Four weddings and two funerals

That partly sums up what was a very mixed year for us, with a lot of ups and downs - probably more of the latter, but at least a few of the former. Most years we don't get invited to any weddings, but this year was different. In July and August we attended no less than four weddings each, three of them together plus two more solo. More of that in the 2006 Picture Gallery, but first the conclusion of last winter's heating crisis.

Plumbers and Heating Engineers (and why we prefer the latter)

As you may recall, our last year ended without central heating. Initial attempts to get our gas boiler repaired, by far the cheapest option, were thwarted by changes in the regulations introduced earlier in 2005. When we started getting serious quotes we found that everyone wanted to sell us a Combi boiler, and fit it where the old one had been in the downstairs utility room. That would have meant that the "hot water on demand" from the boiler would have to travel all the way upstairs to the airing cupboard, where the hot tank was, and from there to any tap that needed it. Quite a long and tortuous route, at least twice as long as in the existing system. Could the boiler go in the airing cupboard, we asked? Possibly, but with no outside wall it would require a vertical flue, and then there's the problem of getting the gas supply to it. "Leave it with us and we'll get back to you".

Towards the end of January, having finally decided we would have to have a Combi boiler, fitted in the original downstairs location (but on the wall), we were all set to go ahead when, on the final inspection, the plumber told us that because the hot water would now be at mains pressure the valves in the shower fittings might leak, and that we'd need a different type of valve (ie completely new fittings). These are built into tiled walls, and although the seals are accessible, changing the entire fittings would be far more disruptive. The last thing we wanted was a leak inside the bathroom wall, and yet there was no straightforward solution to replacing the fittings.

Back to square one, almost, and trying to find someone who could fit a new boiler that would run with our existing hot water tank. We got lucky with a recommendation from a visiting friend, and found a heating engineer who could do everything that we wanted, and at a price to match all the "bung in a combi" quotes. You can find him at www.kenconwayheating.com. He told us about the industry, and why combi boilers are so prevalent. In the early days of central heating, heating engineers needed to know about things like flow diagrams, header tanks, differential pressures, motorised valves and associated control systems in order to implement a central heating system. Plumbers, on the other hand, only had to know how to fit pipes together. With the advent of Combi boilers, with their simple tank-free plumbing and built-in controls, plumbers could now start offering to install central heating - as long as it's a Combi! If you want anything else, forget it.   

So finally, in mid February, thanks to Ken and his two sons, we had a new high-efficiency heating system in place, without having to compromise on anything that we'd wanted, nor pay over the odds. Hopefully someone might benefit from this knowledge...