Winter weather demand for heating and boiler repairs service:
Tamworth Borough Council’s repairs contractors, Wates, are experiencing an incredibly high number of calls as a result of the wintry weather and ask people to please be patient while repairs are dealt with as quickly as possible.
Between the morning of Wednesday, February 28, and Friday, March 2, 198 calls were received relating to heating and boiler problems alone. This is around 10 times more than would normally be received in a 48-72 hour period for this service.
Engineers have been working around the clock to tackle the demand and extra resources have been deployed to attend homes as quickly as possible. This has included drafting in additional breakdown engineers to cover both daytime and out-of-hours calls.
Currently call-outs are being prioritised based on level of emergency (such as gas escaping) and vulnerability, but the majority have been attended within 24 hours. In many cases, breakdown is a result of frozen pipes and in 90% of cases, heating has been successfully restored at the first visit. Where it cannot be repaired, temporary heating facilities are being offered.
Both Wates and Tamworth Borough Council’s customer services teams are experiencing high call volumes and we ask people to please be patient as it is taking three to four minutes to answer calls on the out of hours service. However, please note that repairs need to be reported via the Wates Freephone number on 0800 183 0044, both during the daytime and out of hours, so they can be logged. Once your repair has been logged, an engineer will get to you as soon as possible.
Additional resources will be allocated to the Wates call centre and engineering teams into the weekend. All other repairs, not related to heating, are being dealt with as normal where possible. Routine appointments may be affected during this time as contractors work hard to deal with emergency heating and boiler repairs.
In the meantime, a range of winter weather advice is available by following this link to the Staffordshire Prepared website.
Wates have also provided some useful tips to help reduce frozen pipes and heating breakdowns:
Freezing cold weather can cause boiler condensate pipes to freeze which can prevent the boiler from functioning. You may be able to thaw frozen condensate pipes without having to log it as a repair by following the guidelines below.
Thawing your condensate pipe:
•Use warm water only and pour over the end of the pipe where it is frozen using a suitable container like a watering can
•Hold a hot water bottle, or heat wrap, around the condensate pipe
•Once the pipe has thawed you should reset your boiler by holding in the reset button for 10 seconds and wait for the boiler to re-fire.
WARNING:
•Never attempt to thaw a condensate pipe above waist height, or disconnect the condensate pipe in order to do so
•Never attempt to access the condensate pipe or any other pipework within the boiler
•Beware of ice on the ground that will form from the water you have poured.
If you cannot safely thaw the pipe, or it doesn’t solve the problem, please contact Wates on 0800 183 0044.