The landlord lives in London and booked online. The tenant had no hot water. We were at the flat within two hours, freed the sticking control valve, stripped the manifold to clear a strainer packed with dirt, and left the tenant with a hot shower. A replacement valve was booked for a return visit.
A landlord based in London booked an emergency HIU repair online because their tenant had no hot water. We were at the apartment within two hours of the booking. The pressure independent control valve, the PICV that regulates the flow of heat from the district network into the unit, was sticking, so we freed it. Behind it the strainer had seized in place and was packed with dirt, so we took the manifold out, cleaned the strainer and refitted everything. The tenant had hot water and a hot shower the same afternoon. We advised the landlord that the PICV should be replaced rather than relied on, and a return visit was booked to fit the new valve.
Tenant with no hot water from a HIU?
Book online any time or leave a number and we will ring you back — usually within the hour during office hours. Emergency HIU repairs are £225 including up to three hours of labour.
The landlord lives in London and manages the flat from there, so the enquiry came through our online booking rather than a phone call. The tenant had heating but no hot water from the heat interface unit. We took the booking as an emergency HIU repair and were at the apartment within two hours.
A HIU takes heat from the building's district heating network and uses it to warm the flat's radiators and, through a plate heat exchanger, the tap water. The amount of heat it draws is regulated by a pressure independent control valve, the PICV in the second photo. This one was sticking, so when the tenant opened a hot tap the unit was not getting the flow it needed to heat the water.
We freed the valve, but that was only half the story. In front of the PICV sits a strainer that protects it from debris in the network water, and this one had seized in its housing and was packed solid with dirt. There was no reaching it in place, so we took the manifold out of the unit, cleaned the strainer out under the tap, and refitted the assembly with fresh seals.
Hot water back at the tap and the shower, tested with the tenant there to see it. She was pleased, and the landlord had a clear account by phone of what we had found and done.
We also told the landlord straight that a PICV that has been sticking will stick again. Freeing it got the tenant through the day; the proper fix is a new valve, so a return visit was booked to replace it. That is the pattern we prefer on emergency calls: restore the service first, then do the lasting repair at a time that suits everyone rather than leaving a tenant without hot water while a part is on order.
Most apartment blocks in Birmingham city centre and the Jewellery Quarter run on district heating, and the HIU in each flat is the landlord's responsibility. They are often left alone for years because there is no gas appliance and no annual gas safety check to prompt anyone, and a seized strainer full of network debris is the result. An annual HIU service cleans the strainers and checks the valves before they fail, and our landlord page covers how we work with owners who are not local.
An emergency HIU repair is £225 and includes the callout and up to three hours of labour to find and fix the fault, which covered this visit. Replacement parts, such as the new PICV for the return visit, are quoted before we fit them. Our HIU service packages are £95, £115 and £170. Full details on the HIU service and repair page.
NoneA pressure independent control valve. It sits where the district heating network enters the unit and regulates the flow of heat into the flat regardless of pressure changes in the building's system. When it sticks, the unit cannot draw the heat it needs and the usual symptom is weak or no hot water.
The strainer sits in a housing on the manifold and is normally removed for cleaning at a service. This one had seized in place after years without attention, so the whole manifold assembly came out of the unit to free it, clean it and refit it with new seals.
Yes. This job was booked online by a landlord in London. We arrange access with the tenant, report back to the landlord by phone or email with what we found and what it will cost, and take payment remotely. Many of our HIU customers are owners who do not live in Birmingham.
£225, which includes the callout and up to three hours of labour to find and fix the fault. That covers the large majority of HIU repairs in one visit. Replacement parts, or a repair running past three hours, are quoted before we continue.
Job attended and photographed by our engineers, September 2026. Written up by Saeed Iqbal, the engineer who leads Synergy Gas & Plumbing (Gas Safe registered 594385). More on what we cover is on our HIU service and repair page, and every job we write up is on the case studies index.
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Pick a slot online insteadThe main heat exchanger had failed on a boiler that had done 17 years, so the numbers pointed one way. Like-for-like swap into the same cupboard, Worcester magnetic filter fitted, system dosed, guarantee registered.
Read the case studyA routine Complete service that found dark system water and no inhibitor. The customer was shown the water, agreed to the fix, and the system was dosed before we left. A five-star review followed the same day.
Read the case studyThe diverter valve was packed with sludge and came off the van on the first visit. The plate heat exchanger behind it was blocked too, so it was ordered and fitted on a return visit. Landlord and tenant both sorted.
Read the case studyEmergency HIU repairs are £225 including up to three hours of labour. Book online any time, wherever you are.
