Immersion heater installations – Everything you need to know about immersion heaters

Nowadays, the cost of living appears to be increasing on a near daily basis, whereas incomes sadly seem to be stuck firmly where they are. Because of this, getting our household bills down and making our homes more energy efficient is absolutely essential. As far as household energy bills are concerned, heating your water is considered one of the largest costs any homeowner will face, especially if your boiler is considered old and inefficient. Lately however, there has been a huge surge in the number of immersion heater installations taking place all across the globe, due largely to the fact that immersion heaters these days are now able to provide so many benefits and advantages. Now, immersion heaters in general, are considered to be more costly than combi boilers, and whilst it is true that having an immersion heater solely, would be more costly, if used as a backup, and used sensibly, immersion heaters can actually prove incredibly useful and energy efficient.thermometer immersion heater install

What exactly is an immersion heater? – An immersion heater is a form of water heater that uses electricity to heat the water, as opposed to gas. It is designed to fit snugly inside a cylindrical hot water vessel that uses heating elements to heat the water inside of the vessel. If you think of an immersion heater as a giant electric kettle, similar to the ones found in Europe, and you basically have the premise behind an immersion heater. They are plugged into a power supply at the mains, and the great thing about them is the fact that they can be switched on and off at your leisure. Obviously you don’t need hot water 24 hours a day, so you basically just switch the device on when you want hot water, and when you’re finished, the device can be switched off.

What are the main benefits of immersion heaters? – Some of the main benefits associated with immersion heaters include:

  • Automatic shut off features – As immersion heaters are now so advanced, many of them are equipped with thermostats, which means that once the water reaches a certain pre-set temperature, it will automatically shut off, so there is no risk of you forgetting to switch it off, and there’s no need for you to constantly have to get up and down, switching it off and on again.
  • Great as a backup supply – Let’s face it, if anything ever goes wrong with our boilers, having no heating or hot water can make life pretty miserable, especially during the colder months of the year. The great thing about immersion heaters is the fact that they act as great backup hot water supplies. They aren’t connected to your boiler, so if anything goes wrong with your boiler, your immersion heater won’t be affected, so you will still be able to get hot water.
  • Keeps water hot for several hours – Another benefit of immersion heaters is the fact that they’re very well insulated nowadays, so they can keep water hot for several hours, even after the device has been switched off.
  • Can be used during cheaper hours – Many immersion heaters are equipped with timers which allow users to set them to turn on and off during hours when electricity tariffs are cheaper, meaning that they will heat the water for cheaper, and then when you wake up the next morning, you can have a hot bath or shower, having heated the water for much cheaper than it would have cost to have used them during the day.
  • Peace of mind – At the end of the day, one of main benefits associated with immersion heaters is their convenience. If you have one as a backup device for example, you don’t have to use it constantly, but it’s nice to know that, should anything happen to your combi boiler, you’ll still be able to get some hot water and heat your home etc.

 

Potential drawbacks – Now we’ll look at some of the less desirable characteristics of immersion heaters. These include:

  • Can be more expensive – If your primary source of hot water is an immersion heater, heating water using electricity is much more expensive than by using gas, so an immersion heater as your sole heat source for water can get pretty pricey, although as mentioned, you can set them to heat the water during times when energy tariffs are cheaper.
  • Doesn’t heat the water right away – The good thing about using gas combi boilers to heat your water is the fact that they heat the water up within a matter of seconds, so you can get hot water right away. With an immersion heater, once you switch the device on, it can take a couple of hours to heat the water up, so taking a hot bath or shower etc, can’t be a spur of the moment decision.

Fridge Repair – How to make your fridge more efficient

As far as common everyday household items that are vastly under appreciated are concerned, the humble kitchen refrigerator is one of the best possible examples. Every single day we use our fridges, and yet we take them for granted a great deal, as we always expect them to work. Each month we spend hundreds upon hundreds on buying fresh food and drink, which we then store in the fridge to help keep cool and fresh. As you know, food tends to turn rotten and go off in warm temperatures, which is why fridge repair services are currently in such high demand, due largely to the fact that it is essential that we look after our fridges at all times.

If your fridge were to break down, the temperature inside would begin to rise, and the food inside would begin to turn rotten much quicker that it should. However, if your fridge still worked, but did not work as efficiently as it should, the temperature inside could still be too high and could not only make the food and drink more likely to go off, but it could also put your health at risk as bacteria could form on the foods. Ensuring your fridge runs as efficiently as it possibly can is absolutely essential, which is again why you should seriously consider hiring a fridge repair service to give your fridge a once over. If you would prefer to handle things yourself however, take a look at these handy tips on how to make your fridge more efficient.Fridge repairs services

Cover all foods – If you have foods that are already vacuum packed and sealed, until you actually open them, you don’t need to worry. If however, you have open foods and packages, you should remove everything that is not vacuum sealed, and take the time to use kitchen wrap to seal the foods as tight as possible. So, say for example, you have a bowl full of leftovers that you plan on having for lunch the next day, instead of just leaving them in the bowl, wrap them tightly with kitchen wrap. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is to help keep the food fresh, because the less oxygen that can get to it, the less chance it has of turning rotten, whereas the second reason is to prevent moisture from escaping. Why is moisture bad for fridges? Because when moisture leeches into the air in the fridge, the compressor of the device will have to work harder than usual to try and remove it. As it is working harder than usual, obviously this will eventually make it less efficient.

Never put warm food into a fridge – If you have leftovers that need putting into the fridge, it can be tempting to just put them directly into the fridge when they’re still warm, but this is one of the worst things that you can do. Putting warm foods into a fridge will again mean that the fridge has to work twice as hard to cool down the food and remove the moisture, whereas if the food was cool and sealed, there would be no issue. On top of that, bacteria can thrive on lukewarm food being placed into a fridge, which is obviously not what you want, unless you happen to be partial to a spot of food poisoning of course.

Make sure the door seal is air tight – Refrigerators should be air tight, or at least, as close to air tight as they can possibly be, so a fridge with a faulty door seal, is something you should get rectified ASAP by people specialising in fridge repair. To check whether the seal on your fridge door is actually efficient and working correctly, you should take a thin piece of paper, hold it directly next to the seal of the door, and see whether or not it moves or if it stays still. It if does flutter as if somebody is blowing air onto it, sadly, your fridge door seal is losing air, which is the last thing you want. One great tip provided by fridge repair experts, is that, even though your seal may be losing air, rather than replacing your entire fridge, it would instead be much easier and much cheaper, to simply change the seal on the door instead.

Clean behind your fridge – Unless your refrigerator is built into the wall, every so often you should take the time to carefully pull your fridge out and vacuum behind it. The reason for this is that all sorts of dirt, dust, and debris in general, can accumulate behind the fridge, which can eventually cover the condenser coils. If you have furry pets, you should definitely vacuum behind your fridge regularly as pet hair and condenser coils just do not mix. After you remove this debris, the heat from the fridge can be carried away and removed much easier, which can then allow the cycles to run for a much shorter duration of time.

Tenanycy Agreement Break Clauses EXplained

What are break clauses in Tenancy Agreement?

This is an agreement which if found in the tenancy agreement that gives both parties the opportunity to prematurely terminate the tenancy agreement. Example a 24-month contract can be terminated after 12 months. The breaking of this clause can be undertaken by either the tenant or the landlord provided the correct procedures are followed. break clauses in Tenancy Agreement

One thing that needs to be noted is that even if a break clause is included in the tenancy, the court is prevented from awarding possession to the landlord due to the Housing Act 1998 until six months of the tenancy has passed. The landlord may have the right to evict tenant using one of the seventeen statutory ground of possession and should serve a Section 8 Notice before. It also has to be noted that, break clause can only be enforced 6 months into the fixed term of the tenancy.

Tenancy Breaking Notice

If a landlord wants to enforce the break clause, he/she is required to serve a written notice (Section 21 Notice) to the tenant at least two months before the eviction date. The same goes for the tenants too: they should submit a written notice known as the Tenancy Surrender Notice. But the tenant enjoys some statutory right which allows them to submit a one-month notice if they want to end the tenancy after or on the fixed term.

Why use the break Clause?

Break Clause bring flexibility to both the landlord and the tenant. It provides them with the opportunity to break mutually the tenancy agreement due to personal circumstances like a change in the financial circumstances of the tenant, relocating of the tenant to another place due to work or even when the relationship between both get soar.

Is Break Clause the Best?

This is a question with an indirect answer. Some find break clause flexible others too do not. One would not want or like to use break clause because they deem it to be scary.

Let us take this scenario below:

Assuming a landlord wants to use break clause and sends his/her tenant a notice; in this case, if the tenant refuses to vacate the premises after the date, then the landlord will have no option than to proceed to court in other to get an order possession. The court will now decide if the break clause is valid or not and if they are not happy with it, then the landlord will not get possession.

What can happen that will make the court unhappy with the break clause?

Well the break clause is drafted in a way that is fair to both parties. If the court decides it was fairly or properly drafted, then the landlord will have a better chance of getting possession but if the court decides otherwise (if it was drafted to favour the landlord), then it is unlikely to be enforced.

To this point, a break clause should be fairly drafted with high degree of legal expertise.

Alternate Methods to Break Clause

Looking at the “problem” an unfairly drafted break clause can bring, some landlords choose to go by the 6-month tenancy agreement method. Here the landlord will rent out the property for a term of 6 months which is subject to renewal. This way if the landlord or the tenant wishes to end the tenancy, they can easily do it without the break clause.

Here if a problem is to arise and the tenant refuses to vacate the property after a valid possession notice (section 21) is served to him/her, the landlord is assured of possession if the case is taken to court.

Do you use break laws?
Unfairly drafted break laws is one of the main causes of dispute between tenants and landlords. It is advisable to seek a professional help in drafting one.

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List of Websites Where Landlords Can Find Tenants for FREE

Usually, one will say there is nothing in this world like “free lunch”. But there is, just that you do not know where to find it. Let us take this example, if Dropbox gives you free 15GB for you to store your photos, this will not be enough as you will use it up in no time for which you would have to upgrade at a price. But for the same photos, Flickr gives you a whooping 1TB free space for your photos enough to store your entire life photos. With that said, if you do not know this, you will continue saying there is no such thing like free lunch. Back to our topic, below are some website where landlords can find tenants for free. These websites allow you to list your properties to be rented for free. Though they might not be the best or effective compared to paid options, they are still worth having a look at.Websites Where Landlords Can Find Tenants

Gumtree

The is no doubt Gumtree is one of the most popular classified site in the UK. Gumtree allow you to list your BTL property on its website for free to its millions of daily visitors. A lot of people have reported having success with Gumtree. Also for £9, you can choose their premium package which gives you more exposure.

Spare Room

Spare Room is widely known as is an extremely popular portal for both tenants and landlords. Spare Rooms allow you to list your BTL property for free. Just like Gumtree, Spare Room offers “bold” listing package starting from £7 which makes your advert stand out from the others and also gives you higher rank listing.

Everyday Classifieds

Everyday Classifieds might not be popular as the once stated above but it worth looking at.

Craigslist

This website need no introduction. With its millions of daily visitors and its geo-target listing feature, landlords can post their properties for free. It is a must to try it out. Visit: Craigslist

Tepilo

Tepilo used to be a site for only the sales of properties. But recently added a section for Landlords to list their properties for rent. This site is own by Sarah Beeny and it worth giving it a shot.

No Guarantee
The above websites are compiled and we hereby do not guarantee success when using this website. These are free website where you can potentially find tenants without paying some mouth foaming agent. Posting on these sites will not take more than 5 minutes each. You can try them out as there is no harm in trying.

How To Claim Against Your Landlord For Disrepair?

You should notify your letting agent or your landlord immediately when the home you rented is in a state of repair. You can claim against your landlord for disrepair if it is his responsibility to repair. Below you will find out how and when to claim against your landlord for disrepair.

Minor Repair Jobs

Tenants are usually responsible for the repair of minor repair jobs. It becomes the responsibility of your landlord only if it is caused by disrepair of the landlord or are due to minor wear and tear.property-disrepair-claim

Write To Your Landlord

Reporting verbally a disrepair to your letting agent or landlord is not enough. You should notify them in writing and also keep all corresponding copies of the writing. This will be useful when you want to claim compensation as it will prove that your landlord was aware of the disrepair. After writing, you would expect the agent or the landlord to take up the request and act on it. One thing you would have to know is that there is a big difference between repair and improvement. It is the responsibility of the landlord to carry out repairs but your responsibility to carry out improvement. Sometimes it becomes difficult to differentiate between repairs and improvement.

Let us take this practical example; window: it is the responsibility of the landlord to put right the rotting window frames but under no obligation to install double glazing. This illustrate a clear example of repairs and improvement.
If your landlord refuses to carry out this repairs, then you can go ahead and claim against your repair.

Environmental Health Department

Right now that we know the difference between repairs and improvement, if you find disrepair condition and is affecting your health, your next step would be to consult the environmental health department for them to inspect. Based on the outcome of their observation, they would serve repair notice to your landlord so he/she will carry out the repairs.

To back up your claim, you should do the following:

Take photographs of the damages

Receipts of all repairs you have undertaken and the damages items you have repaired
If the disrepair has affected your health, add a medical report
Also add a report from your council’s environment health department

Claiming Compensation

You can claim compensation if your personal properties get destroyed or damaged due to your landlord’s failure to carry out repairs. You can claim compensation for bedding, curtains, carpets, furniture, water damage from leaking pipes or clothing spoiled by your landlord’s action not carrying out repairs.

You will also have to provide medical report if you want to claim compensation for your personal health. You are advised to seek legal advice before making a claim as there are some injury protocols that must be followed.

Claim for abatement

You are entitled to a reduction or refund on your rent if you have not been able to use all or part of your rented property due to disrepair. This is known as abatement. How much you can claim depends on the extend of the degree of uninhabitable in your home due to disrepair. You are entitled to 100% rent abate if the whole house is inhabitable.

Claiming Against your landlord should not be a thing that you just wake up to claim but it has to go through some steps for which some are listed above.