We have a new(ish) boiler. It’s now in its third year (because it’s just had its second annual service). It’s hanging on a wall in a cupboard in the bathroom. I don’t know what kind of a life hanging on a wall in a bathroom cupboard is, but the three-year old (boiler) seems to be coping just fine with it.
We bought the new(ish) boiler because the previous bathroom cupboard occupant just gave up the will to live (but it had endured a long and prosperous life), but the price of parts to make it breathe again were almost equal to the cost of getting a new one so…
The new(ish) boiler came with a remote control thermostat.
This device enabled someone to sit downstairs (or upstairs) and dial up (or dial down) the output of the central heating. Well, that’s just terrific.
Except programming it away from the bizarre (and illogical, Jim) factory defaults requires the combined technical nous of a roomful of rocket scientits scientists and a clutch of 14yo children.
But today, fired by some kind of inner drive (I’m not sure from whence this inner drive originated, but it was definitely somewhere inner), I took the remote control thermostat to pieces. Yes, that’s right. In order to programme it away from the bizarre (and illogical, Jim) you actually have to take it to pieces, and flick two DIP switches away from the factory defaults. Only when you have done that can you create your new personalised settings for the central heating.
Yes, it’s taken three years for me to get around to this but, you know, you can’t rush a job that needs to be thought about and investigated. Also, I’ll add in my defence, the original manual that came with the remote control unit is incomprehensible. I don’t mean it’s written in a foreign language because it isn’t. It’s just incomprehensible. If I hadn’t found a website where someone had very kindly created their own version of the manual, and broken it down into a logical order, I would probably still be scratching my head.
Anyway, this afternoon I am feeling just a little bit smug. The central heating system now has a sensible 5d+2d programme to follow. Great. But if I’d had my way I would have got a Nest (or similar), but the two(ish) year old boiler is not Nest (or similar) compatible. That tells you all you need to know about how far-sighted the technical giants who designed user interface for this piece of equipment weren’t.
Our old boiler was in the house when we moved in. By the time we had it replaced, I estimate that it had been in-situ for about 26 years. At no point did it ever give us any problems, despite it never being serviced.
The new(ish) boiler – which cost several thousand pounds – has to be serviced annually for the five-year guarantee to stay valid and already the annual service has shown up two separate parts that broke and needed to be replaced.
They don’t make ’em like they used to.
And that’s very true!