Private Renting - Issues with Boiler

damoandclaire

Hi Guys & Gals,

Just wondering if someone could give me some advice. SOrry if this thread is in the wrong place.

We currently rent our 2 bed place off a private landlord and for the most part, things are good, that was until we got our gas bill.

They wanted over £500 quid for a quarter and being a two bed house we thought this was somewhat excessive.

The first thing we did was question the amount which they (meaning BG) did a fairly thorough investigation - checked meters etc, mainly because they beleived it was also quite high.

In the end they couldn't find anything wrong. The next thing we did was to get our landlord to check the boiler. Which he did reluctantly given our concerns.

We found out that what was happening was that the heating on permanently (when the timer kicked in) when we just wanted hot water. So we turned off all the radiators (mainly because my landlord said that he wasn't going to do anything about that). The boiler thermostat was also set to full blast which has now been corrected.

Eventually, after jumping up and down about it a bit, we've found out that the boiler is well over 20 years old. His engineer has told him(the landlord) that to repair it would be notoriously expensive and would be cheaper in the long run (because the repair wouldn't last) to replace the boiler.

Given that hes been told that, he's still not going to replace it and has taken the stance of, because its deemed safe, hes not doing anything.

So, as he's taken that stance, we're now lumbered with an astronomical gas bill every quarter because the boiler is just eating gas.

Sorry for waffling on there but is there anything that we can do about this. My landlord has so much as hinted that if we start complaining about it and causing problems, he would have to look at whether he still wants us as tennants (we've gone past our initial 6 months so its just running month by month) so we're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. We can't afford to move because of deposit and month up front on new place - what can we do?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

PS - We're going to CAB on tuesday also to get advice but not holding our hopes up

JanCee

Why don't you just adjust the controls. In the summer I have my hot water on for 1 hour per day. This is enough to provide hot water for 2 of us. The boiler in my last house was 20 years old, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. You need to find out how the system works and take some responsibility for adjusting it to suit your needs.

damoandclaire

Well, we had to find that out manually and now that bits sorted and as a result our usage is now a lot less.

However, I'm very worried at the fact that hes admited it has a fault and his service engineer has recommended it be replaced, but he refuses to do this or to even get the repair done. I have two children in this house and one of them sleeps in the room where this boiler is.

Can we not do something about forcing him to get the repair done at least?

JanCee

Has the LL provided you with an up to date gas safety certificate as required by law? The other thing you could do to give you some peace of mind is to buy a carbon monoxide alarm. They are not too expensive and if I was renting with young children I would always make sure I had one.

damoandclaire

We do get the safety certificate because the engineer deems it to be safe because the fault doesn't affect that part. The faulty affects how the hot water and heating work seperately. So essentially, at the momenth, when its on, its hot water AND heating but it could come to the point were we get neither. I mean, we had to wait 5 days for our toilet to be repaired. He really doesn't want to part with his money on things that I feel should be done as we're paying tenants.

We have the carbon monoxide testers in the room as we walk in so we can see if theres a leak or not but I must admit, the alarms are sounding more appealing at the moment.

Thanks for the replies by the way

JanCee

Shelter give very good advice to tenants who are having problems with their rental property, perhaps you should contact them and see what they advise.

Welshwoofs

Wouldn't turning all the radiator thermostats down to zero basically be the same as having no heating on?

If the boiler is safe, then it sounds as though you'll have to control the temperature of your house (and therefore your gas bill) with the radiator thermostats. With a solid fuel heating system, this is something I have to do as standard, in Spring and Autumn when it's too warm for heating but I want hot water from the system (rather than from the immersion tank) I simply go round and switch all the rads off.

confused31_2

I would just explain to the landlord that if you are not happy staying there, with a old boiler, that you will be leaving at the end of your tenancy.

Then its up to him if he wants to lose you as tenants, or buy you a new boiler, it sounds to me like the boiler settings are okay now, like someone said earlier Boilers will last for years, and if the gas engineer issuses the certificate it should be okay, otherwise if it wanst he would be putting his neck on the block.

5 days to get the toliet fixed is a bit much, how was it broke?

In a landlords eyes its his income, to pay for a new boiler he may have to put your rent up, would you be happy if he done that?

mwahaha

It sounds like it's working despite being old and inefficient.

If you're paying reliably then he'll want to keep to as tenants, but the cost of a new boiler is at least a couple of months rent so he may be willing to risk a void period between tenants to avoid this cost. If you are willing to potentially rent somewhere else then you can say 'replace it or we move'.

Write down the meter reading each week and work out how much it's going to be next time, hopefully with your lower usage things will be less 'astronomical' anyway. A new more efficient boiler will reduce your bills, but probably only by about 30-35%.

clutton_2

there is nothing illegal about using an old boiler. if it has passed its Landlords Gas Safety certificate there is nothing you can do other than turn off radiators - not too onerous a thing.

G_M

We found out that what was happening was that the heating on permanently (when the timer kicked in) when we just wanted hot water. So we turned off all the radiators

Had you not noticed the heating was on all the time?

boiler thermostat was also set to full blast which has now been corrected.

Did you not notice your water was, like, really hot?

we've found out that the boiler is well over 20 years old.

My boiler is 32 years old and works perfectly - OK maybe new ones are more energy efficient, but the 'energy' that would be wasted by replacinbg it is huge!

because its deemed safe, hes not doing anything.

Seems fair. It's up to him whether to fork out £2000 - £4000 so long as it's safe.

if we start complaining about it and causing problems, he would have to look at whether he still wants us as tennants

Well, if a tenant is likely to cost a LL £2-4K, I'm not surprised!

his service engineer has recommended it be replaced,

Now - who would get the job if it was replaced? Oh yes, the engineer!

it could come to the point were we get neither.

Or it could work fine for the next 10 years.

As JanCee says: "take some responsibility for adjusting it to suit your needs."

This doesn't actually sound like a boiler problem at all - it's the thermostat/timer/heat Vs water controls.