Boiler Scrappage

[armb]

My existing boiler appears to be not inefficient enough to qualify for the scrappage scheme. I suppose that's good news in a way.
(My Ka would qualify for the car scheme, but I don't want to buy a new car.)

Comments

[filklore-on-lj.livejournal.com]

"To determine whether a gas boiler is G-rated, a quick test is to see if it has a permanent pilot light, the Energy Saving Trust said."

Woohoo - since mine has, and since I was planning to replace my boiler sometime this year, it looks like I may have saved 400 quid. That moves the boiler project up the list, which is good, as it also affects the new kitchen units design (if I can actually move the boiler out of the kitchen)

[grey-lady.livejournal.com]

I think ours would have qualified as well - but we had it replaced about a month before the scheme was announced. Poot.

But on the plus side, we've been glad, in this burst of cold weather, to have a newer and more reliable boiler already installed.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Mine would have been G-rated (does that mean it's suitable for children? Are there PG, 15, and even X rated boilers?), except that it doesn't work at all now and so is not eligible. It had a permanent pilot light, until it started going clunk and killing the whole lot including the pilot. (It now doesn't even have a gas supply, since the old piping under the house decided to pour lots of gas into the cavity wall...)

[armb.livejournal.com]

Scary.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I'd had the boiler turned off since it stopped working, and as the only other use of gas is the stove which I only use occasionally the meter readings had stayed without change for several quarters. The one time I read it for the gas company, and found that it had jumped by several cubic feet of gas. I couldn't smell any, but I looked at the dials and the end one was moving; I timed it and it indicated a couple of cu.ft. a week was going somewhere. So I turned it off (and checked that the dial was now stationary) and called the emergency number.

The man they sent round confirmed that it was losing gas, so blocked it at the meter and said I'd have to call a local company (he wasn't allowed to deal with user-side). So I called one (they also do TV aerials, I'd used them before for that).

When they came round, they 'sniffed' (with a meter) around the boiler, which was what I expected to have failed, and didn't find much. Then they 'sniffed' near the hole in the wall with the mains socket(!) and the meter went off-scale. Evidently the (old iron) pipe had failed somewhere under the (concrete) floor and filled the wall cavity. So I had them run new pipe just to the kitchen for the stove (which wasn't leaking) and cut off the old pipe to the back room and the boiler. When they cut it, they found that the pipe was down to about 1/32" thickness, years of condensation had just eaten it away.

As far as the cavity was concerned, there was nothing they could do, just let it dissipate through the vents over time. The wall is still there...

But if I want a new boiler put in it will need the gas piping through to the back room again (overhead, not under the floor). And, by now, probably the whole installation replaced, since the radiators haven't had moving water for several years. Not worth it, as far as I'm concerned, even if I did get the discount...