Boiler Services

One of the most unfortunate aspects of living in Banbridge is that you live a very miserable life if you do not have proper heating in your house! From October onwards, life becomes very uncomfortable if you cannot heat the air around you.

The Banbride housing association recently published a very interesting and confusing report in their district housing plan for 2011-12. In this report they highlight the fact that overall, Banbridge is quite a privileged area. It ranks in the top 30 economically privileged areas in Northern Ireland. They call this a scale of deprivation, and we rank quite low on the scale.

But then, in the very next statement (on page 6), they say:

The number of households in fuel poverty in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon was 46.3% in 2009, the fourth highest figure in NI (Source HCS).

I find this quite confusing. We live in a generally well-off community, but we experience such high levels of fuel poverty. They don't explain this. One factor would be that the HCS report that they quote covers a larger district than just the Banbridge district council area.

The fact of the matter is that there is nobody in the Banbridge area who cannot afford not to optimise their fuel usage and heating in the coming months.

I am on a quest to do this myself. I live in rented accommodation, and last year I persuaded the landlord to install a second layer of insulation in the roof. It has certainly made a difference. Despite the winter being colder than previous years, I believe I made at least a 20% saving on the amount of heating oil that I used.

I also have my boiler serviced every year. I am fortunate to have met a technician who is incredibly friendly and efficient. He calls me every year in October to remind me that my boiler is due a service. His name is Colin and he is the sole proprietor of a company CJ Boiler Services. One of my friends recommended him to me, and I have not been sorry. In the time that I've known him, he helped me bleed my radiators (free of charge.) I had a problem with one of the radiators, which he quickly identified. As soon as the landlord gave permission he changed the radiator for me. Last year I was in England, when we ran out of oil at home. My wife was alone and got a re-fill, but she had no idea how to get the air out of the system to get the boiler going again. Colin came out within an hour to get the air lock out and when I asked him for a bill, he just shrugged it off. I have always found him to be willing to go the second mile for anybody who is interested in doing business with him.

I love his car. In it he carries every tool that he needs to install, replace, and repair oil fired boilers. It proudly sports his OFTEC registration number. I think his car might be his main form of advertising over and above word of mouth!

Colin lives in Donaghcloney. He regularly does boiler repairs and installations in and around Banbridge, Lurgan, Moira, Craigavon, Lisburn, and Portadown. I called him to book a service yesterday. He told me that he was on his way to Bangor for a service today. It seems like some kind of emergency repair, but he will be with me first thing on Monday morning. He works all over Northern Ireland.

This year I am asking him to put an insulating jacket around my boiler. He recommended it last year. He claims that I'll probably get the money back on the investment within the first year on savings in fuel efficiency. I'm interested to see how it goes.

As you can see, I have a very high regard for him. If you would like to contact him, give him a call on 07074 662693. Or visit his recently acquired website.

(Incidentally. He also specialises in installing Rayburn and Stanley stoves. One day, when I own my own house I will certainly be investing in one of those appliances.)