Don’t wait for Winter, Get Your Heating Sorted Now.

As Autumn draws in, if you haven’t already then now is a good time to get your home’s heating system checked over by a professional. In fact, if you’ve got some form of heating cover, then check your policy as these sometimes include a free annual health check of your homes central heating and hot water systems.

You might think it’s a little early to be thinking about burst pipes, but after a long period of relatively little use during the summer, now is the perfect time to have your home’s heating system checked over.

And if the very worst was discovered and you needed a new boiler, then you’ve a few weeks to get that sorted rather than taking the first one offered because you’re huddled up like Eskimos.

As well as checking the correct burning operation of your boiler, they’ll also inspect flues for blockages. Blockages that could lead to a deathly build up of the colourless, tasteless, odourless carbon monoxide.

And if you’re planning on using additional heating appliances, then these should also be checked – it’s probably a few months past they were stored away in the garage or shed. Check pipe connectors and their seals for signs of wear and replace if necessary. Check ignitors work correctly and safety guards aren’t damaged or loose. Check wiring and plugs for signs of fraying or broken plastic.

And once winter is here, don’t leave any portable heating appliances, whether they be electric, gas or liquid fuelled, on overnight. During the Winter months, house fires caused by heating appliances shoot up in numbers, very often with fatal or near death results for the occupants.

Tips:

• Always use a Corgi registered plumber or heating engineer to check and gas central heating.


• Check the exterior of flues for signs of obvious blockage – bird nests or rubbish piled up around the flu will stop deadly gases escaping.


• Get a carbon monoxide alarm fitted – just like a smoke alarm, they save lives.


• Check your carbon monoxide and smoke alarm batteries regularly.


• If you use wood or coal stoves, have the chimney checked and swept if required.


• Check your home heating cover policy – you may qualify for a free annual inspection!


• Don’t leave it till Winter to discover you need a heating engineer. They’ll be too busy to attend straightaway and you’ll be very cold indeed.


• Check your elderly neighbours OK. A few minutes checking timing clocks and smoke alarm batteries can make all the difference.


• Follow the safety instructions on all portable appliances and never leave them on overnight whilst your asleep.

PHOTO FEATURE: Sociable Kitchens

In many homes, the kitchen is becoming one of the most important rooms, so it’s no surprise that today’s kitchens focus on sleek designs and stylish materials, whilst emphasising a spacious and ‘open’ feel.

Pictures for this month’s photo feature are from Kitchen Co-Ordination Ltd, a design and installation company who work around the London area.)

For an instant online fitted kitchen quote, visit KitchenQuoter.co.uk.

Throughout human history, sharing food has been central to our social lives. From the earliest cave dwellers to the modern restaurant goers, we’ve always used food as the perfect excuse to get together with friends and family and share good times.

In modern times we’ve started taking this one step further, though, and begun sharing not just the food, but the cooking too. Ever more common is the kitchen-diner, the open plan house, or even just the kitchen hatch. We don’t just cook food and serve it, we share the cooking as well.

One way to achieve this balance is using an island as a seating area, so you won’t miss out on any of the conversation while you’re preparing dinner for family or friends – and parents can also use it to spend more time with their children over breakfast or homework.

Not everything about a chic kitchen has to be black, white, silver and shiny! Don’t be afraid to incorporate a modern kitchen into your style of home – they can be perfectly mixed with natural wood floors and wicker furniture.

Bespoke kitchens not only make use of every little nook-and-cranny, but also keep the overall design as sleek as possible. Walls and ceilings flow into one another when kept the same colour and appliances, such as microwaves, add to the smooth finish if integrated into cupboard space

To find out more and get a free, instant online quote for your fitted kitchen project, visit KitchenQuoter.co.uk today

Thinking of Upgrading or installing your Windows?

(not that type of Windows!)

If you're thinking of upgrading your Windows or installing Windows in your home, then we have the answer - online.

Forget costly call-centers or premium rate phone lines, we can offer you an instant online quote for replacement windows and doors, double glazing and conservatories & porches etc from the comfort of your own computer.

Visit Window Quoter today. Our clever website lets you enter your own measurements, select the style of window and openers etc you'd like and then works out a price based on current UK averages there and then. Use it as often as you like, whenever you like.

And if you're looking to improve other areas in your home, then visit our Home Improvement Quotes website which has details, information and links to the entire 'Quoter family of websites, all offering instant online quotes.

P.S Apparently, it's also Windows 7 (Microsoft's computer operating system) launch day today.

photo credit: rgarcia

£1000 Or More Towards Your Double Glazing

Government Grants For Glazing?

A new campaign gathering momentum online calls upon the government to provide a grant for energy saving double glazing installations. Whilst current grants exist to cover installation of cavity wall insulation and other energy saving measures, this is unsuitable for many homes and some people are left unable to claim any money for improving their energy efficiency.

If your home is not adequately insulated, you could be bleeding money through your walls every single month. As your heating system struggles to provide warmth to your home, your walls may be leaking it out again just as quickly.

Replacing single glazed windows with double glazed units with an energy saving rating of ‘C’ or higher can have a dramatic effect on your fuel consumption and reduce your energy bills dramatically. Double glazing also has benefits in reducing noise and improving safety and security.

The government’s ‘Warm Front’ scheme offers a grant to enable people to install cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and other energy-saving measures. Whilst this is very welcome and helps thousands of people stay efficient, not every home has cavities in its walls suitable for fitting cavity wall insulation. Many people end up being unable to take advantage of the available grants and unable to insulate their properties.

And so, many people get left behind, unable to insulate their homes and unable to get grants to improve the energy efficiency of the building they live in.

That’s why a campaign has begun to ask the government to make a grant available to people who are unable to insulate their homes with cavity wall insulation and wish to install double glazing. On the Number 10 Downing Street website, the petition reads:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to make available a grant to purchase Double Glazing enabling those house holders who do not have cavity walls to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and cut energy bills

If the campaign is successful, homeowners could potentially receive grants in excess of £1000 to carry out double glazing projects and improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

To get an instant, online quote for double glazing and discover how much you might expect to pay to re-glaze your house, use WindowQuoter.co.uk, part of the Home Improvement Quotes family of Quoter websites.

Recycled upvc double glazing - are your old windows being recycled?

We Can Recycle It. We Have the Technology.

Recycling used uPVC windows, doors and other glazing products is not the stuff of science fiction - the technology is there and commercially available, so you should make sure you ask your supplier what they will do with the old units they're replacing.

Most homes in Britain now have recycling bins alongside their normal waste collection, and most people have become used to the idea of recycling their household waste wherever possible.

So it makes sense that many of us worry about what happens to our used window units when we have them replaced. The units are not small, large amounts of uPVC from window frames, sadly, still ends up going in to landfill, where it can pollute and damage the environment.

This is all the more galling when you realise that there's no longer a serious technological barrier to recycling the PVC used in windows - technology has progressed to the point where PVC can be recycled not just once, but many times over before it becomes unusable. The process itself is also remarkably efficient and the chemicals used in recycling can be used many times over without losing their effectiveness.

In 2008 over 50,000 tonnes of recovered PVC was recycled in 2008, up from around 42,000 tonnes in 2007. Whilst this is great progress, and indeed puts Britain ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of the amount of PVC we recycle, it is still estimated to represent less than 10% of the PVC wastage we create in Britain.

This is why it's important to ask your window supplier, indeed all of the three window suppliers >Window Quoter can help you get in touch with, what they will be doing with the windows they remove from your house; whether they are part of a PVC recycling scheme; and - even more importantly - whether the new frames they are install will be at least partially constructed from recycled PVC.

When you buy recycled products, you're helping to reduce the amount of landfill sites we need, reduce the amount of pollution we cause, and lessen the impact of our species on the planet. Don't forget to check.

Your Home Improvement Company feedback makes the difference

Here at Home Improvement Quotes, we've seen the way feedback you've been leaving on companies we've recommended to you has really changed the way they do business.

After we've matched your details to a home improvement provider from our network, we give you the opportunity to leave feedback on the company, their salespeople, and the job they did.

Through your comments, both good and not-so-good, Managers have gained first hand insights into how their companies are being perceived and how their sales force conduct themselves with homeowners. When that feedback is good, they're able to give rewards to their best sales people, based not only on raw number of homeowner signatures but also on customer satisfaction.

When that feedback hasn't been so favourable, they've been able to make efforts to change their customer service procedures.

Receiving feedback from homeowners also enables us to constantly monitor the companies in our network. If companies start regularly being given negative feedback, we can speak with them directly and resolve issues raised quickly and effectively. On some (very rare) occasions, we've even entirely stopped doing business with companies based on feedback we've received from homeowners just like you.

Of course, good feedback is also vital, as it enables companies to reward their staff - and us to reward the companies.
When we all work together, it all adds up to a service that every homeowner can have faith and trust in, and be safe in the knowledge that your feedback is read and acted upon.

So after you've booked the services of a company we've recommended, don't forget to visit your customer information page to leave feedback.