Good news!!

[Green Aura]

I've bored many of you long and often with the tales of our horrible chuggy old coal-fired central heating boiler and questions/plans about replacing it. Well I think it's days may be numbered!!!!

One of the problems was to find something low enough to fit the existing flue arrangement, with a back boiler and ideally something to cook on.

I've just found and bought it!!!!!!! It's an Esse Doric - so cute - with an oven and hotplate, back boiler. Secondhand off fleabay and the man we've bought it off has got us a really good deal with a local haulage firm to bring it all the way up here. It's not quite got the btu output to heat our entire building but our aim is to get a heat bank and combine solar etc as we can afford it. The current set-up means we often need to have the electric panel heaters on a times so nothing new there.

Much better than our previous plans - our idea of a ground source heating was scuppered when we discovered our neighbour owns part of the field out the back! Why he's not got it fenced off I have no idea.

[old tree man]

good news with the boiler, they can be a real pain to fit, are you fitting it yourselves
all the best anyway

[Green Aura]

Hopefully, but there are plenty of neighbours around to offer advice - they've all, at some time fitted a woodburner or similar. If absolutely necessary there's a plumber/heating engineer, but as I'm still waiting for him to come and fix my toilet (since July 2007 ) I'm really hoping we don't have to get him in.

[old tree man]

there's a plumber/heating engineer, but as I'm still waiting for him to come and fix my toilet (since July 2007 ) I'm really hoping we don't have to get him in.

oh dear

[Green Aura]

It's OK Russ - we fixed it ourselves!!!

[Millymollymandy]

I had visions of poor old mum using a bucket all this time.

Is the new boiler coal fired as well Maggie? Cos I imagine wood might be expensive or hard to come by where you are.

[Green Aura]

We're still going to have to use some coal, but we've found a wood supplier about 40 miles away - backyard standard for round here!

Hopefully, when we've got all the different elements tied in we'll be able to use all wood - and we're trying to plant up any spare ground with trees. They don't grow high but produce some interesting horizontal shapes and good old willow really doesn't care. So in a few years we may even be able to provide some of it ourselves.

We live in hope.

It must be our lucky week - we've just had a phone call to say the last of the double-glazing will be fitted tomorrow. Woohoo!

And on top of that, we've found a haulier who'll transport the stove up here for approx £75!!!!! (The next nearest quote was £300 just to take it to Manchester - then we'd have had to find some other means of getting it up here )