Central heating on the blink

The old boiler – not me! - aged gracelessly. With the passage of years it became increasingly temperamental, even cantankerous - perhaps me, after all;-)

Some days it would work, on others it refused to wake up at all. This made the approach of winter a matter of concern as temperatures dropped. Eventually it died and had to be sent to the great gas boiler graveyard.

Fortunately we have multi-fuel log burners and were able to heat our sitting room and conservatory. An immersion heater took care of the hot water but moving from the warmth, nay, tropical heat of one room to the Arctic regions of the rest of the house transported me back to my childhood when chilblains were the order of the day. It wasn’t as bad as that, of course, but one must allow for poetic licence.

Paul and John arrived on Monday to replace the gas boiler.

Out comes the old boiler

It might be butchered to rescue any useful parts, unlikely as that seems!

 Copper pipes going nowhere - the hole ensured that the garage was well ventilated!

 As usual, it was not a straightforward job, and the weather had turned very cold so they were working in many layers of clothes, with hoods up – the boiler lives in the garage. A good cooked breakfast in the morning and hot chocolate at regular intervals helped to warm the inner man and almost stopped them turning blue.

'Hot chocolate, drinking chocolate,

Hot chocolate, drinking chocolate'

I liked the Cadbury's advertisement but this chocolate was Charbonnel et Walker - yum!

Barry stoked the fires and kept them burning hot, hot, hot. The sitting room fire resembled a blacksmith’s furnace and I expected any moment that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would come walking through the flaming coals to join me.

There were three children from the land of Israel
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

They took a trip to the land of Babylon
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

He took a lot of gold and made an idol
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

And he told everybody when you hear the music of the cornet
And he told everybody when you hear the music of the clarinet
And he told everybody when you hear the music of the horn
You must fall down and worship the idol
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

But the children of Israel would not bow down
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

You couldn't fool them with no golden idol

So the king put the children in a fiery furnace
He heaped on coals and red-hot brimstone
Seven times hotter, hotter than it oughta be
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

Burnt up the soldiers that the king had put there

But the Lord sent an angel with snowy white wings

Down in the middle of the furnace
Talking to the children 'bout the power of the gospel

Couldn't even harm a hair on the head of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego
Laughing and talking while the fire is jumping around

Oh Nebuchadnezzar called when he saw the power of the Lord
And they had a big time in the house of Babylon
. . Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

Paul and John were staying with us. Now this is not a service we offer to all men who come to work in our house but Paul is our son-in-law. I was worried that they would be cold at night. Yes, we kept them working all through the night and didn’t allow them indoors until the job was done. No, we didn’t – they slept in the cold bedrooms but were perfectly warm and comfortable under the duvets.

Barry and I roasted in our bedroom – the chimney goes up through our room* and we had the dogs and Winston with us. Our pets like to share their love and company with everyone and enjoy moving freely from room to room. Paul and John needed their sleep so we kept our door closed so that they wouldn’t be disturbed by nocturnal visitors.

*I wouldn’t like you to run away with the idea that we have a stove pipe running up through the centre of the room, rather like the one on George Stephenson’s steam engine. 

George Stephenson's 'Rocket' 

image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The chimney is enclosed within a wall, all neat and tidy – one of the few things in the house that can be so described.

Once the work had been completed in the freezing garage the rest of the house became the work space. Hose pipes were attached to radiators to drain them and then thermostats were fitted. After that the radiators had to be bled. What a strange expression that is. Whenever I hear it I imagine specialised leeches attached to the metal to suck out the life force. 


Strange whistlings and gurglings filled the air, towelling mopped up any spills and Paul and John rushed from room to room and from radiator to radiator to discern emanating warmth. Finally the system was pronounced in full working order and the men went home to Dorset. We have been basking ever since in the warmth that permeates every corner of our abode.

Meanwhile, Bethan and Robert were burgled, but that’s another story.