One of life's little challenges is when you need to put the heating on in the Hall - and it doesn't work. Fortunately, we have a very good central heating engineer in the parish who runs his own firm. It turns out that the boiler - installed 5 years ago and replaced soon after - has some sort of boiler version of gut rot. It could be repaired at some cost and labour time but we decided to call it a day and put in a new one. Apparently this is a "condensing boiler" which is more efficient too. And has a five year warranty: probably a good sign.
My boiler guru tells me that he is onto the supplier with the whole story and is emphasising the very public nature of such works to Church premises. This should have some effect on our discount. I said that if it would help, I would be happy to post a photo of the shot innards of the old one on my blog with a link to the website of the manufacturer and supplier. I told him that we could even do something on YouTube :-)
I'm happy anyway. Problem notified yesterday: boiler replaced and in working order by 10.30am this morning. It's that kind of parish.
10 comments:
Must be some anti- catholic boiler virus around - we are in need of two new boilers!
Well I wish I had your plumber. Mrs P texted me today to inform me that ours has plumbed the hot water into the loo - steam coming out of the cistern after flushing!
Does this chap fix broken heads as well? lol
In America we have a saying:
"The squeaky wheel gets the grease."
I bet you have that same saying over there! ;-D
I don't think it's specifically anti-Catholic. I had several years of getting up at 5 am every other Sunday to wrestle with our 1947 boiler, which was struggling valiently, but in vain, to take the bitter chill off our 14th century parish church. Somebody had spoilt its reliability circa 1972 by converting it from coal to oil firing, probably figuring by then that the (then relatively new) electricity supply was here to stay. I generally needed a hair-drier to chase the damp out of the sparky bits, plus a large can of WD40, and frequently some heavy duty prayer. I always suspected that it was only the last of these that got it running on some occasions. I was so happy to see the new boiler installed a couple of years ago, and the old one removed in bits (very large chunks of the proverbial 'old iron', actually).
Paulinus - The story is told of the plumber who was called out in the middle of the night by a doctor to fix a leak in his toilet cistern. The plumber put two paracetamol tablets into the cistern. The doctor said "Will that fix it?" The plumber said "See how it gets on and if it does not improve, call me in the morning."
Sorry :-)
Yes, I've been told that the modern "condensing" boilers are more energy efficient.
I really don't know much about the quality of water in that part of Kent, but I'm told that in an area of "hard" water, the water can wreak havoc with the insides of anything from a central heating boiler to an electric kettle, unless a "water softener" has been installed.
As to obtaining a satisfactory plumber/heating engineer, I can only congratulate Father Tim on his good fortune in knowing one.
I think most of us could tell horror stories about plumbing emergencies.
You can never find a good plumber when you need one, and only at vast expense.
I suppose the power of prayer helps.
Five years ? Boilers should give longer service than that shouldn`t they ? Are you sure it wasn`t sabotaged by the Society of St Gregory's Music police.
Ah.
I've heard a story similar to Father Tim's.
The difference between the two stories is that, in the story I heard, the plumber receives an urgent "out of hours" telephone call from the doctor.
The plumber has no intention of going out to a call at that time of night, if he can avoid it.
Doctor :
"My kitchen sink is blocked and I can't fix it!"
Plumber :
"Drop two aspirins down it, and I'll be round in the morning."
"See how it gets on and if it does not improve, call me in the morning."
Alas, you've found us out ;-)
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