Hot water cylinder and heating system pipework installed in an Edinburgh home

Heating system design & installation

Heating system designand installation acrossEdinburgh homes

Full system design, installation and renewal for properties where patching has stopped working, sized against your home's actual heat loss, installed by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and commissioned so every room reaches temperature.

Request an Estimate 07788 373160

Worcester Bosch & Vaillant accredited · 20+ years experience · 12-month guarantee

20+ yrs

Designing and installing heating systems

Accredited

Worcester Bosch and Vaillant installer

10 years

Guarantee as standard on boilers we install

Gas Safe

Registered for all gas system work

12 months

Workmanship guarantee on installation

The service

A system designedaround your house

What it covers

Heating system work covers the whole circuit rather than one appliance: heat-loss assessment and radiator sizing, pipework design and renewal, zoning and controls strategy, boiler or cylinder specification, cleansing and inhibiting, magnetic filtration, installation, commissioning and balancing. It includes full replacements, partial renewals, conversions from open-vented to sealed systems, and correcting installations that were never commissioned properly.

Who it's for

For Edinburgh homeowners with a system that is beyond individual repairs: original pipework, undersized or long-dead radiators, no zoning, permanent cold spots; and for renovation and extension projects where the existing system cannot carry the new heat demand.

When you need it

When repairs have become a routine rather than an event, when an extension or loft conversion has added rooms the system was never designed for, when converting from a tank-and-cylinder arrangement, or when a boiler replacement is being considered and the system around it is the real problem.

Why it needs doing properly

A boiler is a heat source, not a heating system. Rooms are heated by correctly sized emitters fed by adequately sized pipework, controlled by sensible zoning, circulating clean inhibited water at a balanced flow rate. Get any of those wrong and no appliance can compensate. Designing at system level is also what allows a condensing boiler to run at the low return temperatures that produce its efficiency figures in the first place.

Leave it and it grows

The cost of patchinga system past its limit

Systems that are repeatedly repaired rather than assessed tend to consume money in small, forgettable amounts until the total exceeds what a proper renewal would have cost.

What it costs if ignored

Undersized radiators can never heat a room, no matter how long the boiler runs or how high the thermostat goes.
Original narrow-bore or partially blocked pipework starves the far end of the circuit permanently.
An unzoned system heats empty rooms to warm one occupied one, which is a permanent charge on every gas bill.
Systems full of magnetite destroy pumps and heat exchangers, and take new boilers with them.
Open-vented systems that draw air corrode from the inside continuously, so radiators fail from the bottom up.
Extensions plumbed onto a system with no spare capacity leave both the new and the existing rooms underheated.

Common mistakes we're called out to

Replacing the boiler and leaving every underlying system fault exactly where it was.
Sizing radiators by what fits the wall rather than by the room's heat loss.
Adding circuits to a system with no assessment of remaining capacity.
Skipping the cleanse and inhibitor on a renewal to reduce the quoted price.
Fitting sophisticated controls on top of a system that was never balanced.
Leaving no accessible isolation or drain points, which makes every future repair a full drain-down.

Our process

How the job runs,step by step

Step 1

Survey and heat-loss assessment

Room-by-room assessment of heat loss, existing emitter output, pipework sizing and condition, mains water performance, gas supply capacity and how the household actually uses the property.

Step 2

System design

Emitters sized to each room, pipework routes and diameters set, zoning and control strategy decided, and the heat source specified to match, combi, system or regular with a cylinder.

Step 3

Specification and agreed price

You get the design, the reasoning and a price before any work starts, along with the options where more than one approach genuinely works.

Step 4

Installation

Pipework, emitters, valves, controls and heat source installed by our own team, with the property protected and the sequence planned so you are not left without heating longer than necessary.

Step 5

Cleanse, commission and balance

System cleansed and dosed with inhibitor, magnetic filter fitted, boiler commissioned to manufacturer specification, then every radiator balanced on flow and return and verified under load.

Step 6

Handover and guarantee

Controls explained, guarantees registered, and cover of 12 months on our workmanship alongside the 10-year manufacturer guarantee on boilers we install.

What you get out of it

Specific outcomes,not vague promises

Every room reaches temperature

Emitters sized to actual heat loss and a balanced circuit mean no permanent cold rooms.

Lower running cost

Correct sizing, zoning and low return temperatures are what let a condensing boiler run at its rated efficiency.

Protected investment

Cleanse, inhibitor and filtration protect the new heat exchanger from the day it is commissioned.

Fewer future failures

New pipework, sound valves and accessible isolation replace a maintenance schedule built on emergencies.

Designed for the actual house

Room-by-room assessment rather than a kW figure applied to a floor area.

Guaranteed and registered

Gas Safe notified, manufacturer guarantee registered, 12 months of workmanship cover.

In detail

Design decisions,components and variations

Heating system design is a series of trade-offs between the building's fabric, its existing pipework, the water supply and how the household lives. These are the ones that matter most in Edinburgh housing.

Heat loss and emitter sizing

Heat loss depends on room volume, external wall and window area, insulation and exposure; which is why a top-floor tenement corner room and an interior box room need very different outputs. Emitters are sized to that figure, using single or double panel convectors, low-surface-temperature radiators, vertical panels or towel rails depending on available wall space.

System configuration

Sealed pressurised systems with an expansion vessel are the standard for new work. S-plan uses separate two-port zone valves per circuit and gives cleaner zoning; Y-plan uses a single three-port mid-position valve and is more common in older installations. Converting an open-vented system to sealed removes the loft tank and the continuous air ingress that drives corrosion.

Heat source selection

Combi where mains flow and pressure support it and hot water demand is modest; system boiler with a hot water cylinder where multiple bathrooms run simultaneously; regular boiler where existing pipework, gravity circuits or poor mains make a conversion costly for no benefit. We measure flow and pressure before recommending, and install Worcester Bosch as an Accredited Installer, and Vaillant boilers too.

Zoning and controls

Separate heating and hot water zones as standard, upstairs and downstairs zoning where the layout justifies it, TRVs throughout with the exception of the room holding the thermostat, and programmable or smart control above. Correct control strategy is often a bigger efficiency lever than the appliance choice.

Water quality and protection

New and renewed systems are cleansed, dosed with inhibitor and fitted with a magnetic filter on the return. Where the existing system is heavily loaded with magnetite and is being retained in part, power flushing precedes commissioning. Inhibitor levels are then a maintenance item, checked at annual service.

Variations and project types

Full system replacement, partial renewal retaining sound pipework, open-vented to sealed conversion, cylinder replacement, adding zones or circuits for extensions and loft conversions, and correcting installations that were never balanced or commissioned. Domestic properties only.

Questions

Heating Systemsquestions, answered

Anything we haven't covered, ask us directly on 07788 373160.

How much does a new heating system cost in Edinburgh?

It depends on the number of emitters, how much pipework is renewed, the heat source specified and the zoning strategy. We survey, produce a design, then give you a price before work begins; there is no useful figure that can be quoted before someone has assessed the property.

How long does a full heating system installation take?

Most whole-house installations run to several days. The programme is set out at quotation stage, and we sequence the work so the property is not left without heating overnight where it can be avoided.

Do I need a whole new system or just a new boiler?

That is exactly what the survey answers. If the pipework and emitters are sound and correctly sized, a boiler replacement with a cleanse and balance is enough. If radiators are undersized, pipework is restricted or there is no workable zoning, a new boiler alone will not fix what you are experiencing.

Can you add heating to an extension or loft conversion?

Yes, and the first question is whether the existing system has capacity. We assess that rather than assume it, size the new emitters to the new rooms, and rebalance the whole system afterwards so the additions do not starve the original circuit.

What is the difference between S-plan and Y-plan?

S-plan uses separate two-port motorised valves for each zone, which gives cleaner control and simpler fault-finding. Y-plan uses one three-port mid-position valve to serve heating and hot water. New installations generally favour S-plan.

Should I convert from a cylinder to a combi?

Only if your measured mains flow and pressure support it and your hot water demand suits it. A household running two bathrooms simultaneously is usually better served by a system boiler and cylinder, and we will say so rather than fitting the cheaper option.

How long should a new heating system last?

Sound pipework and radiators installed with clean inhibited water can run for decades, with pumps, valves and controls replaced as wearing parts. The boiler is the shorter-lived element at roughly 12–15 years with annual servicing.

Is the installation guaranteed?

Yes. 12 months on our workmanship, plus the manufacturer guarantee on the appliance, 10 years as standard on the boilers we install, subject to annual servicing.

Will you balance the system afterwards?

Yes, and it is not optional in our process. Balancing on flow and return differential is what puts heat into the rooms furthest from the boiler, and it is the step most often skipped elsewhere.

Which areas do you cover?

Edinburgh and the Lothians, including Leith, Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Corstorphine, Currie, South Queensferry, Bonnyrigg and Loanhead.

Stop patchingand get the system designed

Room-by-room survey, a design that suits your house, and a price agreed before work starts. Gas Safe registered, Worcester Bosch Accredited Installer and Vaillant installer.