Hello, I’m Nic Radcliffe. I’m a fully qualified heating engineer and plumber in my 24th year in the village. In a series of articles in the magazine, I’ll be offering advice on how you can keep your heating and plumbing safe, green and not costing you too much money.
In this issue, I want to make sure you’re not paying too much money on boiler and central heating breakdown cover. I was surprised recently when I saw the TV ads for the AA offering boiler cover. Then at home, I received a leaflet telling me that Everest were now offering cover, joining the two big guns in the market, British Gas and Homeserve.
The idea is that you pay a fee every month and if you’re boiler breaks down, an engineer will come out. However what you might not know is that independent research isn’t too keen on these policies. First, the consumer magazine, Which?, concluded in 2009 that ’90% of households would be better off dumping boiler insurance policies.’
This view was confirmed more recently by The Guardian this January who summarised their investigation of the policies with the advice that ‘If you can find a good, trustworthy local plumber, this has to be the best option.’ (You can read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jan/15/rising-home-emergency-cover-premiums-insurance.)
The other thing I wanted to mention is the running cost of boilers and how some are much greener than others. Typically, your boiler accounts for about 60% of what you spend in a year on energy bills. So getting a more efficient boiler can make a big difference. I regularly come across old G-rated boilers which are often less than 70% efficient at converting fuel into heat. In contrast, new A-rated condensing boilers are much more efficient and therefore a lot greener. These greener boilers convert more than 90% of the fuel. This is why the Energy Saving Trust says by changing your old boiler and its controls to a new condensing boiler you can save as much as £225 a year off your bills.
I hope this has been helpful. If I can help you at all, please give me a call on 07905 908143.