HETAS Engineers a bunch of lying so and so's....

I found all three installers on this site: http://www.hetas.co.uk/find-installer/

One reasonably priced installer and two very expensive installers!!

Steamerpoint said:

For the record, All above board, but still a lot of money for what he is saying is a half day job! (Around £500 for labour, the top rain cowl, flue pipe, sump adapter and a small piece of fire board - Parts will be around £160 and labour about £340)

D

Click to expand...

You got off lightly . The Rayburn I recently plumbed in - water side only - was connected by a HETAS bod to a 6m. brick chimney using a liner + cowl . He turns up in a frigging suit - then puts on overalls . Customer was happy to pay c.£1200 for the "installation " of the flue , got the guy direct.- me , I just do it for the joy of helping an old guy keep his house warm . It`s just another money making thing - but because it`s got genuine safety ( CO ) at it`s core , it`s easy to charge ridiculous rates . Another nail in the Old Skool Plumbers coffin

stuartbroad said:

Every trade you care to mention will have its cowboys & con merchants & without naming them, some are much more prolific than others. You seem to have had a run of bad luck with your choice of HETAS installers, where did you get them from as it’s certainly not my experience!

Click to expand...

What is your experience ? Oh fake fag peddling Guru I thought steamline was a condensing boiler

I notice you say your installation is to the reg and by the book if I am correct in saying that photo further down the thread is your installation?

then I'm afraid the flue is incorrect, it should be 600mm straight off the appliance before the first bend, if you have something as fundamental as that wrong, which by the way any jobs worth building inspector will pick up on your goosed mate.

I would also love to know what non profit making line of work you are in???

I think the main point of this thread is that some/ many HETAS engineers will inflate the job wherever possible and they use the carbon monoxide safety threat to justify these actions.

It's not just HETAS engineers either and most other trades will try this tactic.

Sticking with chimneys for a second though, here's one for you.

Three weeks ago while sitting at home, I noticed a red van drive past my home and into next doors driveway. On the side of the van it said AC Taylor Chimney Sweeps. Hmm... I thought, I am about to get my stove fitted and it might be an idea to get the guys phone number for when I need my chimney swept. I popped out to have a word. The man was pleasant enough and even suggested that he pop round afterwards to see how easy my chimney would be to sweep.
(His webpage is: http://www.chimneysweeppeterborough.co.uk/)

Half an hour later he pitched up clearly frustrated. He didn't want to say too much but mentioned that next doors chimney was not safe to use!
He then said that my chimney wants lining because I had a dog leg in my chimney and his brushes would struggle to get round the bend properly!! On no not something else to worry about! Okay he left after giving me a card and I promptly rang the HETAS engineer that is coming to install our fire in a few days time. (18th of Dec) He explained that this was wrong and the sweeper just needs flexible brush rods and even if the chimney was lined, the bend would still be there. This made sense.

I quickly rang another firm of sweepers in the area "A Clean Sweep" (Their webpage is: http://www.acleansweep.me.uk/) and asked them their thoughts. They felt that if a HETAS engineer was installing the stove, it should be safe and that most chimneys have a bend in them anyway. After I mentioned Mr Taylor's views, they said that the man is well known for scaring people!

A few days ago my neighbor popped round with two certificates. Turns out she had A Clean Sweep round that day to sweep the chimney. On the certificate issued by Mr Taylor it said "Chimney not lined, unsafe to use, DO NOT USE" and on the certificate issued by A Clean Sweep it states "Chimney swept, leak test carried out, stove serviced and safe to use".

Mr Taylor sent an invoice for £49 for his visit and actually did nothing but look up the chimney and write out a "DO NOT USE" sheet, whereas A Clean Sweep did the whole job and only charged £40. Our neighbor was fuming but in the end paid him £39 for his visit to get him off her back.

This makes me cross that there are people out there like this. Her stove was installed by a HETAS engineer 6-years ago, unlined (The chimney has a 9-inch clay lined chimney like ours) and they have never had a problem with it.

Inconsistencies like this are troubling and when people charge money for doing nothing is just plane wrong, especially when another professional firm is happy with it.

I have clearly posted the details of both these firms because I feel that people should know who to watch out for. It might one day turn out that Mr Taylor was right and A Clean Sweep were wrong, but they both can't be right!

Wow, great read.

My 2p worth:

Looked at installing our woodburner myself, read up on all the regs etc, spoke to installers, priced up flue kits blah blah blah.
Got 3 quotes to install, all expensive. However, weighed up against the fact that if I screw it up someone could possibly die, I'd rather spend the money.

Well , Knock me dahn wi` a feather all I can says is Gor Blimey Mary Poppins

Ahh your message did make me laugh plenty of things unlike your self self employed people only get paid for what they do so £400.00 for them is minus public liability ,Van insurance at least i other insurance tools ,fuel take some out for the many other things need to be self employed like accountants which you wont need because you are narrow minded and are proberly employed and get told when yo have your dinner and go the toilet when you are at work a bit like being at school.
To install a appliance you must meet the requiremnts of the stove and due to you flue being for a open fire has a cross diameter to big for a appliance 75% pluss heat output>so to meet this a small diameter flue liner is required.There is to many things to list to go regarding your blog but we did giggle please keep it up you C-ck .just to put you in the picture i am a chimney sweep and Hetas and it costs me about £16500.00 just for the business to stay where it is and thats before my wage ,you should try being self employed you will see that 3 hours on a job with sorting it out off site before and post job might be 8-9 getting rid of waste and doing accounts from you job is still work just because they are not stood in front of your narrow minded eyes .Now whos a C-CK

Second winter with the flue, not a problem, no fires, no CO leakage. Swept myself, all still hunky dory.

Looking on the sparks forum, looks as if the coalition are on a bit of a deregulatory push at the moment.

Good for them!

mbga9pgf said:

Looking on the sparks forum, looks as if the coalition are on a bit of a deregulatory push at the moment.

Good for them!

Click to expand...

Totally agree. The UK housing shortage should be cured as all the twonks who do there own wiring, without a clue at what they are doing, will have electrocuted themselves and hopefully no one else.

Rewired my own place. Unlike the flue, got that signed off as it was good value for money. Spark who BC got round quoted "best wiring I have seen in ages". Yep. That's because I followed the regs to a tee, including clipping wires correctly and allowing minimum radii for strain. Resi electrics are a piece of p@ss.

I am an engineer by trade btw who has done aircraft design. None of this is particularly difficult if you follow the regs religiously.

When you see some questions on the electrics forum you'll realise that some peeps should have hands that cannot grip a screwdriver.

When I bought a house years ago I did my (first) own electrics. I also piped in all the gas and water. It's all a piece of pish... If you have half a brain that works.

And that'll cut half the population out straight away.

richmather1 said:

I notice you say your installation is to the reg and by the book if I am correct in saying that photo further down the thread is your installation? then I'm afraid the flue is incorrect, it should be 600mm straight off the appliance before the first bend, if you have something as fundamental as that wrong, which by the way any jobs worth building inspector will pick up on your goosed mate. I would also love to know what non profit making line of work you are in???

Click to expand...

Wrong......

Firstly, its a reccommendation, not mandatory, secondly, I have excellent draw And thus the bend does not have a problem..

Open flues operating satisfactorily,but with less than 600mm vertical rise to the first bend (unless permitted by manufacturer's instructions) is classed as NCS (Not to current standards). However if there is more than one NCS flueing defect this may be upgraded to AR (At Risk).

Click to expand...

Finally, my stove instructions specifically allow this configuration, thus my NCS is in fact fully compliant.

As for paperwork, we wont be moving for a long time. If you really think someone would stop a house purchase due to paperwork for a wood burning stove then unfortunately we will have to differ on this one. if someone was to kick up a fuss over something so minor, i wouldnt particularly want to be in a chain with them anyhow. There isnt a law in this land that will stop someone purchasing a house as seen and certainly none that stop purchase due to lack of notification paperwork. As for insurance, you take your chances. I have installed a suitable co detector, but the whole point of regs is to prevent the house fire scenario through the use of approved materials, distances etc which evolve as, i guess, fire investigations take place and more is learned about the causes of solid fuel fires. And as i have said before, how a lined flue installed to meet regs is supposed to be less safe than one without seems a little ludicrous to me. If I had a thatched house, I could understand.

Click to expand...

I've recently had a lot of sweeps from estate agents and solicitors up to 24 hours before completion and due to the install not being signed off the chain has collapsed due to the install not legal. This will continue to get bigger as more and more lenders refuse mortgages on not HETAS/BC installs!

And as I have said, if that happens, I will rip out the flue and put the old register plate back in for use with the chimney. It doesn't need a flue to operate, although its much more efficient and easier to clean with one!

Scaremongering!