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Full central heating installation across Bristol. Boiler, radiators, pipework and controls, designed for your home and fitted to Gas Safe standards.
Almost all of Julian's work comes from repeat customers and recommendations. Over forty years, that is the only measure that means anything.
A full central heating installation covers everything: the boiler, the radiators, the pipework connecting them, and the controls that decide when it all runs. Getting the whole system designed together is what makes a house feel evenly warm rather than hot in one room and cold in another.
Full systems are the work Julian enjoys most and does best. He has been installing central heating in Bristol homes for over forty years, is Gas Safe registered, reg. 198984, and is a Worcester Bosch accredited installer, so a new system comes with up to a 12-year manufacturer guarantee on the boiler.
A complete system typically takes four to five days depending on the size of the house. You get a clear timescale before anything starts, and a fixed price with no surprises at the end.
He works on his own, so the person who surveys your home is the person who fits the system and the person you ring afterwards. Nearly all of his work comes from repeat customers and recommendations.
Heat loss per room first, then radiators, then boiler size. Not the other way round.
Strip out, pipework, radiators, boiler, then commissioning and balancing.
Inhibitor dosed and a magnetic filter fitted, which the guarantee usually requires.
Part of central heating in Bristol.
Design starts with heat loss. Every room is assessed on its size, ceiling height, windows, outside walls and insulation, which gives the heat output that room actually needs. Radiators are then chosen to match, rather than picked to fill the available wall.
Adding up the room requirements gives the boiler size. This is where a lot of systems go wrong, because an oversized boiler cycles on and off constantly, wears out sooner and costs more to run. Correct sizing is worth more than a bigger number on the box.
The boiler type follows from how you use hot water. A combi suits a smaller home with one bathroom. A system boiler with an unvented cylinder handles two or more bathrooms properly. In an older property with original pipework, a regular boiler with a vented cylinder is sometimes the more sensible fit.
Pipework layout matters more than most people realise. Old systems in Bristol terraces are often single pipe, where water passes through each radiator in turn and arrives cooler at every one. Modern installations run two pipe, so every radiator gets water at the same temperature.
Controls finish the design. A programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic valves on the radiators let you heat the rooms you use at the times you use them, and they are the cheapest part of the system to get right.
A full installation is usually four to five days. Day one is normally strip out: the old boiler comes off the wall, old radiators come down, and any redundant tanks and cylinders are removed.
Pipework comes next, which is the part that takes the longest and causes the most disruption, because floorboards may need lifting to run new circuits. Julian works room by room and puts everything back as he goes rather than leaving the whole house open.
Radiators go on once the pipework is in, followed by the boiler and the controls. The system is then filled, flushed thoroughly and dosed with inhibitor, which is what stops the sludge that ruins radiators and heat exchangers. A magnetic filter is fitted as standard.
Commissioning is the final day. The boiler is set up to the manufacturer figures, every radiator is balanced so the whole house heats evenly, and the controls are programmed and explained properly before Julian leaves.
The installation is notified to Gas Safe and registered with Worcester, and your paperwork arrives without you chasing it. Dust sheets are down throughout and the house is left clean.
The old boiler comes off the wall, old radiators come down, and any redundant tanks and cylinders are removed. Dust sheets go down before anything is touched.
The longest and most disruptive part, since floorboards may need lifting to run new circuits. Julian works room by room and reinstates as he goes rather than opening the whole house at once.
Radiators go on once the pipework is in, followed by the boiler and controls. Every radiator is sized to the room it serves rather than the wall space available.
The system is filled, flushed thoroughly and dosed with inhibitor, and a magnetic filter fitted as standard. That is what stops the sludge that ruins radiators and heat exchangers.
Gas rate and burner pressures set to the manufacturer figures, combustion analysed, every radiator balanced by measuring the temperature drop across it, and the controls programmed and explained.
A full installation is a bigger job than a boiler swap, and most households stay put throughout. Knowing what to expect makes it considerably less disruptive than people imagine.
The system is drained on the first day and refilled once the new pipework and radiators are in. Hot water is normally back within the working week, and Julian will tell you at survey which nights are likely to be without.
New pipe runs mean lifting boards, usually in the hall, landing and one or two rooms. Carpet is rolled back rather than cut, boards go back down, and anything that cannot be replaced neatly is flagged before it happens rather than after.
Dust sheets go down before anything is touched. Drilling through masonry for a new flue makes a mess for an hour, and that is generally the worst of it. The house is cleaned at the end of each day rather than only at the end of the job.
The old boiler, cylinder, feed tank and expansion tank all go, and redundant pipework comes out rather than being capped and abandoned in a loft. A conversion from a cylinder system usually frees up a cupboard and a corner of the loft.
At the end, the system is flushed, dosed with inhibitor, balanced radiator by radiator and commissioned to the manufacturer's procedure. The controls are set up and explained, the installation is notified to Gas Safe, and the guarantee is registered on your behalf.
Most of the work on this page is replacement rather than first-time installation. Very few houses in Bristol have no heating at all, so what is usually being discussed is taking out a system that has come to the end of its life and putting in a new one.
Boiler at the end of its life, radiators that never quite warm the far rooms, and pipework that has been patched more than once. Replacing one part at a time in that situation costs more over five years than doing it properly once.
If the radiators and pipework are sound, a boiler replacement on its own is the honest answer. Julian will say so rather than quoting a whole system. That is the more common outcome.
Some older houses around Kingswood and Fishponds still run single pipe layouts, where water passes through each radiator in turn and arrives cooler at every one. No boiler fixes that. Converting to a two pipe layout during a replacement is the permanent answer.
A replacement is also the one realistic opportunity to change system type, for example moving from a cylinder arrangement to a combi or the other way round. Doing it later as a separate job costs considerably more than doing it while the floorboards are already up.
Typically four to five days depending on the size of your home. You get a clear timescale before we start.
Usually some, to run new pipework. Julian works room by room and reinstates as he goes rather than opening up the whole house at once.
Yes, free and with no obligation. You get a clear fixed price up front, so there are no surprises later.
Yes. The old boiler, cylinder, tanks and radiators are removed and disposed of as part of the job.
Yes. As well as the manufacturer warranty on the boiler, Julian stands behind his own workmanship and will come back to put anything right.
If you are getting comparison quotes, ask each installer how they arrived at the boiler size. An answer based on the number of radiators alone is a warning sign, because it ignores the heat loss of the rooms those radiators are in.
See also central heating, boiler installation, radiator installation and unvented hot water cylinders. We work in Staple Hill, Downend, Kingswood, Fishponds and other areas.
Full installations cover Bristol and roughly ten miles around Staple Hill with no travel charge added. Call Julian on 07831 718509 for a free survey. He will assess every room, measure your mains supply, set out the options and give you a fixed price with no obligation and no pushy follow-up afterwards.
Taking out a system that already exists rather than fitting a first one? That is central heating system replacement, and it is the more common job in Bristol.
Call Julian for a free survey and a clear fixed price on a full system.