Warm front grants 2010

[whitehall]

can anyone tell me please what the specifications are for the intstallation of a heating system under this grant scheme .

I am eligble-as disabled - but hestitant to apply because my central heating system is old---though patched!, It is a single pipe -open vented, no return system.

I have been told that if the boiler was replaced I would need all new radiators too, and they must be placed on internal walls -not under the window as I currently have -because of doors and fitted furniture.

Also that I should have to have the new boiler in the kitchen,on the wall, not in the hall or under the stairs, and that all the pipes would be left exposed down the walls. And that the current cold water and hot tanks must be taken out too.

Can any one advise me please what the current situation is, and how to find what the spec. is

 

[vulcancontinental]

Get your application in quickly as the scheme is being reviewed at the moment.

In Cheshire you'd probably be surveyed by by WarmSure's surveyors not a contractor's surveyor.

I survey for a contractor and if I see a one pipe system we replace the whole system. I believe some areas will connect a one pipe system if it's in 22mm but most do not.

They can't do anything in your house you don't want, hang tough. If the surveyor doesn't give good reasons why something has to be the way you want speak to a manager or customer services. No joy, go higher or to an MP. Don't be silly about this though and ask for exotic stuff; you will not get it, it is a utilitarian scheme to keep you warm and clean, not to improve your house.

Currently the only combination boilers on the list are the Ideal Logic and the Worcester Junior.

Service clearances the geography of the property and siting regs determine where the boiler goes.

Vertical pipework is run on surface to ground floor radiators but in a white plastic trunking.

Generally the hot cylinder is removed where practicable but storage cisterns in the loft left emptied and disconnected.

you'll get 5 rads or 6 if it's a new install in an unheated house (6 if it's a through lounge otherwise 5) or the same number as you have now in a previously heated property that has the old radiators removed.

any completely new system has to have a combi boiler if the mains water pressure is sufficient.

I imagine if you really want to know the spec it's a publicly funded scheme you could ask for a copy but it's loooong and unnecessary really.

Theoretically you can have what you want if the specification isn't exceeded but you have to know what to ask for and what is permitted. The surveyors job is to try to put a job in acceptable to you (it's your house) but to keep the price as low as possible.

Most people do not have the spare money to pay unnecessary large supplementary excess sums for boilers in lofts, vertical flues and scaffolding etc etc. Hence boiler on the wall in a kitchen and rads back to back for short pipe runs and quick install times.

hope this helps

 

[andytheplumber]

If i was getting 4 thousand pounds worth of work done for nothing. I would not be complaining.

 

[whitehall]

Thank you for that information, it was very helpful.

Its a case of the devil you know......Currently I know someone who will do the minor repairs, but of course the system is only 40 percent efficient....and will have to be done , one way or another very soon I fear. But I cant manage any great upheavals of carpets, furniture, decorating etc and as I said a lot of furniture is built in for convienece, leaving the only the window wall free.

I have to decide what I can managebeing both a pensioner of 73 and infirm.. So thank you for your guidance.

 

[Agile]

Its only YOU who have decided that you cannot manage any upheavals.

The reality is that it will all be done for you are you will end up with a new efficient heating system like most other people enjoy.

Perhaps even you can laugh at the stupidity of this person? He has a leak in a cold water pipe. So he turns off the water at the stopcock and thurns it on for a few minutes to fill a buicket every 2-3 days.

He is not short of money and I could fix it for him for under £100. Similarly he has a boiler less than one year old which is not working and yet he does not bother to get it fixed. He says he uses an electric fire so is not cold!

Tony

 

[vulcancontinental]

I do wonder about people myself.

When someone applies for the WarmFront grant they're told it can be six months from that date until install (it's planned efficiency work, not an emergency service).

As the scheme over spent last year the jobs were not issued to the installers at the normal rate from Sept/Oct to March as the work couldn't be started until the money was there and the next batch came through in April this year.

Since March I have surveyed at least a 100 properties where the client went through last winter with no heating and often not hot water because they wouldn't, not couldn't, fix their boiler. Thermocouples, motorised valves etc. simple things were the problem but the owners were just too mean to get themselves warm. These are not poor people, I've been in their houses and seen the holiday snaps, furniture, cars etc.
Strange.

 

[whitehall]

It is a great help to hear from the trade.
Being a female 'do -it - yourselfer ', and hearing the few horror stories that are around has delayed my action.

Since my accident and disablity I have lost confidence in my ability to deal with home improvemnets.....I thought I should have to arrange for the furniture and carpets to be taken out and replaced- myself. Added to that fact is that this house has cement/stone floors.
I realise now that the pipes are drained and sealed in situ, ---not dug up...

Thank you all for your comments.