Answer a few questions about the job. It's free and there is no obligation.
A boiler that needs its yearly service, a leak under the bathroom floor, an oil tank to check before winter or radiators for a stone cottage? Describe the job in a few clicks and get a free, no-obligation quote from a plumber near you.
Not every village has mains gas. Pick your fuel to see what needs servicing, who is allowed to do it and what to do if something goes wrong.
Gas Safe registered engineer
OFTEC registered technician
Gas Safe registered engineer
Qualified installer
Enter the room and the way it is built. You get the heat it needs and the radiator rating to look for, which depends on how hot the water runs.
Heat the room needs
Radiator rating to look for
Ratings are quoted for water at an average of 70 °C. Cooler water, as with a heat pump or a condensing boiler run low, gives less heat per radiator, so the rating needs to be higher.
A rule of thumb for a first idea, based on the volume of the room, not a heat loss survey. Example values are filled in. A plumber measures the room and checks the system before choosing radiators.
Four things that change a job in a stone house, a barn conversion or a cottage.
Five minutes in the garden before the cold weather can save a cold house and an expensive clean-up.
If oil reaches a drain, a ditch or a stream, call the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Before anyone starts, ask for their registration number and look it up. These are the four that matter most for plumbing and heating.
Boilers, gas fires, hobs and LPG appliances
Every gas engineer must be on the Gas Safe Register. Ask to see the ID card, read the back to see what they are qualified to do and search the register online.
Open the registerOil boilers, tanks and oil pipes
OFTEC registered technicians service and commission oil-fired heating. Ask for their registration and check it on the OFTEC website.
Open the registerWater fittings and plumbing
The WaterSafe register lists plumbers approved to fit water fittings. It matters for bathrooms, supply pipes and unvented cylinders.
Open the registerHeat pumps and solar thermal
A heat pump installer must be MCS certified for the home to get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. Check the certificate before you sign.
Open the registerPlumbers work across Rutland. A few villages on the eastern side, such as Ketton and Ryhall, use Stamford's PE9 postcodes. Pick a village to see its postcode area and its distance from Oakham. Type your own postcode in the quote form to check yours.
Selected
An OFTEC registered technician for the boiler, the burner and the oil line. A plumber can fit radiators, taps and pipes around it, and many heating engineers do both.
Many rural homes heat with oil or LPG, and both work well for heating and hot water. The differences are where the fuel is stored and how it is delivered. A heat pump is the other route, and the installer needs to be MCS certified for the grant.
Once a year, whether it runs on gas or oil. Keep the record: a warranty or a landlord's duty often depends on it.
Yes. Solid walls and old floors decide where pipes can run, so a plumber looks at the floor and the wall first. In a listed house, check with the council before changing visible pipework.
The work described in plain words, parts and labour, VAT, the time it will take and anything that is left out. For gas or oil work it should also show the engineer's registration number.
Turn off the water at the stopcock, open the cold taps to drain the pipes, switch off the heating and the immersion heater, and keep electrics clear of the water. Then call a plumber.