Our Latest Reviews

We pride ourselves on giving the best service possible to our customers and we love it when we get a great review, so we thought we'd take a moment and share some of our favourite reviews on Checkatrade. 

"Paul has always provided a high standard of service and is keen to solve problems."
"Excellent service, very polite and efficient."
"Very efficient and friendly service."
"Very professional service, would use again for sure."
"Always superb. Polite and excellent, terrific people."
"Efficient, speedy and clean service, would recommend."
"Excellent, timely and very good communication around faults and repairs. Would recommend."
"Exceeded my expectations. Excellent."

You can see all of our reviews on our Checkatrade page and leave feedback! Let us know if you think we did a great job.

What's the Right Boiler for You?

Buying a new gas boiler can be a daunting experience. Not only will it probably be one of the most expensive items you'll ever buy for your home, there are numerous brands and types on the market to chose from.

The first thing to mention is that it is vital that your boiler installation is completed by a professional and if it's a gas boiler you must hire a Gas Safe Registered engineer.

Once installation is complete they will supply you with a certificate to prove that the equipment has been tested and complies with all safety standards. Your boiler MUST then be serviced every year by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer.

Combi Boilers can be gas or electric and provide unlimited hot water and heat. You don't need a tank in your loft and they don't take up much space. The main downside is that water pressure may drop if you need hot water from more than one tap.

System boilers, or sealed boilers, come with a water cylinder that normally sits in an airing cupboard and has no water tank. Because there's no water tank it takes up less space and you can get water from more than one tap at a time. System boilers are a bit slower though and you won't get hot water straight away. Once it runs out you will have to wait until it reheats and although you don't need a tank, you will need to find room for the cylinder.

Conventional boilers have a cylinder and a tank and will allow you to get water from multiple taps at the same time, however like system boilers, once the hot water runs out you have to wait for it to reheat. Not only that, you need to find room for the cylinder AND the tank.

Condensing boilers are energy efficient because they capture some of the heat that would have escaped from the flue and reuse it. So you get more heat from the same amount of fuel, meaning you will save money.

Most UK households use gas heating, but what alternatives are there for the estimated 4.3 million households (source Which?) that are not connected to the UK's gas network? Other options include oil burners, liquid petroleum gas, wood burning stoves or electric.

When installing your new boiler make sure to speak to your engineer about heating controls, as this would be a good time to look at replacing them. Modern heating controls are an excellent way to manage heating costs as you can not only control the temperature, you can go as far as managing the heat in each room on some systems.

If you would like to find out more about replacing your boiler then please call us on 020 8682 2244.

Landlords Required to Install Carbon Monoxide Alarms

Landlords will be expected by law to install both fire and Carbon Monoxide alarms in their properties. 

The announcement, which was made this week by Housing Minister Brandon Lewis, is expected to help prevent up to 36 deaths and 1,375 injuries a year. Known as the silent killer, you can not see, taste or smell Carbon Monoxide, and symptoms can easily be confused with the flu.

The new law, which is expected to take effect from October from 2015, has caused some debate in the landlord world. Questions have been raised, such as why is the law just applicable for tenant properties and not home owners and what if the homes energy is electric?

Landlords are already required by law to arrange annual gas checks for all of their properties; what we can all agree is that installing CO alarms is another great step towards protecting tenants and WILL save lives.

If you would like to arrange a gas check please get in touch.

Electrical Visual Checks

Following on from last weeks article about electrical safety and tenant rights, we're looking at the visual checks you can make at home to protect you and those who live with you.

While we advise that you should always ask a professional to repair electrical faults, there are things you can do to prevent potentially dangerous situations at home.

• Never overload your plug sockets
• Look for scorch marks around plugs and sockets - this is a sign of an electrical problem
• Make sure that all leads are not damaged (be sure to check on a regular basis if you have pets that like to chew wires!)
• Check that your sockets and plugs are not damaged
• Do not store flammable items around your electrical meter, fusebox or electrical intake
• Do not place cables under carpets or rugs
• Never take mains powered items into the bathroom
• Always switch off electrical items when they are not in use
• Don't place electrical items near water
• Do not store anything on top of the microwave

If you find that you have an electrical problem please contact us for further advice.