Gas heating is constantly on since temperature drop

swirley

Hi,
Just looking for some advice. The house I am renting has an instant combi boiler which is located in a shed outside in the back garden.
Since the temperatures have dropped, even when the timer is set to constant off the heat is on. The landlady said it is because the temperatures are so low that the timer is overridden to protect the system. The thing I am worried about is the bill, its going to be massive if its on 24/7. She said i turn off the boiler it will damage it and pipes will burst and that I also need to keep the rads on. Is she right? Anyone else had similar issues?

Giblet

It will have a minimum temp it has to be maintained at. It shouldn't cost too much as it's about 5 degrees, so the thermostat will kick the boiler on and off.

flower tattoo

oh god - we have that at work. Its a very small office and the 2 of us get hotter and hotter as the day goes on. There's no windows and we can't open the door as a blast of icy air freezes us. We just get pinker and pinker as we work :D:D

odds_on

swirley wrote: »

Hi,
Just looking for some advice. The house I am renting has an instant combi boiler which is located in a shed outside in the back garden.
Since the temperatures have dropped, even when the timer is set to constant off the heat is on. The landlady said it is because the temperatures are so low that the timer is overridden to protect the system. The thing I am worried about is the bill, its going to be massive if its on 24/7. She said i turn off the boiler it will damage it and pipes will burst and that I also need to keep the rads on. Is she right? Anyone else had similar issues?

It is your responsibility to maintain sufficient heating to prevent pipes freezing no matter what it costs - a burst pipe due to lack of heating where available will cost you much more than the extra for this cold spell - everybody in the country has the same problem.

Did you see a BER certificate for the property - it may be very badly insulated and loosing the heat very quickly. Unfortunately, neither estate agents nor llandlords produce a BER cert unless asked to but every property offered for rent (or for sale) must have one. It is a legal requirement. Most tenants never consider the value of a BER cert and when the colder weather hits they see their heating costs rise dramatically.

DublinDilbert

swirley wrote: »

Hi,
Just looking for some advice. The house I am renting has an instant combi boiler which is located in a shed outside in the back garden.
Since the temperatures have dropped, even when the timer is set to constant off the heat is on. The landlady said it is because the temperatures are so low that the timer is overridden to protect the system. The thing I am worried about is the bill, its going to be massive if its on 24/7. She said i turn off the boiler it will damage it and pipes will burst and that I also need to keep the rads on. Is she right? Anyone else had similar issues?

Yes the system probably has a frost stat fitted. But if the temperature is set correctly on the frost stat, it should only turn on the boiler for 5 mins every few hours. It should not be heating the house.

My guess would be that either the incorrect frost stat is fitted (measuring the ambient temperature of the outside shed) or its temperature is not set correctly (eg set to 10C or something like that).

You'll need to get someone who knows about plumbing to go look at the frost stat and identify why the system is constantly running.

You wouldn't believe the stupid things some that plumbers would do when installing systems. Got a boiler moved to an outside shed and asked for frost protection. He installed a "frost stat", but it was one that would be more suitable to be inside a holiday home to maintain a low ambient temperature not in a shed! Told him he wasn't getting paid till he fitted a proper frost stat on the heating return pipe.

ricman

Well you can just leave one radiator on all the time , if you are worried about the bill.Turn on the other radiators as needed.I dont think its necessary for a boiler to be on so much.

Cherrycola

odds_on wrote: »

It is your responsibility to maintain sufficient heating to prevent pipes freezing no matter what it costs - a burst pipe due to lack of heating where available will cost you much more than the extra for this cold spell - everybody in the country has the same problem.

Did you see a BER certificate for the property - it may be very badly insulated and loosing the heat very quickly. Unfortunately, neither estate agents nor llandlords produce a BER cert unless asked to but every property offered for rent (or for sale) must have one. It is a legal requirement. Most tenants never consider the value of a BER cert and when the colder weather hits they see their heating costs rise dramatically.

I had no idea about this, as we were out of the country when this was brought in, but i will definitely ask the estate agent for a copy of the BER cert now to see if lack of insulation contributed to our utility pipes freezing.

Graces7

[QUOTE=odds_on;69721938]It is your responsibility to maintain sufficient heating to prevent pipes freezing no matter what it costs - a burst pipe due to lack of heating where available will cost you much more than the extra for this cold spell - everybody in the country has the same problem.

Did you see a BER certificate for the property - it may be very badly insulated and loosing the heat very quickly. Unfortunately, neither estate agents nor llandlords produce a BER cert unless asked to but every property offered for rent (or for sale) must have one. It is a legal requirement. Most tenants never consider the value of a BER cert and when the colder weather hits they see their heating costs rise dramatically.[/QUOTE]


This concerns greatly. If the pipes burst that is the landlord's responsibility.

To insulate to protect HIS property. Not for the tenant to go bankrupt to heat a poorly insulated house; if he wants than then HE should pay for it; we pay rent after all and he should carry insurance.

Many of us on pensions cannot pay these bills; period.

delllat

Graces7 wrote: »

This concerns greatly. If the pipes burst that is the landlord's responsibility.

To insulate to protect HIS property. Not for the tenant to go bankrupt to heat a poorly insulated house; if he wants than then HE should pay for it; we pay rent after all and he should carry insurance.

Many of us on pensions cannot pay these bills; period.

it is a tenants responsibility to keep the house sufficiently heated that pipes dont burst but if they do than the landlord has to fix them

he will probably keep your deposit if there is any damage and he can prove you were a contributing factor by not heating the house whether he has insurance or not

Graces7

delllat wrote: »

it is a tenants responsibility to keep the house sufficiently heated that pipes dont burst but if they do than the landlord has to fix them

he will probably keep your deposit if there is any damage and he can prove you were a contributing factor by not heating the house whether he has insurance or not

Excuse me? tenants PAY to live in a house; if the house is not properly insulated then THAT is the landlord's fault - period.

Any resulting damage caused by bad insulation is down to HIM.

Read the lease and the minimum standards the law lays down; and the BER requirements.

We are not caretakers. Nor are we millionaires.

You need to get that straight; the last landlord who tried this on us was told in no uncertain terms that if he wanted the house heated to that extent, then he must pay for that heating. And he did.

The OP is not talking re not heating the house but of having to fork out a huge amount extra because the landlord has not insulated properly.
That comes under maintenance and is the landlord's responsibilty.

Giving in to landlords like this is why tenants here have so many problems. REALLY!
Tenants need to stand up to this kind of ....

Graces7

Cherrycola wrote: »

I had no idea about this, as we were out of the country when this was brought in, but i will definitely ask the estate agent for a copy of the BER cert now to see if lack of insulation contributed to our utility pipes freezing.

Of course it did. Maybe call Threshold and get their expert opinion?

These are extreme conditions this winter and landlords are going to have to pull their socks up and sort their properties out. It is a renter's market after all.

ztoical

swirley wrote: »

Hi,
Just looking for some advice. The house I am renting has an instant combi boiler which is located in a shed outside in the back garden.
Since the temperatures have dropped, even when the timer is set to constant off the heat is on. The landlady said it is because the temperatures are so low that the timer is overridden to protect the system. The thing I am worried about is the bill, its going to be massive if its on 24/7. She said i turn off the boiler it will damage it and pipes will burst and that I also need to keep the rads on. Is she right? Anyone else had similar issues?

When you say the heat is on what exactly do you mean? Do you mean the rads etc are on or you just notice that the boiler is on?

Most boilers have a frost stat fitted thats normally around 5 C, usually you don't notice it's on unless you go check the boiler. This is a standard fitting on most boilers and honestly makes feck all difference on your bill - the place we're renting currently has a frost stat fitted and I haven't seen any difference in the bill this winter from last winter when we rented a place with no frost stat. If you do turn off the boiler and the pipes burst as a result then it will be on you to pay to fix them. Just like a LL has obligations to fill so do tenants including keep the property in good order and avoiding damage.

However if your finding that the heat is coming on at a high temp [ie what ever temp you've set the timer for] then the frost stat is broken and you should get the LL to have the boiler serviced. Might be worth checking when it was last serviced as it should be serviced yearly and the LL covers the cost of the boiler service.

delllat

Graces7 wrote: »

Of course it did. Maybe call Threshold and get their expert opinion?

These are extreme conditions this winter and landlords are going to have to pull their socks up and sort their properties out. It is a renter's market after all.

call threshhold if you wish ,they will tell you the house must be heated and the pipes should be insulated as well

both parties are half liable

Graces7

delllat wrote: »

call threshhold if you wish ,they will tell you the house must be heated and the pipes should be insulated as well

both parties are half liable

Not so. if pipes were properly insulated? The landlord is totally at fault here.

Where does it say in law that the house has to be heated, please? Exact wording please?

The landlord has to provide the means of heating but there is nothing to enforce the use.

Many simply cannot afford much heating; we are such. So we told the landlord in our last house that if he needed the house heated to that extent, above what we needed and could afford, then he must pay for it; which he did.

BostonB

Define properly insulated? What exactly is the wording that specifies this.

BostonB

delllat wrote: »

call threshhold if you wish ,they will tell you the house must be heated and the pipes should be insulated as well

both parties are half liable

Out of curiosity. Where does it define the pipes should be insulated.

delllat

BostonB wrote: »

Out of curiosity. Where does it define the pipes should be insulated.

(most insurance policys+ common sense )

delllat

Graces7 wrote: »

Not so. if pipes were properly insulated? The landlord is totally at fault here.

Where does it say in law that the house has to be heated, please? Exact wording please?

The landlord has to provide the means of heating but there is nothing to enforce the use.

Many simply cannot afford much heating; we are such. So we told the landlord in our last house that if he needed the house heated to that extent, above what we needed and could afford, then he must pay for it; which he did.

the law doesnt always go into the specifics needed to define every case
its probably worded that the landlord should take "all reasonable precautions" to protect his property and the tenant should do the same

the reasonable precautions identified in this case are the house being heated and the pipes being insulated

a judge will proably conclude that the landlord is responsible for insulating the pipes BUT the tenant is responsible to keep the property adequately heated

take it to the prtb ,let us know what happened ,its an interesting one since it could go either way

BostonB

delllat wrote: »

(most insurance policys+ common sense )

Thats not relevent to the question I asked.

Seem to me there is no minimum standard of insulation that is required by law. All a LL is required is to have a BER (of any score) and some means of heating each room. The suggestion ye are making is that is some legal minimum insulation standard, or heating economy. There isn't. I dunno how you can hold a LL to a standard that doesn't exist. Especially when we just had the coldest temps on record.Going to the PRTB would take forever, your talking months and months. Why would you shiver through and run up big fuel bills.

If the place is not warm enough and costs a fortune to heat, common sense suggests you move out and find a better place before the next cold spell. A better place being somewhere with a decent BER rating. Which perhaps is what the PRTB would tell you. They'd probably fine the LL for a lack of BER. But thats no use to the tenant.

LL's won't change unless tenants don't rent their places and tell them why.