I heard from the heating contractor on Monday, and luckily I was able to get on their schedule for Thursday. The technician was on time — the same one as last time — and even with two separate tasks, he was done in less than an hour.
The first task was cosmetic and relatively simple. During the last visit, he had to cut a hole in the ceiling to fit a new exhaust flue, bringing the installation up to standards. However, at the time, he didn’t have the finishing part to cover the cut. That was done in just a few minutes.
The second task was to install an external expansion tank to replace the one in the wall that wasn’t holding pressure. It’s basically a shiny, red, 12-liter cylinder that does the same job, but doesn’t require ripping the wall open when it needs service. I’m not entirely impressed by the fact that it’s held in place with cable ties, but so far, it’s working.
The pressure in the system — which used to go up sharply every time I ran hot water and down slowly every time I ran heat — has not budged in 72 hours. The weather here hasn’t required me to run the heat, but I’ve been running it in the mornings with the windows open just to stress test the system. I’m growing confident that the heating issues are resolved.
As yesterday marked the halfway point to my current stay in Montpellier, I now have some time to focus on a few smaller projects.
