my daughter has just moved into an ex authority house with a Vokera Excell80sp boiler. She said the house was cold and she was right. I visited her last week and I noticed that the rads took a good hour before they became good and hot. Then I asked her where the thermostat was and she said she could not find it anywhere in the house - not even in any of the cupboards. How old is this boiler likely to be? But how can she turn up the heating?

Lynne, February 2010

She may do well to have the boiler serviced - the engineer will be able to tell if there's a room thermostat and advise on having one fitted. They are often placed in the hallway.

I once moved into a previously unoccupied flat that had no room stat - the effect was that with the central heating on there was no effective control - the boiler continued to run and heat the property until turned off manually.

In your daughter's place - without a room stat - Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) will provide some control if she has them.

The slow to heat radiators may be caused by a problem not associated with the missing thermostat.

I think this boiler was last made in December 1995.

Peccavi, February 2010