The central heating in my small two-up two-down terraced house is not working properly.
A back boiler is installed in the fireplace with a radiant heater in front.
My question to the forum is about the location of the pump.
Would it be normal practice to fit the pump in the chimney recess immediately alongside the back boiler or would this be an unusual?
The following information will give a sense of the CH arrangement and the problem.
The flow and return from the boiler rise vertically and feed two radiators on the first floor.
The pipe work then drops down to feed two radiators down stairs.
All four radiators are full of water. In other words they have been well and truly purged of any 'gas'.
The radiator pipework 15mm copper. The flow and return pipework from the back boiler is larger and appears to be iron.
While I can get the upstairs' radiators piping hot the feed to the down stairs radiator remains cold.
I've tried closing the two upstairs radiators off completely and opening the valves on all the downstair radiators fully but the pipes don't get warm.
The boiler runs for a little while then cuts out and stays cut out for a long time or until you open the upstairs radiators again.
The system has worked ok in the past.
The control is a simple 24 hour timeswitch.
Your advice and suggestions about whether it is normal practice to fit the pump in the chimney recess immediately alongside the back boiler or is such a location be considered unusual?
Any help or guidance will be much appreciated so I'll be able to discuss the matter with the plumber.
Many thanks
Nimrod