I didn't imagine my Christmas would be so stressful.
I found the phone number of the local plumber who came last time, and he's given me a rundown of the entire situation, a lot of details my old man didn't tell me. It's ridiculous to be honest because to cut a story short, we've been using stopgap measures to fix a rather poor boiler (it was installed in 2005). Apparently it doesn't even meet regulations because there are plastic pipes within a meter of the boiler. What's the point in throwing £300 or £200 at something that might break down again, we might as well invest in something long-term and scrap the £280 a year Eon Home Energy Services plan.
He recommended that we should install a new boiler and sign up with British Gas because they don't use subcontractors like Eon do. We can get a decent length warranty and basically, have a new boiler with better care. Another option is to contact Ferroli directly and have their engineers fix the boiler and we sign up a services contract with them instead.
I'm leaning towards a new boiler but it will cost between £2,500 to £3,000 to install (rough estimate), my Dad's response? He'll look at it in May because he's going away for a month in February, leaving my Mum alone in the house with the broken shower. It isn't a financial issue, he just doesn't want to pay.
The cost is not insubstantial, I could cover up to a grand but this is another ballpark. I can't leave it until May because of Mum, I have to do some serious thinking in the coming days. It's not what I wanted for Christmas at home but hey... that's what I'm dealt with.
Thanks for all your help. I really need a swift drink
