Blue Monday

[gfwgfw]

How was yours ?

[gfwgfw]

Mine was horrific - my entrance porch was decapitated by weather tantamount to the worst . . . . generally reserved for the BoB

Rural Dorset is full of flood water

[Stephen]

Didn't even know there was a Blue Monday Graham.

I had to upright the Christmas tree in its bucket after the wind blew it over. Does that count

[Onelife]

Hi Graham,

My day has been one of two halves, this morning l opened an email with good news....thanks Robbie

This afternoon l opened one with not so good news

Regards

keith

[Admiral of the Humber]

Hi Graham,

My day has been one of two halves, this morning l opened an email with good news....thanks Robbie

This afternoon l opened one with not so good news

Regards

keith

....hope it wasn't too bad Keefy.....

Hiya Giant !!

[Keechy]

I booked an engineer to come and look at our gas fire. When he arrived on Monday, he refused to fix it because it hadn't been serviced for over a year. His advice was to get it serviced and, no his firm doesn't service them, they only fix them. He isolated it and put on a nice 'Do Not Use' label.

Today, we're expecting an engineer from another firm to service the fire, but of course, he'll say there's something wrong with it. That'll be £60 thanks very much.

Then I have to go back to the original firm (Domestic and General) to book yet another engineer to come and fix it.

I wonder if these breakdown insurances are worth bothering with. I thought this wasn't going to cost anything! £74 pa for the D and G insurance plus £60 for a service. The fire is 5 years old and cost £600. I used to have British Gas service it annually, so £134 pa x 5 = £670.

I wish I hadn't worked that out - I feel worse now - Blue Monday has turned into Blue Second Week in January

[Boris+]

Hi Keechy,

I know this might be annoying, but it is truly well meant - I am busy at the moment trying hard to look on the bright side of stuff, and with that in mind, couldn't you use the situation with the gas fire to inspire an expedition into very warming and scrummy winter food and snacks, and things like toasted muffins and crumpets (and cuddles too?).

On the other hand, you could always use the situation as a starter for going and visiting people you haven't seen for a while - and enjoy their heating with them?

Hope it all gets fixed soon - but if an engineer turned up at ours and said that he wouldn't/couldn't fix something because it hadn't been serviced for a year he'd be wearing my wellie boot at the back of his trousers!

Em

[Stephen]

If you have a chimney get rid of your gas fire and have an open fire. There's nothing like it.

£50 a year to have swept. Job done

[Frank Manning]

Hi Keechy,
When I taught Marketing at Bournemouth Uni I had a mature student who had been a salesman for D&G. He put me wise to them and I wont touch them now. On the subject of gas, we have it for CH, and hob, but to be honest when the time comes for a new boiler we are seriously thinking of having the lot out and going all electric. It has been nothing but trouble over the long run. Its just the flexibility for supply and fear of power cuts that keeps it in our consideration. We got back from one cruise after having a new hob to find the kitchen full of gas. By a stroke of luck we did not switch the lights on, because I reckon it was above the LEL. It had been caused by an incompetent gas fitter leaving a leak in the connection to the hob.

Hope you get sorted OK.

Our blue Monday wasn't so bad, but its the dark mornings which I hate, and I am counting the days until 19th January when the sun rises before 8.00am, and the 31st January when it rises before 7.45am. This is an annual ritual for me, which amuses Sue no end.

[david63]

... when the time comes for a new boiler we are seriously thinking of having the lot out and going all electric.

A couple of points that I have recently discovered (some may already know about them):

- from 2016 there will be no mains gas supply to any new build property.

- you can get electric boilers for "wet" central heating systems.

[Boris+]

Hi David,

I can't see that ever happening - of course new properties will have gas supplied, I feel quite certain about that; but I also think that there may be some changes in some areas.

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

- from 2016 there will be no mains gas supply to any new build property.

I never knew that!

[Andrea S]

As always things could change but the guide lines are replacement boilers will need 'planning permission' and will add thousands to the current cost . This is also going to apply to anyone wanting to add a conservatory to their property.

New home are expected to cost a minimum of £40,000 more due to theses changes.

[Silver_Shiney]

As always things could change but the guide lines are replacement boilers will need 'planning permission' and will add thousands to the current cost . This is also going to apply to anyone wanting to add a conservatory to their property.

New home are expected to cost a minimum of £40,000 more due to theses changes.

I'm obviously missing something here - I thought CMD had decreed that planning permission for extensions was no longer required? Why on earth should permission be sought for replacing a boiler? I'm not saying you're wrong, Andrea, but this seems to me like bureaucracy gone mad.

[Manoverboard]

Perhaps it's akin to ' certification ' in line with conforming to regs rather than getting planning consent per se a la oil fired boilers re their service and installation to prevent the untrained cowboys and DIYers getting involved.

Also as per electicians of course.

[Silver_Shiney]

Perhaps it's akin to ' certification ' in line with conforming to regs rather than getting planning consent per se a la oil fired boilers re their service and installation to prevent the untrained cowboys and DIYers getting involved.

Also as per electicians of course.

but, on the other hand, who in their right mind would get someone unqualified in to do a specialist job?

[Manoverboard]

If a mate can help else do it on the cheap was the way of the world not too long ago .... ah, those were the days

[Andrea S]

SS, I agree it is utter madness. It is supposedly to make properties only run on green power. ( I am lost at this jargon). In older properties the owner will have to prove that the whole of the building is up to the standards required for insulation etc before a conservatory can be erected .
As there are so many adverts at the moment about 'free ' boilers to those on benefits it has crossed my mind if the boiler issue is a political sales thing.
I do know that our local council are currently replacing all gas boilers in council houses .

[Dark Knight]

my "blue Monday" was fine thank you Giant
no blue anything in sight and everything good in the world

[Onelife]

If you have a chimney get rid of your gas fire and have an open fire. There's nothing like it.

£50 a year to have swept. Job done

Hi Stephen, we've recently replaced our open fire for a wood burning stove....my gawd it doesn't half throw out the heat. The whole house seems to be warmer.

lt used to cost us around £75 to get our open fire brushed (until l did it myself) but have been qouted £50 for the same job on our woodburrner......it actually burns coal as well...cuss we're posh round here....ain't we Shirley?

Regards

keith

[Manoverboard]

FIFTY QUID ... my man charged me £25 in November but apologised for the increase

We also have a Multi-fuel woodburner but only use logs ... and rings of Black Pudding

ps ... it gets brushed every other year so that'll be £12:50 then.

[emjay45]

Over here we braced ourselves on Monday for a repeat of Friday which with the gales and the Spring tides brought flooding to many parts of the island. We are lucky our house is too high to be flooded. As it turned out Monday wasn't as bad as expected. Unfortunately, the storms have caused quite a bit of devastation.

[Silver_Shiney]

FIFTY QUID ... my man charged me £25 in November but apologised for the increase

We also have a Multi-fuel woodburner but only use logs ... and rings of Black Pudding

ps ... it gets brushed every other year so that'll be £12:50 then.

I've mentioned this before but it may be worth mentioning again... there's a gadget in which you compress sodden newspaper to make bricks. Once these have dried, they make excellent fuel for log burners etc, burn for ages and give out loads of heat. Helps get rid of all the newspapers too!

[ShirleyT]

If you have a chimney get rid of your gas fire and have an open fire. There's nothing like it.

£50 a year to have swept. Job done

Hi Stephen, we've recently replaced our open fire for a wood burning stove....my gawd it doesn't half throw out the heat. The whole house seems to be warmer.

lt used to cost us around £75 to get our open fire brushed (until l did it myself) but have been qouted £50 for the same job on our woodburrner......it actually burns coal as well...cuss we're posh round here....ain't we Shirley?

Regards

keith

Yes, Keith, very posh!! .....and a Happy New a Year too!

[Delboy]

As always things could change but the guide lines are replacement boilers will need 'planning permission' and will add thousands to the current cost . This is also going to apply to anyone wanting to add a conservatory to their property.

New home are expected to cost a minimum of £40,000 more due to theses changes.

I'm obviously missing something here - I thought CMD had decreed that planning permission for extensions was no longer required? Why on earth should permission be sought for replacing a boiler? I'm not saying you're wrong, Andrea, but this seems to me like bureaucracy gone mad.

We have a living flame gas fire in our lounge, in addition to radiator central heating. We never have the fire or the radiator on in our lounge, as it gets far too hot. Our son who is a builder and therefore spends most of his time working outdoors, also complains how it's like a sauna in our bungalow, although our boiler is set to low.


Installation of boilers
Don't know about permission being sought for replacing a boiler, but Boilers of any fuel type must always be installed by a person who is both suitably qualified and competent. They should also hold a Certificate in Energy Efficiency for Domestic Heating or an equivalent qualification.

Gas Combustion Appliances
For gas fired combustion appliances, the installer that you employ must be a member of the Gas Safe Register.

For Oil Fired Combustion Appliances (Including Liquid Biofuels)
The installer that you employ can be registered on any of the following scheme types:-
APHC (Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (Certification) Limited), however an APHC contractor cannot be used for appliances over 100 kilowatts output or in buildings of more than three storeys),
BESCA Limited (Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation),
CORGI (Benchmark Certification Limited),
ELECSA (ECA Certification Limited),
HETAS (HETAS limited),
NAPIT Registration Limited (National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers),
NICEIC (Ascertiva Group Limited) or
OFTEC (Oil Firing Technical Association Limited) registered installer.
Gas Combustion Appliances (Including Biomass)
The installer that you employ can be registered on any of the following scheme types:-
APHC (Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (Certification) Limited), however an APHC contractor cannot be used for appliances over 100 kilowatts output or in buildings of more than three storeys),
BESCA Limited (Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation),
CORGI (Benchmark Certification Limited),
ELECSA (ECA Certification Limited),
HETAS (HETAS limited),
NAPIT Registration Limited (National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers) or
NICEIC (Ascertiva Group Limited).
In all cases you should check that your installer has the required qualifications and is registered on the appropriate competent persons scheme for the work they undertake.
Certification
In exceptional circumstances it is permissible to install a non condensing boiler instead of a condensing boiler, provided that an assessment of the property has been undertaken by the installer and this confirms that the additional cost of installing a condensing boiler is exceptionally high. The assessor must identify the lowest additional cost for an installation anywhere in the building, irrespective of the boiler position chosen by the owner. Where it is unreasonable to install a condensing boiler the installer must provide a declaration stating this for you to retain as proof.
Once your boiler installation has been completed by the registered installer, you will receive a building regulations compliance certificate direct from the relevant competent persons scheme provider to show that the work meets with the requirements of the building regulations. The scheme provider will also notify the council of the installation.