In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving

A question about : Dark smoke from gas combi boiler.

A neighbour knocked my door this evening to tell me he could see dark smoke rising from my roof. It turned out to be from the boiler flue. It's a Vaillant Ecotec 32. It hasn't had a service for a couple of years, and other than the dark smoke seems to be working normally.
Naturally, I'll phone someone to come out first thing tomorrow, but is it safe to keep using the boiler or should I turn it off straight away?

A question about : Moving main waste stack from kitchen to outside

Hi, some advice please.

A question about : Infra red radiators, anyone using?

I'm considering getting one of these as a secondary form of heating to the central heating for a room that is only used occasionally.

The last time this was discussed on here was 6 years ago and the subject got a little 'heated' regarding the efficiency.

Surely technology will have moved on now, so I would be interested to know if anyone has the radiators, not the 'space' heaters or similar, and how effective they are.

Much appreciated.

A question about : Turning off the boiler programmer thing

I just had a new boiler installed, and it has a little thing next to it which I believe is the programmer. When you press it it turns green from red, and when it is red the boiler doesn't come on. Is it okay to switch this off, or will it harm the boiler? I used to switch my old boiler off at the mains between uses but read how that can cause damage, even if the boiler normally goes five plus hours between uses. I know it'll save little money, but it's more an energy saving thing. Thanks.

A question about : Damp and efflorescence inside bathroom

We're having a problem with damp in the downstairs bathroom of our new house (Victorian end terrace). The room is at the back of the house beyond the kitchen, with external walls on three sides and a solid cement floor.

A question about : Gas detection monitors?

I know a strange one.

I was round a friends. There property has an arch way between the living room and kitchen.

Some how they managed to knock one of knobs on the gas cooker. I thought I could smell gas and said so. There reply was I got a cold so can't smell it, they checked and I was correct.

Are there any gas detection meters that are the size of a carbon monoxide testers? I have used google and not seen anything that small.

A question about : Kitchen cupboard door repair

Just to make it clear I didn't break it, moved into new rental and we've noticed 1 cupboard door is half off hinges (is down as misaligned on inventry) would woodfiller fill the gap where it should screw in so that we can redrill effectively sorting the hinge again, seems such a petty thing to sort if it's something we can do easily

A question about : I fitted a Dimplex Quantum heater!

Okay,

I had been looking for some time for a heating system to compliment an electric underfloor heating system on economy 7 in the flat I have just moved into. I had done a bit of research on this site and elsewhere but could see any user experiences of the Dimplex Quantum heater. Originally I wanted two of these fitting (in lounge and study) but have decided to fit only one (in the study) and see how I get on before ordering a second.

Costs