Looking for some special advice?

  1. as a contractor..
  2. as a house-owner..
  3. as a tenant..
  4. as a landlord/letting agent..

..as a contractor

People starting to build should get estimates from several companies if they aren't building with a civil engineer (which is better to do). The money spent on this civil engineer is money well-spent, because you can be sure of having a silent and economic heating system.
      If you are free to get estimates from several companies, you will see that all companies are bound to one supplier. In fact, this is necessary because the installer must understand the technology of the manufacturer. But contractors often have their own ideas. Above all, installers cannot assemble the optimum systems you puzzled together from several trade journals. (But installers contracted to manufacturers do this because spare parts are easier to get.) To technical details.
      However, in my experience, small companies do not build optimum heating systems when they are forced to build to plan, because there are a number of points which they don't like and won't carry out. (It is understandable, because this forces them into the role of merely pipe-layers and installers.) Even if you build without a planner, you have to insist on presentation of a heating requirement calculation, the same applies for hydraulic settings.
      Who monitors your installations? It isn't possible to do without someone! Finally, you will get the settings and commissioning protocol. Insist on it! It is part of the contract - and you have paid for it.

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..as house-owner

The wast of energy in a free-standing house is not very noticeable, because it does not hurt a house-owner to spend 50 euros more a year. If you think of the number of free-standing houses there are, it adds up to huge amounts, so that in this case it is worth saving; and you are rewarded.
Normally, it comes down to the question:
"How can I have the comfort I always had and still heat economically ?"

You will find hints you can apply directly at

  1. Domestic appliances,
  2. Generating and consuming heat (technical infos)
  3. Maintenance
  4. or by emailing us.
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..as tenant

Within the heating period, tenants without a separate heating system usually have two problems: the rooms are not warm enough when necessary, or thermostatic valves make noise. Or both. After the heating period the tenant is hit by the second rent: the total heating bill.
      With larger heating systems, heat-up delays can be caused by the start-up of heating in the morning, because the heating engineer hasn't bothered to ask at what times heat is needed. Insist that a questionnaire is completed and the timers are set to your needs. Why not use our questionnaire?
      If parts of the building do not heat up when you want, the heat distribution produced by the hydraulic system is not correct. If so, different parts of the building aren't heated up simultaneously, i.e. the remote parts only when the thermostatic valves near to the boiler room are closed. Only then do YOU benefit from the heat.
      Noise in thermostatic valves indicates the opposite case. In this case, the output of the pump is so high that too much water continues to be pumped through the radiators. Over the years, this costs you a hell of a lot of money (electricity for heating). Again, the solution is hydraulic balance: a one-time investment and a permanent saving!
      These oversights can mean that the quantities of power you are charged for in your annual bills are not correct, even though you couldn't get your rooms warm the whole winter long.
We advise you to approach your house owner with technical know-how and patience in order to convince him that

  1. the boilers should only run at times when required (for example, by filling out a simple questionnaire).
  2. the hydraulic system needs balancing,
  3. the outcome will be lower consumption and cost because room temperatures will be reached at the right time.
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...as landlord/letting agent

The interest of a landlord or letting is to have a heating system, which runs the whole year long problem-free at low cost.

There are such heating systems!

They are installed in some houses where
  1. heating times have been correctly programmed:
    Use our questionnaire, to achieve a mutually acceptable agreement for all tenants in the house.
  2. water circulation is correct:
    Correctly-balanced hydraulics provides each flat with the right quantity of water to be heated when you need it. You save electricity for the pumps, and energy because heat-up time is shorter. We can offer design proposals . No need to panic: the changes will pay for themselves after a short time.
  3. preventive maintenance is completed:
    Small heating systems need a single annual check. Lager systems have to be checked twice a year according to an appropriate checklist.
    • Don't forget to insist that your supplier gives you a checklist adapted to your heating system.
    • Check the checklist!
    (You didn't get one? Maintenance costs you more than getting your car through the MOT, so ask for a checklist giving as much detail as the MOT list! Sometimes the expansion tanks have been left out.)
          All parameters of the technical components to be checked have to be on the list. If not, change your maintenance company or go to a heating contractor.

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page written 24.01.1998, last update 18:13 28.6.2014, Samstag