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If your property is not connected to a gas main, oil boilers are a great alternative to gas boilers and more efficient than LPG alternatives. They can also be paired well with renewable sources. However, if your property is connected to the gas mains, there is generally no reason to switch to an oil boiler, as you will need to have oil delivered to an extra storage tank.

Biomass boilers will work with existing central heating systems, presuming this is not decades old, whether they use radiators or under floor heating. A surveyor will check the existing system you have in place before quoting for or recommending a biomass boiler to you.

What Size Of Electric Boiler Do I Need?

If you’re thinking about installing central heating in your home or property, you’ll be shocked by the plethora of options that’s currently available in the market as regards the boiler type that can be installed. Being a very good alternative to gas boilers or an oil or LPG boiler, electric boilers are here to stay. They usually feature different power outputs which tends to lead to one of the most frequently asked questions about electric heaters - what size of electric boiler do I need? Here, we’ll give you a good insight into sizes of electric boilers available to help you make the right decision.

The importance of getting the perfect size of electric boiler for your home can not be over-emphasized. If your electric boiler size is too small, it won’t be able to provide the level of heat and hot water required. And on the other hand, if it’s too big, it’ll definitely consume more electricity which would be a total waste of money.

To determine the correct size, if you have a wet central heating or water radiators in your home, you’ll need to calculate the boiler’s capacity required to operate them and allow 1.5kw per radiator. To be more accurate, it’s advisable to talk to a professional installer to avoid making a costly mistake. Every professional installer should have an idea of the appropriate size of electric boiler that’ll be needed given your special requirements and home size.

Generally, with a 12k kilowatt boiler, you should be able to operate up to 7 to 8 radiators which is good for smaller properties. For apartments and flats, getting a smaller electric boiler would be the best option.

Does Home Insurance Cover Boiler Repairs?

When winter comes, your boiler is most likely to be one of the most used appliances in your home. It keeps operating for several hours to ensure your house remains warm and conducive and then during those cold evenings, it supplies the much needed hot water to guarantee a restive night. But with so much usage and many moving parts, you’d naturally expect your boiler to breakdown at some point especially if it’s 7 years old or above. So what’s the next line of action when it happens, leaving your radiators off and water cold? With the likely high boiler repair cost, it’s only logical to consider whether your boiler repairs is covered by your home insurance.

In almost all situations, the standard home insurance will not provide coverage for the cost of repairing or replacing a broken boiler. Being fully aware that boiler breakdowns are mostly caused by a lack or not so regular maintenance practices or servicing, most home insurance providers will exclude it from this from their offerings. In fact, a home insurance is more likely to provide coverage for the damage that has happened as a result of a broken appliance. For instance, the damage caused as a result of gas, oil or water leaking from a boiler are more likely to be paid for by the home insurance providers, but they’ll not pay for the repair or replacement of the broken boiler itself.

If you need our home insurance to cover your boiler repair, then you might just be able to get an extra insurance cover from your provider that includes a broken boiler repair. You can consult them to determine if this is possible as well as the cost to be paid per month. This will normally cost about £5 to £10 per month, but it gives you a peace of mind knowing you’re covered if your boiler happens to breakdown.

To ensure your boiler is functioning efficiently and to keep your home warm, it’s important to see that your boiler is serviced on a regular basis by a licensed boiler engineer. Failure to do this can result in sudden boiler breakdown which can be a hard hitting blow to one’s financial power especially when there’s no boiler cover to cushion the blow or totally avoid it all together.

When your boiler is covered, it implies that you’re protected in the event whereby your boiler or it’s controls malfunctions or break. Several boiler cover will include the servicing cost, while some may not so it’s advisable to always go through the details, no matter how small, before entering into a boiler cover agreement. Typically, a boiler cover will cost between £60 to £100 per year and the payment is made on a monthly basis. Various boiler insurance companies have varying cover cost, however, here are the common boiler cover policies:

• Homeserve charges from £13 per month

• EDF Energy costs from £13.29 per month

• British Gas from £12 per month

• Scottish Power from £13.13 every month

• CETRI UK charges from £13.50 every month

• 24/7 home rescue costs from £9.60 every month

• Gorgi Home Plan costs from £6 per month plus 3 months free

• Your repair charges from £9.60 per month

• NPower Boiler Cover costs from £10.92 every month

• SSE Boiler Breakdown Cover charges from £4.95 every month

It’s important to note that sometimes you have the option of adding your boiler cover to your existing home insurance, if you do not want a standalone policy for your boiler cover. In many scenarios, this is referred to as an extra or add on service referred to as “Home Emergency Cover. When compared to the standalone boiler policies, this is usually a lot cheaper as it comes in around £5 per month.

How To Get A Gas Fireplace Installed

A gas fireplace is one of the most popular means of adding warmth to homes which so many homeowners have now come to terms with, especially with natural gas prices being fairly low for an extended period of time. Properly installed gas fireplaces are not only capable of adding a much needed ambiance and warmth to your home, but also significantly more efficient than the traditional wood-burning fireplaces which mostly produces less heat from the large amount of drafts they consume. Meanwhile a good gas powered fireplace with a properly functioning blower, is very close to being as efficient as a furnace when warming up a room. What’s more? Gas fireplaces also possess a great visual appeal and are also very practical especially when they feature realistic ceramic logs as well as good gas burners.

Installing a gas fireplace by yourself is definitely up there as one of the most advanced DIY tasks you can attempt to try. If you lack proper training and experience, it’s advisable you leave the task to a reliable professional that’ll guarantee the best results while also ensuring costly errors are avoided. This guide will, however, put you in the right direction.

• Construct wall recess to accept the fireplace.

• Punch a hole through the exterior wall of the house to fit in stovepipe thimble.

• Fix a small part of the stovepipe to the exhaust port in the fireplace’s rear.

• Use construction adhesives on the wall around the fireplace opening’s sides and top.

• Apply granite slabs into the adhesive around the opening of the fireplace.

• Put the fireplace in position and ensure the stovepipe goes outdoors through the thimble.

• Use a termination hood to seal the exhaust pipe’s exterior.

• Employ the services of a professional plumber to connect the gas to the fireplace.

• Fit the removable front

• Test the functionality of the fireplace.

Smart controls such as Hive are the next generation technology with more and more people now converting their houses into smart homes to control multiple devices in the homes remotely. Smart technology can be incorporated with several household devices such as security, lighting, entertainment and more. But what if there’s an oil boiler installed in your home, can you still connect your Hive with the your heating? Well, simply read on to find out.

The answer to this question is yes, most oil boilers are compatible with Hive and can substitute for either an existing conventional programmer or thermostat. The smart technology works to help derive more benefits from your heating system and they usually come with apps which can be used to control your home’s heating from anywhere with just your mobile device. Hive, however, cannot work to replace the functions of smart oil boiler heating controls to modulate your heating as they only work on an on or off basis. To make use of the modulating technology in an oil boiler, the cost of manufacture would be considerably higher while offering little advantage in efficiency for the home or property owner. Ultimately, this implies that you can’t incorporate smart technology to control the output in a similar way as a gas boiler, but there are still some ways to utilize smart technology with your oil boiler in such a way to boost your efficiency and lessen the energy bills.

Do you want to use your Hive with your home’s oil boiler? We’d advise you get in touch with an OFTEC qualified engineer if you wish to install Hive Active Heating on your oil boiler, as British Gas engineer do not offer this service.

Condensing boilers are the in-thing when it comes to modern heating systems in UK homes and across the globe for a good reason. This is primarily due to the fact that condensing boilers happens to be highly efficient as it enables the fuel you’re burning to heat up your home go a lot further. Having a new high efficiency condensing boiler rather than an old G-rated non condensing boiler will not only enhance your heating controls, but also save you a lot of money annually. In this article, we’re going to take you through the basics of a condensing boiler. Let’s take a closer look!

If you’re interested in getting a greener and more efficient boiler, you simply can’t afford to look beyond a high efficiency condensing boiler. This is purely due to the fact that these condensing boilers happens to make a better use of the heat they’re able to produce from burning fuels like oil or gas ( in other words, they require less heat from the burner, which makes them a lot more efficient).

So how does a condensing boiler work? Unlike a non-condensing heat-nly boiler, some heat will be wasted in form of hot gases which are released from the flue. Meanwhile a condensing boiler captures some of the heat from these gases and puts them to use for heating up water that’s coming back from your central heating system. As a result, it requires just a minimal heat from the burner which make the boiler more efficient.

You should take note that all new modern boilers are condensing boilers. Therefore if you’re planning to replace an old boiler with a new one, you’ll definitely be buying a new condensing boiler and benefit from all the efficiency and savings that comes with it.