The Heating Experts Guide
Stay informed with the latest news, technical guidance, and industry developments from our team of experts. From regulatory updates to energy-saving tips, we share knowledge that matters.
The questions the office is actually asked
Most of what appears here started as a phone call. Somebody has been told their boiler needs replacing and wants to know whether that is true. Somebody has been quoted for a heat pump by a firm that never did a heat loss calculation. A landlord has discovered that a gas safety record and a service are not the same thing, at the point where an agent asked for the wrong one.
The pattern is the same in all three: the rules and the engineering are not complicated, but they are rarely explained, and that gap is where people get charged for work they do not need. An article that sets out what a fault code actually tells you, or what the law actually requires of a landlord, is worth more than any amount of copy about how thorough we are.
So the standard here is simple. If a statement cannot be traced to a regulation, a manufacturer requirement or straightforward engineering, it does not go in.
- What the Gas Safety Regulations actually require of a landlord
- Repair or replace, and how to tell which one you are looking at
- Heat pumps, heat loss and why sizing decides everything
- Fuel choice where there is no mains gas in the road
Read the diagnosis, not the quotation
If you take one thing from any of this, take that. A fault code tells you which protection has operated, not what caused it - and a repair that only clears the code tends not to hold. Ask what the underlying cause was. Anybody who cannot answer that has not found it.
The same applies to replacement. A boiler quote that arrives without anybody having established the heat loss of the property, the state of the existing pipework and where the flue can terminate is an estimate with a decimal point in it. The difference between that and a fixed price turns up later as an extra.
None of this requires you to become an engineer. It requires two questions: what actually caused this, and what did you measure before quoting. Almost everybody who asks them ends up spending less.
- Ask what caused the fault, not just what the code said
- A boiler quote without a heat loss calculation is a guess
- A service and a gas safety check are different documents
- You are entitled to see the Gas Safe card, and to read it
Common questions
Who writes these?
The engineers and the office between them. Everything published here is either generic trade fact - regulations, manufacturer requirements, how a system actually behaves - or an explanation of something we get asked constantly. It is not marketing dressed up as advice.
Why are there so few prices in any of it?
Because a price quoted in an article is wrong within a year, and because the honest answer to most pricing questions is that it depends on the property. We quote each job after a survey rather than publishing a rate card that has to be walked back later.
Can I rely on this instead of getting somebody out?
No, and nothing here is written to be relied on that way. An article can tell you what a fault code means. It cannot tell you what caused yours, and no amount of reading substitutes for somebody testing the appliance in front of them.
How current is this?
Each article carries a date. Regulations are amended, grant schemes change their terms and eligibility, and efficiency standards move. Where something is time-sensitive - grant values above all - check it against the current published scheme rather than against an article.
I can smell gas. What should I do right now?
Stop reading. Turn the supply off at the meter if you can reach it safely, open the windows, leave the electrics alone, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. It is free and staffed day and night, and they will make it safe.
Can you write about something specific?
Yes. If a question comes up often enough to be worth answering properly, it tends to end up here. Call the office or send it through the contact form.
Got a question that is not answered here?
Call the office and ask. If it comes up often enough, it usually ends up as an article.