Please help rented housing association and no heat

littlemissmoney

skyeandeviesmummy wrote: »

it was dangerous trying to carry pans and kettles up an down the stairs with all my children about

I haven't read the whole thread, but why not plug the kettle in up stairs??

sooz

skyeandeviesmummy wrote: »

Hi

Not sure what happened to my first thread so Im writing it again

I live in a housing association house and we have been having probs with our dual boiler its only heating water luke warm or not at all so heating engineer came out said you need a new plate for heating the water and came back yesterday to fit it. As he was fitting it the non return valve broke and now i have only cold water and no heat!!! He has left me with 2 little fan heaters but I know they cost a lot to run and told me they cant get the part till Mon so he will fit it tuesday.

This wouldnt be so bad if it was just me and DH but I have 3 children under 5 one is a 5 month old baby and yesterday it took me 30 mins to boil water for them to have a bath and it was dangerous trying to carry pans and kettles up an down the stairs with all my children about (DH works shifts so wasnt here).

My question is can they legally leave me without heat and hot water till Tuesday and is this part likely to be got elsewhere and they are just trying to use their cheap supplier? Any help gratefully received as I intend to ring them after I get back from the school to see if anything can be done before then.

Many Thanks

It's never pleasant being without a working boiler, but it does sound as if they are doing all they can. Parts cannot appear by magic, & 4 days, over a weekend is not unreasonable.

You have been left heaters. 4 days of using these is will not hugely impact on your electricity bill. And in the meantime you are saving on gas, so it evens out

Plug the kettle in upstairs. Since your children are little, you probably still have a baby bath about. Fill this, rather than the whole bath for them. Or ask a neighbour if you can use their bath/shower this weekend.

MissMoneypenny

BrandNewDay wrote: »

In the good old days, A) People had stoves in which they could burn solid fuel and, children got chilblains.

C) We also had coal fires.

Gorgeous_George

You could take the kettle upstairs. Fill it with cold water in the bathroom and plug it in at a socket in a bedroom.

I don't know what you think they could do

I think you are getting great service. If it's not good enough, buy your own home and see how easy it is to get service engineers to repair boilers.

Use the portable heating to keep one room warm. Keep the door shut and make sure the kids don't get too close to the heaters.

I'm sure you will survive.

GG

kittyscarlett

You have got heating, you've got fan heaters. They have NOT left you without heat ! If you are concerned about the amount of energy the fan heaters might use, then halogen heaters, which are safe ( automatic cut out if knocked over etc ) and energy efficient, are quite inexpensive to buy new. You can get hot water and as other have suggested, take the kettle upstairs, take the kids for baths at neighbours/friends/family. They do not have to have a full bath every day !

I am sorry you are having to deal with this at a time of family illness as of course it makes things harder to cope with, but the engineering company/HA seem to have everything in hand and are dealing with things as quickly as they can. It's true, if you were to live in either privately rented accomadation or owned your own home things usually take a lot more time/money to resolve.