and ran up the system for around an hour. hey presto- abracadabra-open sesame and whatever else--the rads all started to get hotter than they had ever been before in a long while!
i was still pessimistic, after hearing what the BG engineer had said, so i decided to wait a while and see if the downstairs rads warmed up as well, which they did within the hour--unbelievable!
anyway, i kept the retorer in the system for a week as directed, drained system twice, refilled with inhibitor and now, weeks later, the system is running piping hot.
all in all, i saved £3460, going by BG's approximation!!
so, to cut a long story short--it is my opinion that British Gas are a bunch of lying theives, out to squeeze as much money out of customers as possible. No wonder they ahve just announced a profit of £5 billion of rthe year.
I for one will never ever use them again and i have also cancelled their service contract!!
