On ruddy nora. Gas boiler condemned and no money for a new one!

[edam]

Arrggh etc. etc. etc. Had the gas man round today because our central heating wasn't working properly, only for him to tell us our boiler was dangerous and he had to not just switch it off but prevent it from ever being used again.

It is winter. We have no money to replace it - these things cost thousands. dh has been unemployed for a year and we have been struggling to pay the bills/living on overdrafts that were granted in happier times.

No idea what we'll do or how we'll heat the house for ds...can't borrow money as I'm sure our credit rating is shot. My family certainly don't have several thousand pounds spare they could lend us and while dh's Mother probably could, she going into a home in a couple of weeks and is not able to - too confused for it to be fair and £8k deposit required for nursing home!

I knew that single magpie I saw this morning was bad news...

[edam]

Btw, I'm sure we are still better off than lots of people, at least I have a job, and dh has just started a short-term contract, we have a home and all that.

[Shonajoy]

www.freeworcesterboschboilers.co.uk/

There are schemes for free boilers, have a look here. We got a new one recently and it wasn't thousands, under a thousand, think about £800 x

[Floralnomad]

My neighbour just had a new boiler from british gas and it was about £2500 and that's for a 4 bed detached so it may not be as expensive as you think . Can you not get one and pay monthly ?

[SolomanDaisy]

I think you can use the green deal to get a new a rated boiler and pay the cost back through your electricity bill.

[cottoncandy]

It depends what is wrong with it, but the gas men are obliged to do that for all sorts of reasons, even if the boiler isn't dangerous. You might find that someone is able to repair it for you? We had one gas man condemn our boiler last week, then had British Gas round and their chaps managed to repair it?

[edam]

Thanks everyone, will investigate those schemes.

cotton, I think it is genuinely kaput. The guy we had out is from British Gas - we have a service contract with them. We've had the house 10 years and it dates back to at least the previous owner, if not the one before that. BG have checked it every year and the guy last year did say it would need replacing before too long, but we didn't have the money so hoped they could keep it going a bit longer.

[itsblackoveryonderhill]

In the short term have you got a plan together of how you are going to have hot water for baths or showers etc.?

You can all stay warm by staying in the same room on an evening and having a convector heater to take thw worst of the chill off. Put extra blankets and duvets etc on the beds.

Not that I know, but I think the advise from the others with regards the pay monthly way is a suitable way to go. Also like it has already been said, it might be dangerous now, but it may be repairable. Did you gat a report? If you did, I recommend rated people webiste for tradesmen. Put all the details that you can and the price you are willing to pay and they call you and tell you a quote or come out for free to give you a quote.

[edam]

itsblack, VERY luckily we do have an immersion heater for hot water. I've never understood why there's a gas boiler and an immersion heater but I'm very glad about it now!

[QuintesKabooom]

We replaced our boiler on Monday. We got it on finance. Paid a deposit, and will spend £100 per month for the foreseeable. But, it is a more energy efficient boiler, and we have finally got a room thermostat, and a smart meter free with it, so we reckon we will have lower gas and electricity bills. Got green deal with it, and will get cavity wall insulation and loft insulation on a pay back scheme. It is worth checking it out.

[QuintesKabooom]

Also, google "free condensing boiler grants"

[farrowandbawl]

Out of curiosity, what was wrong with the central heating?

[edam]

Quint, unfortunately our credit rating is shot, but I will look into everything people have suggested.

[notgotascooby]

try this www.energy-saving.org.uk/
The only problem is it takes 10 weeks to process, but it's completely free.

[edam]

farrow, we couldn't turn some of the radiators off, so they were always really hot unless we turned the heating off at the boiler. Others didn't do anything. So we had some rooms that were uncomfortably hot, others freezing. So we called BG because we have a home call out thingummy with them. And sadly when the guy took the cover off the boiler, you could see how rusted it was inside - I do think he's being honest saying it's beyond use and unsafe.

[Talkinpeace]

Ding Ding Ding
Alarm Bells .... Alarm Bells .... Alarm Bells

The guy we had out is from British Gas - we have a service contract with them.

Get a second opinion from a truly independent plumber before you do anything to that boiler

check moneysavingexpert and You and Yours and multiple other consumer sites about how British Gas has its service engineers on commission to sell new boilers rather than repair old ones

and cancel the service contract today - they are money down the drain.

you could see how rusted it was inside
well it will be. he's hoodwinking you with the oldest trick in the book
the outside of the pipes will ALWAYS be rusty. its the inside that matters.

[edam]

Ooh thanks talkin!

[farrowandbawl]

That's not the boiler, that's the valves in the rads!
Get a second opinion from a heating engineer or plumber.

[edam]

dh is at home today, btw, so I wasn't there when he saw the gas man

[edam]

You are all giving me hope!

in the meantime, we do have two convector heater thingies dh has found in the garage, so will have to rely on them.

[edam]

dh says there was 'more rust than boiler behind the faceplate' if that means anything...

[RoseHoney]

That isn't a boiler issue. We've just had a plumber out this week for the same heating problem, the radiators kept turning on by themselves and were boiling and other days wouldn't turn on at all turns out we needed a valve replacing, took him 15 mins to repair it.