Advice for OAP heating

undaunted

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

Sounds like it's time for the old dear to go into a care home. This would have the added advantage of freeing up the housing stock for people who will actually use the space (e.g. a family). Everyone's a winner.

:eek: Perhaps you could just have her shot & have done with it?

Perhaps she doesn't want to go into a home / wouldn't feel like a winner if your suggestion was forced upon her



What is the problem with the gas supply & cost of rectifying it? Perhaps she could apply for an Energy Trust Grant to help get her gas back on.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Clearly as I said earlier discriminatory and ageist, a ruthlessly persistent portrayal of older people as a waste of resource is unacceptable. Mr Thrifty clearly has issues with the older population in general and a very particularly 'linked' issue with older people and housing.

- #11-while little old grannies live on their own in 5 bed detached houses
- #12-ell yo wrinkly old granny 2 get out and gimme her house, she dun need all that space anyways
- #22-Another baby boomer gets his comuppence
- #08-Beware the oldies, they're nothing but trouble
- #08- Plus, then there will be an additional spacious family home on the market that is so desperately needed by today's young families (as opposed to old grannies who rattle around in it while large families cram into tiny little taylor wimpey shoeboxes).

NOTE: If anyone is ever invited to go Private Messaging with the sweet natured Mr Thrifty think twice and take advice first. These boards are populated with the old infirm and vulnerable. If ever anyone is invited to go off forum the dark murky unseen and unsafe world of Private Messaging posters should be extremely wary if ever encouraged by Mr Thrifty [or anyone else] to go 'out of view' into Private Messaging.

There are many vulnerable posters in this group who trawl for help between the different forums such as Tech / Benefits / Pensions and Gas & Electricity looking for help .. .. my advice would be to protect yourself by posting openly in the forum .. .. ! .. .. do not be enticed away to a place where you can not be seen, supported, and protected by other good posters and the moderators.

Terrylw1

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

Let me guess, you're a baby boomer occupying a large house?

My advice is sound. If the old dear is going around knocking over fires in her house without realising it, and only uses 2 rooms in a 3 storey house, then perhaps it really is time she started looking at going to live in a care home where she will have the facilities and support she needs.

Plus, then there will be an additional spacious family home on the market that is so desperately needed by today's young families (as opposed to old grannies who rattle around in it while large families cram into tiny little taylor wimpey shoeboxes).

She's paid for it, she's entitled to it.

Just because she needs a little help, it doesn't mean she should be forced into a care home...just to get their properties onto the market.

We all get old some day and thankfully not everybody is willing to kick taxpayers out of their homes.

Let's hope no disabled carers post any threads!

Mr_Thrifty

Terrylw1 wrote: »

She's paid for it, she's entitled to it.

I guess she's also entitled to knock over fires without realising it and burn the place down by accident, too, then.

Mr_Thrifty

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Clearly as I said earlier discriminatory and ageist, a ruthlessly persistent portrayal of older people as a waste of resource is unacceptable. Mr Thrifty clearly has issues with the older population in general and a very particularly 'linked' issue with older people and housing.

- #11-while little old grannies live on their own in 5 bed detached houses
- #12-ell yo wrinkly old granny 2 get out and gimme her house, she dun need all that space anyways
- #22-Another baby boomer gets his comuppence
- #08-Beware the oldies, they're nothing but trouble

NOTE: If anyone is ever invited to go Private Messaging with the sweet natured Mr Thrifty think twice and take advice first. These boards are populated with the old infirm and vulnerable. If ever anyone is invited to go off forum the dark murky unseen and unsafe world of Private Messaging posters should be extremely wary if ever encouraged by Mr Thrifty [or anyone else] to go 'out of view' into Private Messaging.

There are many vulnerable posters in this group who trawl for help between the different forums such as Tech / Benefits / Pensions and Gas & Electricity looking for help .. .. my advice would be to protect yourself by posting openly in the forum .. .. ! .. .. do not be enticed away to a place where you can not be seen, supported, and protected by other good posters and the moderators.

I think you've got too much time on your hands, Richie, and have been watching too much daytime TV that has set your imagination alight.

I note that, rather than address the points I made in my post (which are entirely valid and logical), you have simply preferred to attempt a character assassination. That explains everything we need to know about you and your techniques, which I have to say are somewhat on the creepy side.

As you might recall, the main point I made was that if the old dear can't look after herself properly and is knocking over fires by accident without realising it, and also has a house that is too large for her (cf. using only 2 rooms of a 3 storey property) then maybe she should look at going into a care home where she will get the support, safety and facilities she needs.

morphy_richards

Thanks for all your help so far everyone. To add a little more context to the situation, my neigbour and her husband bought this small property in London some 30 years ago. Although it is over 3 floors it is not a big property.

When she bought it it was completely run down. The roof and floors were none existent and she and her husband spent the next 20 years completely refurbishing it on an extremely modest income with both of them working more than one job to earn the money to refurbish it and the husband doing most of the work as he had carpentry skills.

An owner of a factory next door took interest in the property and persecuted the couple for ten years or more, including taking them to court until they uncovered details of some terrible crime forcing the factory owner to flee abroad but not before the husband had died.

The lady in question has invested blood, sweat and tears in this property. She has every right to and fully deserves to enjoy as much time as she can there, where, although she gets confused she is still sharp and she takes in injured and sick animals and nurses them back to health.

I'm dismayed at the suggestion that she be bumped out to let someone else move in. I wonder how those suggesting such an idea would feel about it when they get to a similar position in their lives and furthermore it would be a complete betrayal of the trust she has shown me.

Furthermore, she lived through WW2 and is a living part of our heritage as are many others like her and to go even further in a way she represents our own future because the way we treat her and those like her also dictates what will happen to ourselves and our children when we get to the same position.

To summarise those helpful suggestions, possibly reinstating the gas supply with help from an energy trust grant (how does this work?) or storage heaters. I imagine a storage heater is something like a central heating radiator. Is this right?

morphy_richards

Some more important information, I've just been around to see her and got some paperwork...

Firstly I was wrong abut her fire falling over and her not noticing, she had it the right way up all along and it was me who was mistaken.

Anyway,

Back in March this year when all this disconection work took place shortly after this I phoned British Gas on her behalf as the engineer who had disconnected her had left 2KW portable heaters behind which had clearly pushed her elec bill sky high. She has dual fuel with BG. I think she deserves compensation as their engineer had cut off her front room heating and left her with a totally unacceptable replacement that would push her bill with them sky high.
I thought she deserves compensation for this - to offset the extra elec bill as it is kind of their fault that this happened.

When I phoned BG they denied it was their work and claimed it was Centrica.

I've just been through a load of her old letters with her and just found a receipt / "home care checklist" for "Gas" Appliance model: "prems" (premises?) location : "prems". Details of breakdown to system and "fault resolved" which seems to prove that it was British Gas.

Before I get back in touch with them...

Am I going down the right route in thinking that she deserves compensation from BG because she said to them:
"What am I going to do I have no heating" and they said "we will bring you some heaters" and stated this to my wife as well.

The engineer said to my wife that they didnt want to rerun the pipes under the floorboards but would run it around the outside of the house instead. She was under the impression that this would include the front room but it turns out that they just left her the 2 2KW heaters instead. The receipt shows they reconnected cooker, boiler and water heater but not the gas fire. It seems cynical and greedy to me that they would then leave her such an expensive heating solution for her front room knowing that she would be using this the most.

Before I launch into a full on attack on BG (I've had previous with BG they are kind of like my mortal enemy and I'm now quietly fuming at them yet again) to try and get compensation for her and to see if I can force them to reconnect her lounge at no cost to her am I (a) right in doing this or might there be a potential pitfall and (B) is there any extra ammo anyone can give me to help me in this?
Thanks again!

Pincher

I agree with not running gas pipes under the floorboards, because of the risk of leaking. This is why my mother's new fireplace is a radiator with a fan that has flame effect. Running the gas pipe along the front wall and then straight into the gas heater is a very sound idea.

So you were not in, and your wife didn't want to make the decision about how to run the pipe, so the engineer left the old lady with a temporary solution until SOMEBODY makes up their mind. In the mean time, the case is closed as far as BG or Transco is concerned.

Sounds like all you need to do is get a Gas Safe engineer to connect the existing gas heater by running a bit of pipe work. If you are really lucky, the gas meter is on the front wall already.

morphy_richards

Pincher wrote: »

I

So you were not in, and your wife didn't want to make the decision about how to run the pipe, so the engineer left the old lady with a temporary solution until SOMEBODY makes up their mind. In the mean time, the case is closed as far as BG or Transco is concerned.

Thanks for your reply. That's not quite the case though. Technically we have NOTHING to do with it, the dealings were between the neighbour and BG. We are not carers, just concerned neighbours who are trying to offer help and advice. It just happens that we are friends with her, my wife just happened to be outside one time as an engineer was going in and happened to ask what was going on and we just happened to visit her one time and notice the heater and subsequent conversations have unearthed all of this.

I would be inclined to see your side of the argument except that when I contacted BG in May for an explanation about the work and why the front room was left disconnected, with confirmation from the neighbour to them that I could do so, they categorically denied (LIED) that they had done any work at all. I had looked for paperwork about the work with her previously but it just turned up today and proves they did. The paperwork says the situation was resolved - not "awaiting a decision". There is no followup care, nothing about a revisit and nothing to indicate what you say is the case.

To re-state. The BG engineer cut off her front room gas supply and left her with a completely unacceptable astronomically expensive alternative. I'm biased against BG anyway, I have to admit, but if an engineer from a company comes around and cuts off an essential service and leaves you with a replacement that is many more times more expensive to run and much more profitable to them at the needless expense of the customer then this is ... just wrong and needs to be addressed.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

I think you've got too much time on your hands, Richie, and have been watching too much daytime TV that has set your imagination alight.

~~~snip the drivel ~~~

.

I posted links to your history - go seek help my friend, I didn't need to assassinate you you did it to yourself, the evidence is there for all to see.