New combi boiler for Christmas?

Just when you need to turn your heating on is when it will stop working.   In the same way that your oven packs up on Christmas eve, just as all the inlaws arrive to stay.  Similar to when the Tara Plumbing family had a leak – 2 inches of water – in the middle of winter and the day before we flew away on holiday for 2 weeks (how much mould will have grown by the time we get back?)

We could have planted cress to grow in the carpet.

It seems every house in Thanet wants a quote for a new boiler this week.  What is better a combi boiler or a conventional boiler with a cylinder?   Mr T.P. is frequently asked.  Only this week he threaten to talk to a lady of Broadstairs in detail about the pro’s and cons of the various heating systems -  but she had not done him any harm  – so he let her off with just a brief outline of the debate!

Mr Tara Plumbing & I can not agree on this one!  For you, it really does depend on your house and its occupants and lifestyle.

Most things in MY life are not “conventional”!  I have mostly had combi’s, I am used to them:

1. There is always hot water, you never run out.
2. You only heat up the hot water you are going to use, so it is not wasteful.
3. From an environmental POV I suspect it is greenest, as there are no resources going in to making a separate cylinder or roof tanks, or keeping a load of water hot, just in case you need it.
4. Budget – combi’s are by far the cheapest option. They are most commonly found in small and rented properties.

Many people do not like combi’s because the flow of hot water is not great, OK it might be a luke warm trickle!

It will take longer to fill your bath and you may feel that the shower is not as powerful as you would like.

If you are reading this because you are considering getting a new boiler, of any sort, please read my recent blog for advice:

http://mrstaraplumbing.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/what-a-new-gas-boiler/

Do not go out and buy a boiler!

Find a reputable, corgi register gas installer (yes you could call Tara Plumbing) and discuss your options.   They will give you a price which includes supplying the boiler.  Get the quote in writing!

Installing a boiler is not an advisable DIY project.   You need a corgi registered person to connect it to the gas – that’s the law.   Also it has to be registered, you will receive a certificate.

If you want to do more research – these are reputable websites:

http://www.trustcorgi.com/consumers.htmx

http://www.baxi.co.uk/

http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/

http://www.keston.co.uk/

If we were fitting your new boiler, we would get it from this family run local independent business based in Birchington:

http://www.snhtradecentre.co.uk/

What if your new boiler breaks down?

First – phone the installer who can advise you.  It is often something really simple.

Second – if there really is a fault (confirmed by the installer),  boiler manufacturers employ teams of engineers who will come out to you armed with spare parts – generally within 24 hours or so.

Boilers usually have a 2 year warrenty ( some  5 years). 

One of the main reasons that we only supply and fit quality boilers made by certain reputable firms is because their back-up service is so good.  If your heating is not working in the coldest days of winter you want a swift response to your calls for help.

Of course, you may have trouble getting this back up service if your boiler was not correctly installed, which is why you need to choose your installer carefully.

What a new gas boiler?

Lots of quotes for a new boiler, boiler services, or fixing a problem with the gas central heating always mark this time of year. The weather has turned colder.

Each year our gas engineers see gas boiler installations which are poor, to say the least. Boilers, radiators and pipe work that are at odd angles and in strange places are just aesthetic defects. If someone is so slap-dash when they install what you can see, can you be confident with what you can’t see, or that the boiler was installed to comply with regulations?

Shockingly, many of these boilers have been installed in recent years, it is not that the are 25 years old and regulations have changed. Shocking because the installations do NOT meet the safety standards. I feel sorry for people who have paid out hundreds or thousands of pounds in good faith, and then need to pay more to get it put right.

I think most people know that the gas engineer must be registered with CORGI. Last year 844 gas installers were found to be working illegally after investigation and reported for prosecution.

If you are thinking of having a boiler installed, my advice would be to:

•  go for a good quality make of boiler, not the cheapest;
• find a reputable installer: someone who has worked in the area for sometime so is unlike to ‘disappear’ next week;
• be very sceptical of anyone who gives you a super cheap quote.
• always get your quote in writing and ask the installer to specify the boiler they will be installing.

I’m walking my puffle and found the new pin!

Rarely will you ever see me with a copy of the Daily Mail, I think I’d rather be seen reading a red top! On Saturday I slipped a copy of this dreadful newspaper in with my Times because the former included a DVD documentary about penguins.

Mrs Tara Plumbing and son have actually watched many of the BBC documentaries about the Antarctic and its population of these flightless birds, however, at 70p the newspaper was a much cheaper way of distracting Master T.P. From the over priced ‘children’s magazines’ with ‘free’ gift.   Master T.P. currently loves penguins, to find out why, if you have a school age child of any age have a look at:  www.clubpenguin.com/

As I’ve paid for it I read it.

What an interesting story from Richard Shears in Sidney who explained the similarities between the case of the McCann’s and that of Lindy Chamberlain, you may remember – my baby has been taken by a dingo.   Read about the case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azaria_Chamberlain_disappearance

Of course, when something terrible happens to a child, the parents and close family should be investigated. Sadly, it is usually those closest to children who commit crimes against them. But the public and the media should respect: Innocent until Proven Guilty.

There is plenty written about the McCann’s story, without me adding to it.   I do, however, want to condemn the trial by media.  It is not helpful to the police, the public or anyone to have the sort of coverage which we have witnessed over the past week or so.  If you follow certain media outlets you are led to believe that their is overwhelming evidence against this couple: but the so called evidence is all speculation and unsubstantiated rumour.

I fell for it, as a member of the public, over the case of the 3 year old boy who was said to have been poisoned with salt by his adoptive parents, Angela and Ian Gay.   I thought they were terrible people, now I am better informed and feel so sorry for them: the ordeal of facing a murder trial when you have lost your child. In this country they and other parents have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned for murdering their own children:

 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article1466763.ece

I am all for freedom of speech, but the balance does not seem fair. The McCann’s are just the latest victims.

It often seems unfair to me that people are named in the newspapers (perhaps just the local press) because they are arrested or charged with a crime, they may be innocent they have not yet stood trial.