Back Boiler

I watched a repair man refit an insulation panel side and plate banking to the gas fire in my home. What he removed was black and crumbled & broken.
What causes such damage
Cate

Expansion and contraction ...... Heat stress

Scratching my head here .... not because of the nits but because the post is titled 'back boiler' yet your question relates to a fire

Thanks for answering - you've made me laugh. I've had huge gas bills since moving to a house nearly 3 years ago. Have levelled out after some repairs but tried to get compensation from my landlord as per the central heating system faulty. I'm just a housewife but my problems ranged from noisy central heating system that rattled and banged from the fireplace up to the loft at times. It even used to wake my next door neighbour. Found out the water heater at the back of the fire was coming on when switch off at timer. Also found out that my thermostat was not wired up and I was thinking I was controlling it for nearly two years. Various repairs carried out over my two years of complaining. New Pump, new zone valves, it turned out in November 2004 that the fire was set at about 17 and not 9 as recommended. A host of problems which have settled and also my gas bills. Normally gas bills come down in Summer but mine did not. This summer they have settled. Council tried to say the high bills are due to weather conditions and not the faults in the system
MEN - I'm just a woman!

I would say that the cause of your heating bills being OTT are down to the thermostat not being wired up and the fire being over-gassed. Dont think you will get any re-compense from the council with regards this but I dont blame you for trying,
If you took them to court over it and won it's possible that you could set a legal precedent. You would need a good solicitor for that! Im just a plumber, man and sex therapist....... with nits
If you have an electronic meter some of these have been found to give bad readings so it may be worth harassing your gas supplier for a 'U6' meter.
Look up energy efficiency and see about checking that your insulation and energy saving devices are up to scratch.

I take it the council is your landlord. It has a legal obligations to maintain your gas appliances in a safe condition. In particular a Gas Safety Check should have been carried out each year. If done properly, it should have picked up on some of your faults. I would suggest therefore that your landlord may have failed to meet legal obligations, a matter that could be taken up on your behalf by others, or at least improve your bargaining position.