Attic rumbling noise!

Swindon

Hi,

I was looking for a plumbing section as i thought this is where this question should be! Anyway there is and has been for a long time a very loud rumbling sound coming from the attic of the house especially when our rads and the fire have been on for a long period of time,usually release the water at this stage so as there wont be any noise...anyway it sounds like its coming from the pipes above in the attic,would anyone know the cause of this or experienced it in their own home?

Thanks

Pete67

Do you have a back boiler in the fireplace which heats the hot water cylinder? If so, the hot water cylinder is probably also being heated by the oil/gas central heating, so there is no load on the back boiler to get rid of the heat. The water in the back boiler will then start to boil vigorously and steam and hot water will be blasted up the vent and into the feed and expansion tank in the attic. You can confirm this by checking for the presence of steam or vapour in the attic next time you hear this noise. In this cold weather you can't miss it.

If the rumbling stops when you run the hot tap for a while then this also confirms the theory - the cold water in the cylinder is cooling the water in the back boiler circuit and stopping it from boiling. You could look into adding a couple of radiators to the back boiler circuit to provide a load and prevent it from boiling the water.

Swindon

we have a back boiler allright but it is not connected to the rads,it only heats the immersion and boiler..what sort of solution would you propose and would it be expensive?

demanufactured

Pete67 wrote: »

You could look into adding a couple of radiators to the back boiler circuit to provide a load and prevent it from boiling the water..

what he says

ccsolar

Hi
You can link the back boiler into your oil heating system and also save on oil.
Make sure you get a plumber to do this job as it is not a DIY job.

CC

paddles

ccsolar wrote: »

Hi
You can link the back boiler into your oil heating system and also save on oil.
Make sure you get a plumber to do this job as it is not a DIY job.

CC

i think i have a back boiler thing behind my chimney. i've never made any use of it. there is a little door in the kitchen directly behind the chimney and i can see pipes. are you saying that light ing the fire could heat my water ? and can you get a lit fire to heat the radiators?? if so, is this a big job? sounds great, anything that can save oil, anyway.

PLIIM

Swindon wrote: »

Hi,

I was looking for a plumbing section as i thought this is where this question should be! Anyway there is and has been for a long time a very loud rumbling sound coming from the attic of the house especially when our rads and the fire have been on for a long period of time,usually release the water at this stage so as there wont be any noise...anyway it sounds like its coming from the pipes above in the attic,would anyone know the cause of this or experienced it in their own home?

Thanks

Have you seen the movie "Paranormal Activity"

ccsolar

paddles wrote: »

i think i have a back boiler thing behind my chimney. i've never made any use of it. there is a little door in the kitchen directly behind the chimney and i can see pipes. are you saying that light ing the fire could heat my water ? and can you get a lit fire to heat the radiators?? if so, is this a big job? sounds great, anything that can save oil, anyway.

O yes
But the boiler has to be connected to your heating system.
You need to talk to a local plumber.
The fire will heat your house and water with the oil acting as a back up.
If you have not lit a fire in a long time check your chimney as it might be blocked with birds nest.

CC

Swindon

ccsolar wrote: »

Hi
You can link the back boiler into your oil heating system and also save on oil.
Make sure you get a plumber to do this job as it is not a DIY job.

CC

Ya thats what i would be looking for,no need for extra rads so...is it an expensive job to get done?

ccsolar

Swindon wrote: »

Ya thats what i would be looking for,no need for extra rads so...is it an expensive job to get done?

It's a Buyers Market out there.
You need 1 circulating pump, few copper fittings,pressure release valve, small amount of copper = €100 + labour.
Make sure you get a good plumber and shop/price around.
My System is like this and the oil boiler only fires up once or twice an hour when a good fire is lit, -2 outside now but fire is taken the pressure off the oil.
The Down Side
Having to take out the ash.

CC



CC

Micky Dolenz

ccsolar wrote: »

It's a Buyers Market out there.
You need 1 circulating pump, few copper fittings,pressure release valve, small amount of copper = €100 + labour.
Make sure you get a good plumber and shop/price around.


CC

No way materials will come to €100, A decent pump will cost €70 alone.With your list, you still need a pipe stat and fused spur and cable, then an electrician to wire. You will two NRV's.

Buyers market also isn't correct, all the good plumbers and service people are flat out working, why? because they are good. An installer with a good reputation for how they conduct business, eg after sales etc is worth their weight in gold.

Go cheap only if you can afford to get it done twice.

ccsolar

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

No way materials will come to €100, A decent pump will cost €70 alone.With your list, you still need a pipe stat and fused spur and cable, then an electrician to wire. You will two NRV's.

Buyers market also isn't correct, all the good plumbers and service people are flat out working, why? because they are good. An installer with a good reputation for how they conduct business, eg after sales etc is worth their weight in gold.

Go cheap only if you can afford to get it done twice.

Well i disagree.
It's a buyers market for material's.
I never said go cheap on the labour, but some plumbers still think were still in a boom.
I also know some plumber's that are out of work and have not worked in some time.
Are you saying there no good?
I did forget about the 2 NRV's, (sorry)

CC

Micky Dolenz

ccsolar wrote: »

Well i disagree.
It's a buyers market for material's.
I never said go cheap on the labour, but some plumbers still think were still in a boom.
I also know some plumber's that are out of work and have not worked in some time.
Are you saying there no good?
I did forget about the 2 NRV's, (sorry)

CC

On the plumbing materials, do you think prices have dropped or do you think you can haggle?

Of course there are good tradespeople out of work.

The plumbers you know that are unemployed, do they have PL insurance? Can they give a warrenty? Will they pay taxes and VAT? if not the OP would be crazy to get them to work on their biggest asset.

A cash job has no come back, even in court, if there was a problem, it would be through out as both parties colluded to defruad the revenue

ccsolar

(1) Prices have dropped for the trade, even i got a shock the last time i got plumbing fittings over the counter.

(2) What's wrong with haggling?

(3) I never said to employ a tradesperson with no PL, or couldn't give a warrenty, didn't pay taxes or VAT.

(4) Who said anything about CASH jobs?


(5) all the good plumbers and service people are flat out working, why? because they are good.

Say that to all the good tradespeople on the dole, what an insult.

Good Luck

CC

Micky Dolenz

Plumbing supplies haven't dropped in price. There is nothing wrong with haggling. A one off buyer haggling on an order of a couple of hundred quid would be smiled at.

All good legitmate plumbing and heating firms will always have work. In the large part these are sole traders I.E one man shows. I wasn't speaking of employee's.

ccsolar

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Plumbing supplies haven't dropped in price. There is nothing wrong with haggling. A one off buyer haggling on an order of a couple of hundred quid would be smiled at.

Mickey
Plumbing suppliers have dropped there prices.
I deal with 1 homevalue hardware store and was told only a few month's ago that there prices were cut, some by up to 30%.
The cash buyer has the POWER.

CC