Boiler not working - no heating or hot water. How long?

Kynthia

Have you ever told the landlord about the leaky hob?

Fuzzyness

i think getting an engineer out the next day is pretty good going. whenever i try it takes me at least 2 if not 3 or 4 days. unfortunately boilers dont get magiced out of thin air. they have to be ordered and then arranged for someone to fit it. that can take more than a couple of days. i lived in a shared house once when i went about 10 or 11 days without heating or hot water. thankfully in that case the LL did give me 50 quid for my troubles so i wasnt complaining.

pinkteapot

I think the LL is doing what he can (so far at least) in terms of repairs now that it's broken. We own our home and our boiler has broken down twice in the last year. Each time it's been a few days until it's working again and we've sorted it as quickly as we can. Pretty typical for an engineer to come out, work out what's wrong but then have to order parts and come back to fit them and get it going again.

Not sure what the 'emergency immersion' system is? Generally if you have a gas boiler you have a separate electrical immersion heater for the hot water tank which you can use to heat the water without using the boiler. But it's not usually an emergency backup that automatically kicks in like a generator - more often it's just a switch near the water tank that you turn on/off as you want. Do you have an immersion heater and is it broken? If so, ask the LL to fix that too.

One of our boiler break-downs was in January, so it was also freezing. We used convector heaters in our lounge and bedroom until it was fixed - ones like this:
http://www.diy.com/departments/1700-2000w-white-convector-heater/1409140_BQ.prd

They're inexpensive so you could mention to your LL and ask them to supply for temporary use. We've kept ours in the garage and since had two different family members borrow them when their boilers have broken down - they're handy to have around for emergencies. Worth asking around friends/family to see if anyone has some you can borrow.

Fuzzyness

pinkteapot wrote: »

One of our boiler break-downs was in January, so it was also freezing. We used convector heaters in our lounge and bedroom until it was fixed - ones like this:
http://www.diy.com/departments/1700-2000w-white-convector-heater/1409140_BQ.prd

They're inexpensive so you could mention to your LL and ask them to supply for temporary use. We've kept ours in the garage and since had two different family members borrow them when their boilers have broken down - they're handy to have around for emergencies. Worth asking around friends/family to see if anyone has some you can borrow.

on that front i'd also recommend an electric blanket for your bed. about 15 quid from argos. makes getting into bed in a cold room so much more bearable.

G_M

As others have said, deal also with the emmersion heater, the gas smell, and the hob.

ALL issues should be reported in writing.

knightstyle

So how did you get on????
We have a house in France where we used to live and when it wouldn't sell we decided to rent it out, not much money but someone to live, heat and look after the garden.
when the water heater failed the tenant told us by email on Monday 2nd Jan, we had someone out to look on Tuesday and after talking to them got the whole tank replaced on Wednesday morning.
So it is possible to sort things quickly IF the LL gets his ar+e into gear.

worried_jim

I went six weeks without hot water last year, fortunately it was May to July as I had to buy a new boiler and really good trades people are booked up, so I feel your pain. Washing up shouldn't be a problem though just boil the kettle.

Good luck!

ryuuoo

Hiya all,

Thanks for all your messages. Just come back to update you.

The CO alarm arrived yesterday amd thats all set up. Will tell him about the leaky hob though.

It has now been two days since the engineer came and three since the landlord came. Have heard no word from him. No reply to my email, no call, nothing. Just got in from work too so couldnt ring him during the day.

Will try ringing his office tomorrow morning and see what the situation is... It's difficult because I do all the bills for the house etc... so all my flatmates are pressuring me to get it fixed asap... and I understaind becuase it is bloody cold and we can't shower properly which is horrible.

Hopefully he will be able to get it all sorted during the weekend. What do you think?

Obviously hoping for the best, but if for some reason we go a week/ two weeks without hot water and heating is there something we can claim back? Or something we can do like contact the council?

Thanks guys!

anselld

Have you written a letter as advised in post 8?

You could report to the Council, but they will expect to see proof that you have reported the issue correctly, ie in writing, and that the L has failed to respond in a reasonable time.

ryuuoo

Yes, I sent the template that was kindly provided on post 8 via email the day the engineer came (3 days ago now)...