Hi, My name is Julian Holden and I’ve known Ray for about two years. Ray came on a marketing course I run at City Lit and since them we’ve met to discuss his website on a few occasions. I’ve been encouraging him to write a blog so that prospective clients can see what a nice and knowledgeable guy he is. Unfortunately he is too busy doing what he does best to often find time for this so I’ve stolen the keys to the website to do him a favour.

I was having problems with my central heating boiler and, as I knew Ray, and as as he seemed honest to me, I asked if he’d come over and look at this. He was initially reluctant, he is in North London and I’m in Southwest London and he’d rather work locally but I convinced him that it was clear that I needed a new boiler, mine was last replaced in 2001 and leaked continually, and that as another plumber had told me that all our radiators and plumbing would also need to be replaced it would probably be worth his while.

Ray turned up on time and poked around the system for a while. He decided that the radiators and existing plumbing were probably OK – and that we could replace anything that leaked as we went. He gave a me a quote for a new boiler, which included all the other parts and materials required and encouraged me to go and check prices for the boiler online so we could see that he wasn’t marking up the price.

I was a power flushing cynic. The very idea that it was worth paying a sum of several hundred pounds to have an engineer wash warm water through your plumbing to dislodge old bits of rubbish, mainly rust, sounded like the ultimate con trick to me. It was clear though that this needed to be done for the warranty on the new boiler to be valid. I am cynic no more. The amount of rubbish that washed out of our system impressed even Ray, who was happily taking pictures of the filthy filters of his power flush machine, and who came back the following day to give it another go as he suspected his machine hadn’t caught it all.

Ultimately all is fine. We have a new boiler, that heats both hot water and the central heating much better than the old and which is so quiet you need to look at the control panel to tell if its on, really hot radiators, a remote thermostat so we don’t need to go to the boiler to change the temperature, a permanent magnetic filter to catch any remaining bits of rust in the system, We’ve kept our existing radiators, but with new valves, and a couple of other tidied up bits of plumbing that I’m not sure were on the estimate but which offended Ray’s professional eye so he did them anyway.

Ray’s estimate was 40% lower than the other one I had. He ended doing did more work than was costed in getting the old radiators sorted out but charged me the estimated cost. I’m quite frankly amazed.

More about Ray. He is a pleasant and reliable chap, he turns up on time, works tidily, cleans up behind him and takes his rubbish away. I really cannot recommend this guy highly enough. If you can get him to work for you I’m sure you will be delighted with his service.

Let’s face it. Boiler replacement is a boring subject and involves a capital cost. As humans these are two very good reasons to avoid this. Let me give you three (and a bit) reasons why you might want this on your todo list.

Living in A Warm and Quiet House

A boiler nearing the end of its life won’t keep the entire house warm and may make annoying noises (kettling). Regardless of temperature settings, the radiators probably won’t get as hot as they did when the equipment was running efficiently. A new boiler will be quiet and efficient.

Lower Energy Bills

When a boiler isn’t working efficiently, it costs more to operate. Quite simply older boilers are likely to need to run longer to produce the same amount of hot water. Increased energy costs might be the result of an inefficient boiler. New boilers are more efficient and require less energy to produce the same results.

Reduced maintenance costs

Older boilers are often difficult or expensive to repair as components for them may not be available. Like all devices you depend upon they can be trusted to break down at the most inconvenient time leaving you without heat or hot water until they can be repaired or replaced.

In short

While some companies will try to tell you that energy savings will be significant unfortunately the statistics in these reports tend to compare very old equipment to the most efficient models on the market today.

Although your savings might be more modest, emergency repair costs will vanish, and that could result in substantial savings for a family whose boiler has been breaking down regularly for the past couple of years.

Surely having a warm and safe house is priceless!

A boiler is integral to the comfort and health of your home, so it’s important to choose the best one for your needs. Unlike decades-old boilers, today’s modern boilers are considerably more energy efficient, sometimes by up to 35 percent. If you’ve had your boiler for some time, in all likelihood, it’s consuming more energy than it should. Consider replacing your old boiler as soon as possible to see some improvement to your utility bills. Here are some boiler replacement info for you to review.
Continue reading→

Replacing your old, failing boiler with a new energy-efficient one can help save you money and frustration this coming winter. However, the process isn’t as simple as picking a new boiler you like. Although aesthetics do come into play when shopping for a new boiler, there are other key factors for you to consider. So review these boiler replacement facts carefully.
Continue reading→

A boiler installation in Hampstead.

A boiler losing pressure is a symptom of many issues that commonly arise with boilers. A low pressure boiler is quite simple to identify, as most boilers today come with a built-in pressure gauge. Sometimes, it’s possible to solve your boiler’s loss of pressure yourself.
Continue reading→