Why you need boiler cover ASAP!!!

In winter your boiler is pretty much your best friend – be it keeping you cosy or providing hot water to wash, it provides what you need when you need it. However if you don’t take proper care of your boiler and heating system they might just let you down when you need it most.

So to help explain why you should book a boiler service before this winter period really hits we compiled some tops reasons why we feel you should get your boiler serviced regularly.

1. This is pretty much the best reason we have – A FAULTY BOILER CAN KILL YOU!

Carbon monoxide can be produced by boilers that haven’t been properly fitted or maintained and the gas has no odour or colour so you may not even know there’s a problem. So it’s essential your get your boiler checked out regularly and at the very least once a year.

2. If you are renting the property out – You are legally required to have a Gas Safety Certificate.

These can only be issued by Gas Safe Registered Engineers which means you stay on the right side of the law and your tenants stay safe.

3. Have your boiler serviced regularly will save you money.

By having your boiler serviced annually you can deal with problems that occur one at a time and thus reduce the time spent on labour and parts whereas if you just leave it till it breaks you may get a hefty bill for parts and labour that could have been avoided.

Choosing a boiler: The checklist

Need to change your boiler? The first thing I'm sure you'll be thinking about is the expense. Yes, boilers don't come cheap. And while you'll want to save money where you can - it's also important to buy something that won't break down and require you to spend even more money on repairs. And of course - the most important factor in anyone's search for a boiler is safety.

A lot to consider - so how do you make sure you're looking in the right direction? Well luckily Which?

 have a replacement boiler checklist to outline your options. Covering fuel type, boiler type, efficiency, manufacturer and making sure your boiler has the right controls for you - this guide is an essential read for anyone who wants their options fully explained when it comes to getting a boiler.

And as well as running down a handy checklist, the guide also comes with a warning - don't try to install a boiler yourself. No matter how good your DIY skills are, there's no messing about when it comes to gas safety, and no room for error. Leave it to a professional and ask friends for recommendations before calling someone out. When you do find someone you trust, always ask to see a Gas Safety Register ID card, and you can also check the companies status on the Gas Safe Register's website. This is great advice, and something I took on board when recently changed my boiler. I used SSE Home Services boiler installation - and I have to admit it looked pretty complicated, so I'm glad I left the professionals to it.

Gas safety for landlords...

I started thinking about this post when one of my friends recently asked me what the requirements were for a landlord regarding gas appliances and boilers. So I did a bit of research and it's all pretty straight forward but extremely important.

If you are the landlord of a property then there are a number of legal requirements that you must adhere to:

• You are wholly responsible for the gas safety of the property.
• Therefore you must maintain gas boilers and any other gas equipment to a satisfactory standard. This translates as an annual service of all the gas appliances including boiler servicing.
• It is absolutely imperative that you have a valid gas safety certificate in place.
• You need to ensure that you give your tenants a copy of the gas safety certificate within 28 days of its start date.
• It is also necessary for you to ensure that your tenants know how to turn off the gas in the event of a leak.

This is a simple guide to ensure that you are staying within the law when it comes to gas and your property. However if you are looking for any more information or a more in-depth guide then check out the Health and Safety Executive website.

Feed-in tariff suggested to reduce future electricity bills

The government should pay home-owners and businesses to reduce electricity use, to help save the environment and reduce electricity bills in the future, an environmental think tank (the Green Alliance) has suggested.

The suggested feed-in tariff would mean the government should pay out now, so that everyone can save money in the future - by cutting the demand for electricity companies to build new power stations.

If this were to go ahead, it wouldn't be the first time the government has introduced incentives for energy saving - with the boiler scrappage scheme being offered across the country to offer people discounts on more efficient boilers.

But could an energy saving incentive work if consumers had to pay up front? According to Dustin Benton, senior policy writer at the Green Alliance, it would be possible, as it could tie in with the governments electricity market reforms and could be implemented quickly to provide a solution to the rising concerns over electricity bills.

Carers could have heating bills reduced

The Scottish Government has announced that a new scheme could help reduce the heating bills of up to 7000 carers in the country.

The energy assistance package, which currently helps the elderly and vulnerable people, is being altered to include those recieving a carers' allowance, said Infrastructure and Capital Investment Secretary Alex Neil. This will mean that carers may be eligable to have a boiler or heating system fitted at a reduced prices, or even get free or discount home insulation improved.

This will no doubt be welcome to carers who may have to stay at home to look after a friend or family member and are not able to take up full time employment.

200,000 people have recieved home heating advice through the energy assistance package since it's launch in 2009, and 21,000 have had access to discount heating or free insulation. This new alteration to the package is designed to help a further 7000 people in Scotland, and further prevent vulnerable groups from getting heating bills they cannot afford.

Scottish and Southern Energy scrap nuclear plans

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) today announced that they have ended plans to develop a new nuclear station to concentrate on green energy instead.

Announcing that they are selling their 25% share in NuGeneration (NuGen), SSE stated that they would rather invest time and money in the companies strongest areas, largely revolving around green energy. The company did not write off the possibility of future involvement in nuclear, but did confirm that the core investment at the moment is in renewable energy. The company have a strong background in the renewable energy sector, and have additionally been backing environmentally campaigns by taking part in the UK boiler scrappage scheme. 

SSE (who trade as Scottish Hydro) have never previously been involved in nuclear energy, but had plans to introduce a new power plant in West Cumbria. NuGen was set up with the cooperation of two other energy companies, and  may still continue operations in another location.

The Gas Safe Register

The Gas Safe Register is the replacement for the CORGI accreditation which is no longer in use. The Register came into force on the 1^st of April 2009 and is a national database of central heating engineers who are qualified to work with gas appliances like boilers.

All engineers who are on the Gas Safe Register should be carrying a Gas Safe Register identity card. The engineer must show you this card if you ask them to.

However if the engineer doesn't have the card or claims to have forgotten it etc, then don't let them anywhere near your boiler as chances are they’re not on the register and therefore not qualified to work with your boiler. In fact there is a very good chance they could damage your central heating, making it even more dangerous than before.

What other information is on the Gas Safe register card?

The card shall state specifically what types of work the engineer is actually qualified to do. These details are located on the back of the card. Be sure to have a check that they actually know what they’re doing.

This may sound a bit extreme but gas appliances are can be dangerous so it's best to make sure that the engineer inspecting your boiler is actually a suitably qualified and fully registered gas engineer, before you go letting them anywhere near your central heating/boiler.

For more information about Gas Safety regulation and the associated engineer accreditation scheme check out the Gas Safe Register website.

Welcome to Home Services 101.....

Firstly thanks for taking the time to come and visit the Home Services 101 Blog. I would like to use the first post just to clarify what we'll referring to when talking about home services.

Within this blog home services will be classed as the maintenance and protection of your central heating system, boiler and wiring. It is our aim to ensure that you have all the information you could need when it comes to deciding upon protection or maintenance and how to make sure its the right choice for you and your home.