Only one a year?

Recently, Gas Safe Register published some data saying that the average Gas Safe technician may see one dangerous gas appliance a year. In my experience, it is more like one a month. Here are a few examples of things I’ve seen in the last 12 weeks; Example 1: We were asked to install an Evohome multi zone system to a house in Tonbridge, Kent. While we were there, our customer asked us to service their boiler, which was a 6yr old Vaillant ecoTEC+ 831. The boiler was in a little boy’s bedroom, and our customer was mindful that the boiler […]
Another howler
Using the Harry Potter term, this ‘rogue’s gallery’ picture set is taken from a property in the Greater London area. Asked to simply provide a quotation to upgrade the existing boiler system to Honeywell Evohome zoned control, I stumbled upon this. What we have here is a 50Kw Evinox condensing boiler, installed by a contractor on behalf of the previous owner around 12 years ago. The current owner had concerns about the unusual flue termination and had arranged different contractors to carry out the annual boiler service over the last 8 years. None had mentioned any problems with the external […]
Beware approved trader websites
My brother in law lives in Nantwich, having just moved into a rural property. He needed a new oil boiler, but as we are 200 miles away, it wasn’t practical to travel up to do the work. He asked me how he should find a good contractor; I suggested he should find an OFTEC registered installer (OFTEC are the trade technical body for oil fired heating) and also select someone who was a Worcester Bosch Accredited Installer. So far so good, he got a couple of quotes and the chap that impressed him most got the job. This particular contractor […]
Cooking on gas
I went to a house in the Crawley, Sussex, area to provide a quote for a new boiler. The owner has already used us to replace his boiler in his main residence. While I’m measuring up inside for a new boiler, the tenant said, ‘ Are you going to remove the saucepan?’ I get asked a lot of strange questions when doing a quote visit, but this one had me stumped. Why would I change a saucepan? The tenant had appeared perfectly sane up until that point, so I asked what she meant and was directed outside to look at […]
Dodgy gas installations
From time to time (about once a month at the moment) we find some examples of lethal work carried out by others. Usually this is when we’re quoting for replacements or upgrades, because generally we’re busy enough not to get involved with servicing and repairing stuff we haven’t originally fitted. These two examples were spotted in May 2012. This is a boiler in a house extension in Croydon, South London, that a builder has ‘moved’ so he can finish a customer’s extension. The builder, a Chinese gentleman who refused to give his name but vehemently assured us and his […]
Glow-Worm Energysaver leaking – 2 in 1 day!
As the owner of Hot Water & Central Heating, I spend much of my time visiting properties where customers want advice and costings for boiler replacements, pressurised hot and cold water systems etc. On one sunny day in March 09, I visited a couple in Limpsfield, Oxted (Surrey) with a Glowworm Energysaver. This boiler was significantly corroded and there was a saucer placed strategically to catch the drips. Later on the same day I was at an address in Caterham, Surrey, at the site of a converted military barracks. Same boiler, same problem! Here are a few photographs of the Caterham […]