If there’s one thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older, it’s that British winters aren’t just “a bit nippy” any more – they’re bloody expensive. As gas prices continue to rise and the cost-of-living squeezes every last drop out of your bank balance, a healthy boiler suddenly feels like a big deal.
Thankfully, my old boiler wasn’t too old and was performing the basics okay, although it never quite kept up with the house. I live in a three-bed home and it always felt like the boiler was slightly underpowered. Two people couldn’t shower at the same time without the pressure and temperature dropping, and if I jumped in the shower straight after someone else, the pressure would slump and I’d have to wait a good ten minutes for it to recover. The radiators took ages to warm up from cold, too, and while it wasn’t a dealbreaker, the hot water from the taps always felt like forever to come through, which didn’t help with water wastage. None of that was exactly ideal when trying to keep heating use sensible and only whack it on when you really need it.
