Keeping Warm, somehow!

THose who follow me on Twitter or Facebook (and if you dont but want to click the links and you will be taken to my pages) will know that we have been suffering from lack of heating, our boiler has stopped working.

Well, the saga started some months ago, the boiler had stopped heating water, the boiler still seemed to be working although it would cut out occasionally,  so we had the Boiler guys round to sort it, they basically said that we had to replace the boiler as it was beyond economical repair, we asked them for a quote but knowing that we could not afford to replace it ourselves, having only just forked out for new electrical wiring, we also went through Warm Front to see if we could get a grant for the replacement.

in the interim we have been using the Kettle to boil water in the Kitchen and the electric shower for hot water in the bathroom, thankfully we have an electric shower otherwise it would have been pretty dire.

Anyhow, We applied and then had to wait, that was back in September, we were told there would be a significant wait for an assessment, we eventually had a visit just before Christmas, we have previously had a grant for insulation work and knew that we still qualified.

Since applying for the grant the heating has got worse, before & over Christmas it was cutting out several times a day, but we were coping, in spite of pretty chilly weather.

When the assessor eventually came, just before Christmas, not after me chasing them up! she did all the paperwork and said that we would hear from them again, well we are still waiting, reading the info she provided though, it would take at least 6 months froma  quote being prepared for Warm Front, by the contractor who has not yet contacted us, before they could give the go ahead.

We did explain that we were in a iffuclt situation as the boiler was so bad and Nat has a tendency to chest problems so we were worried about that with her in the cold and damp, in the event I think Steven is the one who seems to have suffered the most, all to no avail, they basically say ‘we are not an emergency service it takes at least 6 Months’ as they wont replace a boiler on the grant unless it needs replacing, usually because it no longer works, and most boiler break down during the winter, surely they ought to provide a quicker service than this?

However, with the introduction of the Boiler Scrapage Scheme, we thought we could see a light at the end of the tunnel, the final piece of the jigsaw was someone offering to loan us part of the money for the boiler, so we contacted the installer to find out about the £400 Boiler scrapage, only to find out that it only applies to Boilers which are ‘G’ rated, the vast majority of boilers would not come under this scheme as they are more efficient than a ‘G’ rated Boiler, when they are working of course!

Anyhow, we decided to bit the bullet anyhow and get the boiler fixed, we will need to borrow some of the money but should be able to make the figures stack up, just hope we dont get any interest rate rises or cuts in income, otherwise our finances are going to be in a bit of a pickle! but at least we will be warm.

So, having decided to go ahead I called the company, Pronto Plumbers, yesterday they have said they can install the new boiler on Tuesday/Wednesday, They at least, in contrast to Warm Front, understand the urgency of the matter, they are a company we have used many times for servicing and maintenance and know that we can trust them with the work, David Lamber, the guy who owns the company, is a really decent sort of bloke who I believe can be trusted.

So I am expecting/predicting this cold snap will end at the end of next week, we could even be in for an early spring, although I am hoping that the cold weather will last a little longer, just long enough for us to appreciate our new boiler.

Obviously with the extreme cold weather we have been experiencing we have been struggling to keep the house warm, we now have a total of 4 electric heaters, 2 convector and 2 fan, to keep the house (bungalow) warm, they are running pretty much 24/7 because they are not able to heat the place up from cold very quickly so it is better to not let it get too cold but the shock will be when the electric bill comes in! one thing I am truly NOT looking forward to, our energy supplier has an online graph that compares consumption year on year, will be interesting to see how things have gone, obviously our Gas consumption is down so we cant be blamed for putting the countries supplies at breaking point.

Anyhow, thats enough ramblign from me, it is my bed time. [houdini]