Mr Peacock

When I got my kitchen refitted i got the oven relocated, so the pipe off the mains in the kitchen was relocated by a gas safe engineer and signed off by him.

 

Now when I am selling my house they are asking for a building regs cert for the work - is this right should I have been issued one?

There has been a requirement for registered gas installers to self notify their work for quite some time now. It costs a few quid and can be done through Gas Safe.

As I understand it, the requirements regarding notification are that any heat producing appliance should be notified. And on this basis I have registered ANY gas appliance that either myself or our employees have installed, be it a boiler, a cooker, or a gas fire etc.

My opinion is that it is better to offer a more professional service, and for the sake of 2 minutes form filling and a couple of quid, it avoids situations like this.

Even insulated pipe work loses heat. obviously at a lower rate than uninsulated pipe work. But in all cases the greater the temperature difference the rate of heat loss increase. For example, the heatloss through a cavity wall increases if the temperature outside falls, and reduces if the temperature outside rises. The same is true of the pipes in concrete. A cold uninsulated existing concrete floor will speed up the heat loss from the pipe work.

Apart from the mess & extra cost associated with chasing pipes into concrete floors, the heat loss from the pipes will increase being exposed to the cold uninsulated concrete floor. It would be much more efficient, less disruption / mess, and certainly lower cost to have the pipework discretely surface mounted and neatly boxed in.

getting a new boiler fitted thinking of getting one of these Worcester Bosch junior 28i

are they any good ?

 

http://www.building-supplies-online.co.uk/worcester-greenstar-28i-junior-combi-he-boiler-lpg-gas-59891-p.asp

 

all advice/reviews/experience and opnions will be very apreciated thanks

I would also consider Vaillant ecoTEC Pro 28 Combi. A very competitively priced and robust boiler with a good warranty.

Green Deal report on BBC news today....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21226042

---------- Post added 29-01-2013 at 07:24 ----------

You can upgrade heating systems, insulate better etc etc to your hearts content but until our attitudes to energy use change then it will be the same old story.

We waste so much energy in our homes through laziness and bad habits. I'd hazard a guess that you can make a huge dent in your bills by simply using your energy more sparingly and efficiently.

 

What if there aren't any savings? How is the loan paid for then? There's no guarantee that a householder will see those figures quoted below. Your annual energy savings are based on exact energy usage with new boiler and haven't taken into account the inevitable energy price increases that would all but wipe it out or the attitude of said homeowner. What if its a particularly cold winter???

 

The figures stack up nicely on a fact sheet but I suspect reality will differ

The process of a Green Deal assessment of a property and its occupants is in 2 parts.

The first part is the assessment of the properties current energy performance, and will identify what improvements can be made.

The second part of the assessment is the occupancy assessment which gathers exact information regarding the occupants behaviour / usage patterns / consumption of energy in their home. i.e. How many people live there, what is the total number of baths / showers per week, what temp and how is the heating set. Also a full 12 months worth of the previous actual energy bill data is required.

The occupancy assessment (if done accurately) will ensure that the savings calculated are realistic, and therefor that the golden rule criteria if met, is not a distorted figure.

This way I cannot see how the savings cannot be met. The only way the bills should increase after a Green Deal improvement has been done is if....

A) The tenant changes their behaviour / usage of the energy they consume e.g. leaving windows and doors wide open, when they didnt before, or...

B) The actual cost of Gas / Electricity increases.

Now there is little you can do about point A, as that is out of everyones hands, and I totally agree that people need to be educated about ways to save energy through behavioural changes.

Now there is not much point looking at point B either, because one thing you can be 100% certain of, is that fuel costs will rise. I would argue that I would rather live in an improved property to offset those fuel price rises.

A good example is lets say you drive a 2 litre petrol car (car A), and you decide to change it for a 1 litre petrol car (car B) because the fuel costs are becoming expensive.

At some stage in the future when the fuel cost have gone up, the fuel cost of car B, will be the same as the old fuel cost of car A. However, had you never changed the car you would be hit with an even higher fuel cost of car A.

Its all too easy to focus on picking fault with Green Deal at this stage, because it is a new scheme that has not been had chance to prove itself yet. Only time will tell, but lets not forget what the purpose of Green Deal is, and that is to reduce the UK's carbon emmissions, via improving the energy efficiency of the existing buildings where possible.

---------- Post added 29-01-2013 at 07:42 ----------

I'm really sceptical about the Green Deal. Last year my tenant had free additional loft insualtion put in on a government scheme. I think it is causing a problem with condensation and mould, it's almost as if the house can't breathe anymore. I would be very reluctant to have the gable end wall insulated externally (cost £10K) on the Green Deal, not just because it would take so long to recoup the outlay, but I'm not sure that it wouldn't cause me more problems. I have had some considerable correspondence with the Government department on this matter. They do not realise that many terraced houses built in the early 20th century do not have cavity walls, and the cost of insulating them set against the benefits/possible damage is not easily calculated. I'm a good landlord, and I would do anything to help my tenant have lower fuel bills, any suggestions/experiences would be most welcome.

It sounds like you may have issues with the quality of the installation of your insullation.

An insulation company should ensure that any measures they install will not cause thermal bridging which can lead to damp.

They should install any necessary ventilation / vapour barriers to ensure this doesnt happen.

If your installation was done professionally, then you should have an installation certificate, and the install should be registered. If it has then I suggest you get the install checked under its guarantee.

Green Deal is heavily audited, and standards will be checked regularly. You also have the protection of lengthy warranties under Green Deal.

With regards to solid wall insulation, ECO may contribute a significant, if not 100% of the cost towards the solid wall insulation, which does not have to be repaid in the same way that Green Deal finance does. To qualify under ECO certain criteria have to be met i.e. is the occupier in receipt of any benefits, or is the property difficult to treat (solid wall / narrow cavity)

I would recommend anyone with a solid wall property to at least find out what they can get.

I have also research this as well, always looking at ways to bring business in.

Please tell me which points are inaccurate or unreliable ?

Seems to me you have just taken all the positives and not read the negitives.

Time will tell,

Regards.

I have read the negatives! If you read through my previous posts I have stated what they are.

The Green Deal wont suit everyone.

It is important not to lose sight of the key points of Green Deal which are...

* Its purpose is to reduce the UK's carbon emmissions.

*It is a frame work to enable people to upgrade their property to a more energy efficient standard without having to put in the capital up front themselves.

*Under ECO (Energy Company Obligation), people who meet certain criteria i.e. are in receipt of certain benefits, or live in a difficult to treat property (solid wall / narrow cavity), can have access to grant funding to enable them to install the identified improvement measures free of charge.

*Under the golden rule criteria of Green Deal, the energy cost savings produced by the installed measures, have to be equal to or greater than the cost of repaying the Green Deal loan (including the interest).

*In simple terms, the technology will pay for itself.

We all have our opinions and mine is that the biggest take up will be the poor that cannot get credit etc or those in rented houses,

In both cases this makes the rich richer and the poor pay the bill.

People that have the money or can get a loan would not want this as it will cost more in the long term and will be some hassle if selling etc, my i went on the course the trainers told us this.

The golden rule is a joke as its just a scam to get all them EPC done again ( at a cost )

Much cheaper to ring 3/4 plumbers and get a quote.

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 22:47 ----------

 

Also your figure do not stack up, or are very different to the ones we where show on the training.

It was clear that they were saying demand will be high and this in turn will help your margin, this is what we where told.

I can see you have invested big in this and you do not want my comments but there the truth as I see it from the training I had.

What a stupid statement to make.

Prove the figures don't stack up and give reasons why!

I recon the training you've had is the biggest load of old rubbish and a complete waste of your time. If someone has told you that Green Deal is a cash cow and you should start rubbing your hands together, then I would seriously question their ethics.

Your quite right, I have invested big in this, but not financially. I have taken alot of time to read the facts, and obtain the right information from the right sources. What I haven't done is take the advice from an unreliable, inaccurate, single source of information like you have done.

The £120 is on top of all the other costs you have said.

The landlord will do really well out of it, tenants paying to add valve to the landlords houses.

You have been sold it well but in my opinion it just does not seem as good as you say.

All the green deal jobs will be done at a much higher cost and then paid for by people that don't own the house. Is this something like the rich get richer and the poor pay for it.

Sounds like the bankers all over again.

Why will Green Deal jobs be done at higher costs? Why will it be paid for by people who don't own the house? Your forgetting that Green Deal is available to all, home owners and tenants.

I keep saying it.... the savings made are used to pay off the loan, i.e. it pays for itself.

Cost of replacing inefficient boiler with band A condensing boiler.... £1000

Annual energy savings from installing new boiler..... £300

Length of boiler guarantee.... 5 years

Therefore savings x guarantee (£300 x 5).......£1500

The interest on the loan at 6.9% over 5years.....£185

So total cost of repaying boiler via green Deal.... £1185

So the total savings over 5 years (£1500) minus the cost of Green Deal loan over 5 years (£1185)........£315

So lets say the average monthly gas bill at the property is £70 per month

the savings from installing the new boiler are (£300 divided by 12months)....£25 per month

The monthly Green Deal loan repayments are (£1185 divided by 60months).....£19.75 per month.

So lets compare the gas bill before Green Deal.... £70

With the gas bill after Green Deal, once the savings and loan repayments are being made..... £70, minus £25, plus £19.75 = £64.75

So as you can see, new boiler under Green Deal is paying for itself, and the gas bill is still £5.25 per month cheaper than it was. This is because it meets the golden rule and the savings made are greater than the cost of installing the boiler, plus interest on the loan, over the length of the warranty.

So the poor pay for landlords to do there houses up, yep seems really fair to me.

As apposed to the poor making the energy companies rich because of the extra energy they are having to pay for just to try to keep their inefficient house warm.

The Green Deal is fantastic for landlords, because it will enable them to improve their property at no upfront cost. Your correct in that whoever pays the bill is paying for the improvements, but yet again it will be the savings made from the installed technologies that will pay for themselves. So the tenant will be no worse off as long as the golden rule has been met.

You could argue that the tenant will benefit from a more comfortable house. If the tennant is no worse off, but has greater comfort then that is only a positive thing.

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 18:35 ----------

Maybe you do not understand, it costs £2 to reg a boiler with gas safe and this is on a completed job.

With the green deal you still have to pay this but also there is a cost involved in every quote ,say it costs £30 per quote and you sell 1 job in 4 then that means the customer that buys from you will have £120 added onto there job.

Ok. So when you go to do a quote, it costs you in time, fuel, insurance, paper, ink, phone calls. Lets say you win 1 in 4 quotes, does this mean the person who you do the job for picks up the bill for these fixed costs? Yes it does. But this isn't frowned upon is it?

I understand perfectly.

If the installer is the Assessors then he pays for every quote done.

If the provider is doing the Assessment then the cost will be added somewhere.

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 17:53 ----------

 

The EPC thing needs to be paid for as well. Is it just a big con or will it work, only time will tell

True, there are costs involved in the assessment, in the same way that there are costs in notifying the installation of a new boiler with gas safe. When they introduced gas work notification, did this massively impact what was being charged for the install? No, because a few pounds is all this really costs.

As I see it, it could put people off renting a property or buying a property with a green deal stamp on it.

 

For me at the moment I think I will go independent.

 

The big boys are going to make mega bucks out of this but the man with the tools are going to get peanuts.

As fuel bills rise, the running costs could equally put people off.

For example a tenant has the choice of 2 identical properties. 1 has been subject to green deal improvements, and is more energy efficient I.e. Costs less to run, and the other hasn't, but costs more to run. Which does the tenant choose? Even under worst case conditions, provided that the golden rule has been met, both properties would cost the same to run.

The deciding factor would surely then be down to which is more comfortable / desirable, which is going to be the property that has been improved.

If you have your own money in the bank, then I agree that Green Deal may not be for you.

If you sell your house, the person buying your house would be liable for any outstanding loan.

Correct. The Green Deal is attached to the electricity bill of the property until it is repaid.

However with rising fuel costs im pretty sure people will be glad the property is to a higher energy efficiency standard than it was pre Green Deal.

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 17:35 ----------

This is not true, I fit around 300 boilers a year and maybe sell about 200/300 to other installers,

I get boilers at good prices and get good rebates.

If I buy a boiler on the green deal it costs me much more as I am limited to where I buy, this is a fact, it's about £200 more just for the boiler then everything else has to be bought via that company, there is No way the cost will be lower.

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 16:12 ----------

 

As a installer you have to pay for every quote you do, this will put the price up for all the people that sign up.

The installer doesn't pay for the quote. Some Green Deal providers / Assessors will charge for carrying out the survey, others will offer it for free.

The cost of the install is said to be quite a lot more to start with, maybe 50%

You are limited to where you can buy your boilers and you have to pay what ever price they charge.

Not true! Install costs will actually fall, as a result of increased competition and higher volumes of work. It would make no sense for install costs to rise, as it makes it harder to meet the golden rule. Install costs will definitely fall.

If you suddenly started fitting lots of boilers, you would get rebates from your suppliers making your install costs less.

Also the cost of materials will follow suit because suppliers will be dealing in larger volumes too.

It's cheaper for the customer to get a loan if say they wanted a new boiler.

Set up for the big boys in my opinion.

Is it cheaper? Green Deal interest rate has been confirmed at 6.9%, and banks charge what exactly?

Also, what about people with poor credit who can't get loans? That's right, they end up paying 30% APR.

Green Dean lending is not attached to the person either.

If something costs 6k to install and saves you £68 over 3 years it doesn't seem very good at all?

You would save more by turning the tv off stand by over the 3 years and not have to pay more for your electricity

Unfortunately the indicative costs on the EPC for how much the technology is to install is way out of touch with todays actual prices. You would never pay £6000 for a solar thermal system. The true cost is under half that.

Solar thermal is a poor example to be fair because it only delivers low savings, while being expensive to install. Whereas loft insulation can save you hundreds, for only a few hundred pounds installed.

Again, you are not being charged more for your electricity, because the savings should always meet the golden rule, which should mean that in the worst case your bills will remain the same.

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 15:39 ----------

The green deal seems like another way for the rich boys to make money, costs to much for small company's to get involved in.

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 15:07 ----------

 

I have been on the training and they tell you, if the customer has the money then it is cheaper for them just to buy the boiler etc outright.

Once again, its stating the obvious to say that you are better paying for it yourself. Of course it is, as you won't be paying any interest, in the same way you wouldn't buy a car on finance if you'd got the cash to pay for it outright.

But ECO under the Green Deal scheme, also provides access to free funding for people who are on benefits or who have difficult to treat properties. Anyone with solid walled or narrow cavity properties that can't have cavity fill insulation should really take up the green deal without delay.

For the early adopters of the Green Deal, there are cash back incentives for each of the technologies you have installed, upto a maximum of about £1000.

We have just sold our house on the epc it recommends solar water heating to make the house more energy efficient, the indicative cost is 6k with typical savings of £68 over 3 years. But available with the green deal, I have no idea what the green deal is.

The Green Deal is new scheme which is designed to help people to improve the energy efficiency of their property at no up front cost. As a nation we need to hit carbon reduction targets that the government agreed to when we signed up to the kyoto treaty.

Because of the costs involved to bring houses up to a higher standard, they came up with The Green Deal. Under the Green Deal, a home owner or tenant can have a Green Deal assessment done on their property. The assessment starts by producing the EPC, which gives the recommendations for improving the property.

A second assessment is carried out, called The Occupancy Assessent, which looks at the way you set your heating to come on and off, the temperature you set your thermostat to (if you have one), how you dry your clothes, how many baths / showers you have etc to name just a few. It also looks at your fuel bills. The information from this second assessment is used to calculate a financial figure of what annual savings could be made by installing the technologies recommended on the EPC.

As long as the savings from the installed technologies meet "the golden rule" then can be installed at no up front cost. Essentially the savings must be equal to or greater than the cost of repaying the cost of installing the technology (plus interest circa 6.9%) over the technologies expected life span.

---------- Post added 27-01-2013 at 11:50 ----------

For me the Green Deal is not appealing. The savings made then get loaded onto the electricity meter as a standing charge and last for up to 25 years. So lower gas bills but higher electricity bills?

 

Anybody who is considering this scheme I strongly advise you to read the small print.

Under the golden rule, the savings from the installed technology must be equal to, or greater than the cost of repaying the green deal loan, over the life expectancy of the technology.

So the repayments are loaded onto the electric bill, but there are savings made, so worst case is that the bills stay the same. You will have still improved the comfort and value of your home.

Its true that it wont be for everyone, e.g. If you have can afford to pay for the technology yourself, you don't incur any interest.

It is also worth pointing out that under the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) part of Green Deal, some people will qualify for funding that doesnt have to be paid back i.e. if you are in receipt of certain benefits, or you live in a difficult to treat solid walled property.

Its complicated when it doesnt need to be

Please explain why you think it is more complicated than it needs to be. How would you like to see it work?

Over the coming months, the Governments new flagship energy efficiency scheme, for improving existing properties, will appear more in the media.

Like all new schemes it will be met with both positive, and negative responses.

I was wondering what other peoples thoughts were on the scheme, and which of you will be taking up the scheme for your own properties.

Hi

 

We want to extend our tv aerial and then mount our tv on the wall rather than have it on a tv unit.

 

The aerial currently comes in at the corner of the room but we want the tv on the chimney breast a few metres away.

 

Can anyone recommend an aerial man who does this type of thing?

Try lamberts arials 07762105255. Has done work for me in the past. Very neat, very tidy, and really knows his stuff! Oh and his prices are very competitive too.

If you want a pro job, give him a call! Tell him I recommended him to you.

Regards Steve

Now it's been approx 2,3 years since people have been having solar panels fitted.

Are they really saving you money and are they generating as promised.

Are they working today? With the snow

Now im not just saying this because we fit them. Ive had a 2kw south facing system for over 18 months now, and based on the predicted generation, and the actual generation, I have produced more kWh than calculated. in terms of electricity savings, I have saved about a third off my bill.

Prices are falling, and are set to fall further with the coming Green deal scheme. You can get a 4kW system now for under £5000 (18 months ago the same system would cost between £11000 to £15000.

I can recommend Paul from Prestige Mortgages in Sheffield. He helped me with my remortgage and really listened to what I wanted.

His contact details are...

info@prestige-mortgage.co.uk

Tel : 019095471222.

Hope this helps

Steve

With British Gas I was for gas being charged 5.40p per unit, 136.360 per day per unit and a climate change levy of 0.177p per unit when I bought a new property. They call this an emergency rate, as I have not yet opted into a contract! The bill was insane and I am still in dispute.

 

Does anyone know what a good rate per unit is for gas please?

A decent standing rate per day?

What the climate change levy is, do I have to pay this as well?

 

I think all gas and electricty should be made national with one flat rate for everyone, trying to work out my bills and compare is impossible, any smart equations?

 

i want to be able to understand this myself first before trying comparison sites, any help would be much appreciated please

Are you a business or domestic comsumer of Gas? CCL is only chargeable to businesses, and not to domestic.

Try 'Mr.Peacock' on here, he is a Viessmann specialist

Thanks for recommendation Steve, but as you know i don't get my hands mucky these days, and we haven't installed Viessmann for ages.

Awesome boilers though, especially the vitodens 200. Way too advanced for the uk market. People need educating first, and in 10 years time if we've caught up with the Germans, then there will prob be a market for it here.

why do you need a specialist a boilers a boiler we can help if you are stuck !

If you've never installed or serviced one, i wouldn't recommend taking this on. They are a specialist piece of kit, especially when fitted with the weather comp sensor and room controller.

Op is better off getting Viessmann to do it directly.

old boiler not work, the repair quote is more than 300, so want to change a new one. can anyone give a quote for setting up a new one? how much for the boiler and the work? I remember B&Q sell boiler, the lowest one is around 600, can I buy one for you to set up, or you'll supply your boiler?

If you buy a b&q boiler, you will more than likely be having to replace it in 12 months. Check out our fixed prices at http://www.oneheating.co.uk or http://www.greenbuyheating.co.uk. Finance available with a vaillant boiler with 10 year warranty from £12.99 per month.

Regards

Steve Peacock