Warm Home Grants - Upgraded Electric Storage Heaters - Con?

Holmey101

Hi,

Due to COVID-19 restrictions and personal health reasons I’ve recently had to go on Universal Credit and when I told my landlady this she said that as I was on UC I could get a grant to have my heating, (all electric very old storage heaters), replaced with new and far more efficient heating that would save me a lot of money, did I want her to ask the guy who sorted it to call and see me?

As I saw it as a win/win situation I said yes and the guy came round explaining to me that I could get a Government grant to cover the full cost of replacing the ancient heating system in my flat with the latest super efficient storage heaters that would save me a fortune compared with what I had. Knowing that the current heaters were really old and not efficient I said go ahead with it and he said that he needed to do a full survey of the house so that he could ascertain what heating would be the most efficient, which he did and his fitters came out the following week, (last Friday), to fit the new “heating system”?

So far, so good, from signing the paper work to the fitters coming out only a week, but it’s what they have fitted that concerns me as it stinks to me as a con job by the contractor

All they have fitted, (in a 3 bed flat), is 2 massive storage heaters, 1, (the biggest), replacing one of the 2 I had in the living room and the other, (smaller, but still a huge one), replacing a wall mounted oil filled radiator in the hallway, nothing else. What’s even worse to me, the have fitted these massive storage heaters here and there’s no Economy 7, (or similar), tariff for “charging” the storage heaters, (with the fitting instructions clearly saying they needed a second economy supply), with a test leaving the one in the living room on overnight last Friday showing it took just under £6 worth of electricity to charge up which is ridiculous, I’ve never used more than £10’s worth of electricity in a week here, and that’s with me using a fan space heater on a thermostat for heating the living room. Surely, the Government are not going to give out grants for systems as inefficient as this, with it being my thoughts that the salesman/contractor is signing tenants up, assessing their house/flat, putting in for the biggest grants he can get, then fitting the cheapest system he thinks he can get away with.

All he says is that they are fine as they are and will be a lot cheaper than what I had and refuses to accept any complaint or explain how he came to recommending the heating he has supplied.

Does anybody know who do complain to about something like this? Where I can check the minimum standards the grants require as I’m sure that the salesman is on the con here, getting heater replacement grants then supplying sub standard systems?
Highest Regards,

Holmey 101

macman

This makes no sense. If you had E7 before, then the new NSH's should be connected to the same circuit, same tariff. Modern NSH's require a dual supply, one to the E7 circuit for cheap rate heating, and the other to your standard 13A ring main to supply the peak rate boost and fan. If the 2nd supply is not connected, get the contractor back in to finish the job properly.
Your post is very contradictory, in that you say that the old heating was 'all storage heaters', but then that you were using both an oil filled rad and a fan heater, which would be absurd on an E7 tariff.
Once the survey was done, you apparently signed the agreement, so surely this specified the number of heaters, size and location? You appear to have no heating in any of the bedrooms at all.  How many NSH's were there originally, and where were they?
If you were NOT originally on an E7 supply, then the contractor is not responsible for changing your metering to suit NSH's. That is for you to organise with your supplier.
Finally, why is your LL not organising and paying for the heating provision in her rented property? This is not the tenant's responsibility.

Holmey101

"Your post is very contradictory, in that you say that the old heating was 'all storage heaters', but then that you were using both an oil filled rad and a fan heater, which would be absurd on an E7 tariff."
Apart from the oil filled radiator in the hallway there was a small, (very old), storage heater in each of the 3 bedrooms and 2 equally old storage heaters in the quite large living room with neither of them, (or the flat), having Economy 7. Knowing that storage heaters are expensive to run I haven't been using them, instead I I've been using an industrial 3kw greenhouse space heater on a remote thermostat that I've found heats the room up quickly, only runs a few minutes an hour to maintain temperature and quite economical to run. As to the bedrooms, my view is why have heating, if it's cold throw another quilt on.

 "Once the survey was done, you apparently signed the agreement, so surely this specified the number of heaters, size and location?"
I stupidly left it to him, my landlady had told me he was an expert, I just signed the form where requested, him having caught me just as I was leaving they house.

"You appear to have no heating in any of the bedrooms at all."
I've still got the old storage heaters in the bedrooms, plus one in my living room as well as the new one they have fitted.

Regards,
Holmey 101

Gerry1

Holmey101 said:

Knowing that storage heaters are expensive to run I haven't been using them, instead I I've been using an industrial 3kw greenhouse space heater

Storage heaters will certainly be expensive to run on a single rate tariff !  As macman says, make sure that the new storage heaters have two connections, one E7 and one 24h, then get an an E7 meter and E7 tariff.  Similarly, make sure the immersion heater is on an E7 circuit.  You should then be affordably warm.  Do you qualify for Warm Home Discount?

greatcrested

Well for some totally incomprehensible reason your signed the paperwork.

* you must therefore have been fully informed as to what was being installed.

* but since you are a tenant, it is for your landlady to agree what should be installed, not you

* as you had E7 before, you must have E7 now. Just get the new rads connected.

macman

You don't appear to have any idea how E7 operates. NSH's are not 'expensive to run': they are about a third of the cost of using single rate or E7 peak rate. If you are using any device other than an NSH (convector, fan heater, oil filled rad or greenhouse space heater) then it is running on expensive peak rate E7 and will cost you £££'s more than using the NSH. 
However, this assumes that you of course have E7 metering, which you now tell us you do not!
There is little point in complaining about the install after the event if you couldn't be bothered to even read the contract. You knew that there was no E7, yet you agreed to have NSH's installed.