Warm Front advice

margaretclare

newleaf wrote: »

Don't worry Margaret, you are not alone! My in-laws are more than happy with their new installation

I'm glad that someone else is, and good luck to your in-laws!

Their gas bills should literally tumble, although it might take a few months for them to see the effects. Our previous boiler would have been repairable - it was only the heating control that was stuck causing it to burn too much gas, but when the assessors came round they took one look, muttered 'no spare parts' and from then on it was all plain sailing. Because the existing boiler had been using too much gas, we're now paying half as much for gas as we were a year ago, and that even takes into account price rises in the meantime.

We also like the idea of using just as much hot water as we need when we need it, not having to keep 40 gallons of water hot in the loft 24/7 when we use it mainly in the mornings.

I think the work done - new boiler PLUS cavity wall insulation - for a contribution of £450 was cheap at the price and not a rip-off at all. We can't have cavity wall insulation - single-skin brick walls - but we could have had extra loft insulation if the existing insulation had been inadequate. In fact, the insulation that my first husband laid down in 1990 is still adequate, as the assessors pronounced, fibreglass unrolled between the joists and flooring boards laid down on top. It was one of the first jobs he did when we moved here and I'm very pleased it's still good. The fact that he had put flooring boards, an electrical connection and a light into the loft, followed by our having a loft ladder installed fairly recently, was what enabled us to have the new boiler placed in the loft.

M

banjo_2

far wrote: »

I reported earlier in this thread that my mum and dad had applied for a Warm Front grant. Just to update you on this, they were accepted and for 5 radiators, a boiler (no central heating exists), controls and labour and they have to pay an excess of just under £219. A sixth radiator was requested for an upstairs landing and this will cost an additional £180. In the letter from Eaga, the cost of materials is £1,226.29 and the "contractors quotation to complete work" is priced ar £1,653.81 along with £15.07 for "Other work done or due to be done". My parents have already gone ahead and paid the excess but does this seem reasonable for the above work? I shall be trying to enquire on Tuesday (rather belatedly admittedly) what the exact breakdown is and the make/model of the boiler to be supplied as well. Anything else I should be asking for?

Warmfront will not give you a breakdown, apart from a mental one! The best course of action would be to get several quotes from other companies and if they are substantially cheaper than the Warmfront quote ask why ?

djohn2002uk

newleaf wrote: »

I am saying that they have a new boiler and cavity wall insulation and only parted with £450. I'm sorry, I thought I had made myself clear.

Then I repeat, it's a rip off.
Read fars' post, his parents got 5 radiators, a boiler, controls and labour and they have only to pay an excess of just under £219. And can get an extra radiator and still be under the £450.
When you factor in the fact that your energy supplier now has to supply cavity wall insulation for free it looks an even worse deal.
And Margaret, you may be very happy with what you got, and no doubt hundreds if not thousands of others are too, but that doesn't disguise the fact that some people are being ripped off and the scheme itself is being abused by eaga and no doubt the subcontractors they use. So it's no good saying, and I quote :- "I think the work done - new boiler PLUS cavity wall insulation - for a contribution of £450 was cheap at the price and not a rip-off at all", is sheer nonsense. It might have been a contribution of £450 but the whole grant was used up too making £3150. Compare that to what fars' parents are getting for less money. I would suggest that the work should have been done for half the cost and that would have left some of the £2700 for maybe loft insulation or left in the pot for other deserving people.
The scheme itself is an admirable one but its administration is deplorable and it's taxpayers money that is being syphoned off in excess profits IMHO.

djohn2002uk

Margaret, I've deleted the piece that you object to.
But, you still seem to accept anything Warm Front does simply based on your satisfaction. I did say that there are probably thousands of satisfied people out there, that doesn't mean that the system hasn't been exploited in many of those cases.
As for the cost of copper tubing increasing, that is of marginal consideration in the overall cost of a central heating system .
You accuse me of not reading your post properly and yet you respond to mine without any explanation as to why the comparisons I made appear so ridiculous apart from saying that "you can't always compare one house with another". A boiler change plus cavity insulation (in newleafs inlaws case) and a boiler and six rads (in fars parents case) are so far apart cost wise to make comparisons ridiculous and may I say deplorable.
I stand by what I said and believe about the scheme so much so that after the holiday I shall be asking my MP to look into the running of it.
You frequently write very nasty comments in response to mine, and will no doubt do so again. I have also clicked on your thanks button in the past and surely it didn't escape your notice that I never contributed to the nasty posts that you reported a week or so ago. I speak my mind as I've noticed you do on many occasions so it should come as no surprise that you get the same treatment as you dish out.

far

I discovered earlier today that the boiler my parents will be supplied and fitted with is an Ideal ISAR 24he. This seems to have mixed reviews to say the least but Warm Front and Fenhams Contractors say this can't be changed now and it's one they supply for most new installations. I read that this has had mixed reviews to say the least but what do people here think of it?

banjo_2

Please read these reviews

margaretclare

far wrote: »

I discovered earlier today that the boiler my parents will be supplied and fitted with is an Ideal ISAR 24he. This seems to have mixed reviews to say the least but Warm Front and Fenhams Contractors say this can't be changed now and it's one they supply for most new installations. I read that this has had mixed reviews to say the least but what do people here think of it?

Ours is an Ideal ISAR 30he.

We've had absolutely no problems with it since it was installed in January 2007. It produces adequate heat and hot water for this 2-bed modernised 1930s bungalow.

The only thing I would say is, 24he might possibly be too small, depending on the size of your parents' property of course. This is something you might like to ask them to enquire into - why was a 24he suggested rather than a 30?

DH thinks that a 24he might be fine for a 1-bed flat.

HTH

far

margaretclare wrote: »

DH thinks that a 24he might be fine for a 1-bed flat.

Interesting. I did at the time raise the possibility of a 30kw boiler (was suggested by someone 'in the know' at the council) but was told by the person doing the survey that the power output referred only to the amount of hot water such a boiler could generate and not the heating capability. Clearly this was an outright falsehood as I have since found. My parents have a 3 bedroom house so really that 24he will be too small whatever the case. I've also called up Warm Front today to ask if the boiler can be changed for a different make/model and have been told a manager from Fenham's will call up and discuss this with myself tomorrow. Even if this means a higher customer contribution, surely this would be better than having an unreliable and underpowered boiler? There are reports on other forums that other people have had boilers changed on request so let's see what happens here. Worryingly, an install date had already been set for next Friday yet no-one had even called mum and dad up :mad:

Has anyone who has gotten a Warm Front grant had anything other than a Ideal ISAR fitted? If so what do you think of it?

djohn2002uk

djohn2002uk wrote: »

Then I repeat, it's a rip off.

And those very words were used on Watchdog tonight in reference to WarmFront.

furndire

I totally agree with you djohn2002uk. We have just had to replace a boiler and new flue ~ total cost £1030 ~ the grant system is being well abused.