Warm Front Grant saved me a fortune!

sheryldoc

oes this grant apply in scotland too?

Lady_K

sheryldoc

I think it is in scotland but it might not be the same name though. I am sure theres another thread on here somewhere in silver savers about it, people living in scotland that have had it done.

The man from Kershaws rang me tonight a little while ago asking if they could come and fit the boiler on Monday. I said yes straight away, he seemed surprised as he said he had rang 3 people before me and they had all said no. I can't believe people say no even though its near christmas.

The man asked me if he was removing the old boiler from the loft, I said I had no idea they hadn't told me anything. He asked how many floors it was and didnt seem too keen to remove it, is it best to be removed?

He said he had rang the tech man to ask if he could put the new one in the loft again but he said no. I'm quite happy having it in the kitchen anyway as I cannot get up the loft myself so I'd really like it to be there now. Only thing I'm concerned with is if it will work my gas shower as well as my old one because at the moment my gas shower is nearer to the boiler than it will be once its moved downstairs.

He mentioned the cupboards as its being moved downstairs and said if I empty them he will take them down, by the sounds of it ill only lose the end corner unit as he said however far the window is from the boiler they can get around that so it shouldnt be a problem. I might lose my curtain rail and I'll have to re-site the phone but so it's not too bad. So hes coming at 7.30am Monday morning, don't know if hes coming all the way from cambridge but if he is he will be setting out early seeing as I'm in Nottingham.

I forgot to ask how long it will take, does anyone have any idea? Its just the boiler being removed from loft, new one fitted in kitchen and I think new controls but I don't know where they will put them. My old ones are in the cupboard under the stairs a long way from the boiler in the loft and thats a little way from the kitchen where the new boiler will go

I'm just pleased the others said no before me

margaretclare

Hi all

See my posts above and the long-running saga.

I phoned WarmFront today (Friday) as requested on Monday this week. Another check with Interglow - the quote had been sent yesterday, it hasn't appeared on WarmFront's system yet. The timescale, I was told, is probably 3 to 4 weeks to process the quotation, then the parts have to be ordered, then the installers have to fit it into their workload. Given that we're now well into December, there will be several days around Christmas/New Year when the whole country grinds to a halt, I can't see this work being done in our case much before February or even March.

The good news is that we've got a revised monthly budget payment figure from Npower of £56 a month rather than the £58 we were paying and the £64 they wanted to put it up to before we sent them an accurate meter reading earlier this week. The bad news is that £56 a month is compared with the £28 a month we were paying at the start of this year.

So all in all I think we are looking at a timescale of 9 months or so from the time we first applied for this to the time the installation actually gets done. And we're in a much better financial position than a lot of the people who'll be applying. My heart goes out to them.

Lady_K, glad you're getting yours done. I've been told the installation will only take a day, or day and a half max. Perhaps the other people who've said 'no' think it will take a week and don't want to be cold. Can't understand why anyone would put off something like this just because of being close to Christmas. You either want it done or you don't, and this is the coldest part of the year, with some nasty weather forecast over coming weeks.

In 1992 I arrived back from working in the Middle East, temperature of 40 degrees at Jeddah airport, to find that my gas boiler had died and been condemned in my absence. I then had to find an installer willing to put in a new boiler, and everyone mentioned Christmas - 'You'll be lucky to get it done this side of Christmas', incredulous laughter, and so on. I was used to a warm climate and I was freezing! That took a large chunk of the money I'd earned in Saudi and I was unemployed. Not a good memory.

Margaret

Tallymanjohn

My MiL has just had a replacement boiler installed using WarmFront & I'm not at all impressed. She got a grant for £2,700 (it all came through within a couple of weeks which was good) but she was told it would be £3,100 for just the boiler replacement and new cylinder (It's only a 3-bed terraced house). She'd already got quotes from other companies before finding out about WarmFront and the highest quote was for £2,200 including quality boiler, new cylinder, roof insulation & new TRVs throughout. WarmFront only gave the option of the one supplier (I've since found out they get all of their work through WarmFront) and she has to pay the £300 difference herself without the option of second quotations. The guy fitted this (in my opinion - never heard of the make) poor quality boiler on Thursday/Friday but was unable to do the electrics and an electrician is coming 'sometime' next week. As a result she has a cable stretched across the landing to the CH pump and the boiler is just plugged into a power socket in the kitchen. As she is partially sighted I added an extension to the pump lead so we could stop her tripping over it. She has to remember to switch off both at night (if she only switched off the pump the fitter told her the boiler would 'blow', so she's now frightened of that!). To top it all, Sunday morning, the boiler failed to ignite - went through troubleshooting instructions with no joy - managed to contact fitting company & they are calling out tomorrow.

We have just had a new boiler in our house (5 bed detached, including new cylinder & 5 replacement TRVs, & all that only came to £2,400). Basically the whole WarmFront scheme seems to be a rip-off to the tax-payer - it wouldn't be so bad if the companies were providing a decent service, but they aren't. Once the system is totally finished, I'm writing to WarmFront & DEFRA about this whole scam - I know it's just one of many in the country today - and I know my MiL basically got a replacement boiler for £300, but why should we all get fleeced by this lot!

End of rant.

Lady_K

I don't know what to say but that all sounds absolutely terrible. You must contact warmfront I'd say you need to make an official complaint its obviously unsafe and that she is patially sited makes it even worse.

Mines being fitted tomorrow morning 7.30am I'm worried about mine, my quote was for £2,400 but what I don't agree with is that warmfront do not give the house owner a copy of the accepted quote, this means the fitting company can put alsorts on that you don't really need or put things down that they don't actually use or do so make money on it. I think its even more important that you get a copy if you have to put money towards it too because youd expect that from anything you have to pay for bewing done so why not with them.

What make was the boiler? mine will be a vaillant, they are very good boilers I've had one already for 18 years no problem they are a german make from what I gather. I have concern though on the boiler size as its slightly lower capacity on the central heating side of things but about the same on the water. I did question this but they said it was enough to do next doors house aswell but I actually don't believe it as its sold to do small flats or small houses. Warmfront dont do the higher spec boiler in vaillant only other models so I just have left it coz I do know vaillant are prob better than the other models they use. Warmfront did tell me that if it proves to be insufficient the company have to put a new one in at thier own cost they have also reminded the company of this too so they know and still say its fine so I'm just hoping it will be fine

Should I ask him to remove the old boiler from the loft?

SambaRamba

Hello, how long do you have to have lived in your current house before you can apply for a warmfront grant? I know i'd be eligible to receive one but have only just moved in. Does anyone know?

Lady_K

I dont think it matters but give them a ring they will tell you straight away. You can even get it in rented accom

Lady_K

The plumbers do not want to take out my old boiler do you think that matters too much? I did want it to be moved really even though its up the loft but as its quite big and they are quoting health and safety. They told me its bigger than the actual opening to the loft but thats not true as thats the way it went up through there. Hes gone to phone the boss up about it but even before he saw it he didnt want to take it out even though he didnt know the size but it went up there why cant it come down

margaretclare

Hi Lady_K

DH says leave it where it is - it's not bothering you, if there's plenty of space up there just forget about it. DH understands about H&S from his decades in industry - he says it would probably take 3 blokes to get it down. We'll be the same - there's a hot water tank up there that won't be used once we get our new system, but it will be drained and left empty, we'll just forget that it's there.

HTH

Margaret

margaretclare

Hi all

Have just phoned WF again - they were told that the installer had sent the quote but it has to be 'scrutinised and approved' before it appears on their system so Vicky on the helpline couldn't see it on the screen.

I asked if we would get a copy of the quote. They only send one if the customer asks for one. Me: 'Well, I'm asking. We won't agree or allow any work to be done here unless we see a copy of the quote first'. Vicky: 'That's fine, I'll make a note, we'll send you one'.

Now, I am lucky here. DH was a manager in manufacturing industry and he's well on the ball about all these things. He was horrified reading about Tallymanjohn's MIL and the predicament she's been left in. 'Agreeing to install one boiler - it's like saying "just build me one ship". There's a whole lot you need to know before anyone arrives on the doorstep complete with tools and parts. They think that just because we're getting 'something for nothing' they have us by the short and curlies, they imagine that we're poor old folk who don't know the time of day and they can take advantage of us'.

Lady_K, I think you should have clarified and agreed in advance whether the existing boiler was to come out or to stay where it is. It's too late when the blokes arrive expecting to start work, with time already allotted for the job they thought they were going to do. We know we have a boiler behind the fireplace - we don't want that to come out, we just want it rendered inoperative. Same with the hot-water-tank in the loft - we don't need the space it occupies, it can stay there until the house falls down so long as it is drained.

So please can I suggest to anyone who's waiting for a WarmFront grant or might think of applying for one - ask for a copy of the quotation. You'll only get one if you ask, you won't get one automatically if you don't ask. But WF appear to be quite happy to send a copy to anyone who asks.

Another point just occurred to me this morning. We hear a lot about Staywarm run by Powergen, a special system for over-60s, you pay a fixed monthly direct debit for both gas and electricity guaranteed for one year. It's supposed to give 'peace of mind', prevent older people worrying about bills etc, you use as much power as you want, 24/7 if you like, and just pay the amount that they say. Our gas and electricity with Npower will, from the New Year, total £84.50 and I've just been quoted £82.40 from Staywarm. Save £2.10 a month, you might think, a good idea? But we know that when we get the new system installed our gas usage is going to drop substantially. But Staywarm don't take into account your usage, only the number of bedrooms and number of inhabitants. The young couple next door, with a boiler similar to the one we'll be having, leave their heating on 24/7 anyway because it's so cheap, and the thermostat ensures that it's only kept at a nice comfortable temperature. They pay a lot less for gas than we do.

Therefore, what I'm saying is, with your new boiler and up-to-date control system, Staywarm may NOT be such a good idea for us oldies who're taking advantage of the WarmFront scheme!

Any comments, Martin or any of the MSE team?

Margaret