TOM ENTWISTLE: ‘Preparing a boiler for winter in rental properties’

As winter approaches landlords’ thoughts turn to frozen pipes, water leaks, damp and condensation in rental properties.

And Boilers provide the heat that will prevent all of this so they need your special attention.

These issues are what landlords’ nightmares are made of. They all have the potential to wreck your property and can cost you a fortune to put things right if there’s a massive water leak, not to mention the rental income you’re likely to miss in the meantime. Insurance might cover some, or all of the cost if you’re lucky, but that doesn’t cover the anguish it causes you and your tenants.

The thing is, all of this is avoidable given the right kind of attention played out by you and your tenants. But you as a landlord can only do so much.

It needs attention given to the issues by your tenants to prevent these problems, especially preventing frozen pipes which lead to busts. It also needs basic education in many cases – tenants are not always aware of what’s needed, especially if they’re young and have never managed a home before.

Importance of the boiler

Central heating boilers, which also supply hot water, are usually of the combination type and ubiquitous in rentals. At an average cost of around £2,000 plus fitting they are perhaps the most expensive item in the rental. They require regular servicing, and mandatory checks by a Gas Safe engineer if they run on gas.

Boilers also pose a potential risk of producing deadly carbon monoxide (CO) gas if they are not properly serviced, so it’s important to have a CO monitor in close proximity to the device. Occupants also need a certain amount of knowledge to make sure the controls and settings are optimised, that the system remains pressurised at the correct level and that any air in the system is bled out from the radiators from time to time, to maintain efficient operation.  

What can the landlord do?

My preference is to explain to my tenants exactly what they need to do as winter approaches. Total landlord’s guide to boilers and heating contains lots of useful information, from how to bleed radiators to top heating tips for tenants. First off, boiler controls. Explain how they work and how to set the thermostats in rooms and those fitted to radiators, how to set timers and monitor the system pressure.

Most tenants should be capable of bleeding the radiators if necessary, but they need to know that after bleeding the system it will need to be repressurised correctly, at the boiler. If the system pressure should drop repeatedly then there is most likely a fault with the boiler or a leak in the system, so the landlord should be informed.

I believe that keeping the house on a low heat when you are out or away from your home for a short time is vital to prevent pipes freezing up. And in the long run it is more economical than having to re-heat your home from cold every time you come in.

Prevening condensation in the home is also key – by venting steam at its sources, such as when cooking or bathing. Using the extractor fans, which should be provided, is the answer. I also warn about the results of drying clothes indoors and on radiators – this will cause a lot of condensation.

In addition to explaining these issues very clearly to tenants I provide written guidance as well, a winter letter if you like, that explains about the precautions that tenants need to take. For example, in this case study on call out charges for boiler repair, mydeposits explain the importance of tenants reporting any issues at the time they occur.

Most rental properties with central heating these days have a boiler of some kind, be that gas, oil or in some country areas liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

These boilers need to be serviced and it’s a good idea to schedule your annual gas checks and gas boiler service to coincide with the start of winter so you know it’s safe and in good working order to last trouble-free throughout the winter – if it’s a really cold winter then your boiler is going to be working 24/7.

Condensation debate

Condensation, damp and mould occur when tenants don’t have enough heating on, letting the temperature fall so low that there are lots of cold surfaces where water will condense. Secondly, because it’s so cold, tenants will keep all the windows tightly shut and therefore any steam generated by cooking, washing and drying clothes is trapped inside, simply condensing on all the cold surfaces.

I’ve even seen tenants block up extractor fans. It’s a vicious cycle that gradually results in harmful black mould appearing everywhere. Total Landlord has produced a very useful tenant checklist for landlords to print off and give to their tenants, to help them recognise damp and including tips to keep the property free from condensation and mildew.

You can download it here. You can also read Total Landlord’s ultimate guide to identifying and preventing damp, mould and condensation for more information and listen to their podcast[1]  on this topic, which is packed with advice for landlords and agents, featuring guests from mydeposits and HF Assist.

Automatic extraction

There a few things you can do in addition to trying to educate your tenants. One is to fit automatic extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom. These are normally closed to prevent cold drafts, and only operate when the humidity reaches a certain level, but they are highly effective.

The only drawback to the automatic extractors is they are removing warm air from the house which will only be replaced by colder air seeping in through gaps – it’s expensive to throw away warm air when you’ve paid to heat it up.

The next stage up is a full house ventilation system which recycles the warm air. Fitted in the attic space, an air pump circulates air around the house. These mechanical ventilation systems with heat recovery (MVHR) are a whole house ventilation system that both supplies and extracts air throughout a property. Heat recovery is used to reduce the heating and cooling demands of buildings.

They typically recover about 73–95% of the heat in exhausted air and will significantly improve the energy efficiency of a house.

Going to the expense of such a system would make most landlords pause and think, but if it can result in the prevention of a bad case of condensation and black mould and make the lives of your tenants better, then it may well be worth it.

These systems are best fitted when you are doing a full renovation or building a new house rather than a retrofit, but if you consider this is appropriate, it will help you meet the more stringent energy efficiency targets coming down the line – EPC level “C” is likely to be the next target set by the Government.

What can the tenants do?

Tenants should follow the advice given, maintain a low heat at all times especially when the weather is very cold, and if they go away, say at Christmas. They should vent steam at source and avoid wet clothes drying indoors. They need to familiarise themselves with the boiler and thermostat controls and inform the landlord immediately if things go wrong.

Replacing boilers

Boilers have a lifespan, so you should budget for their replacement after a reasonable time. The life expectancy of a boiler will depend on the type of boiler you have. On average, a standard gas combination or stand alone boiler will last for 10 to 15 years and if you’re lucky a good quality boiler might function normally for over 20 years, that’s providing it is well maintained and serviced annually. 

The advantage of replacing a central heating and hot water boiler is that technology moves on quickly. A 10 year old boiler may be well out of date and difficult to get spare parts for, plus you will probably find that its replacement is not only smaller, but much more energy efficient. A modern condensing boiler that is capable of collecting gas generated by burning fuels, like gas and oil, and used to heat water entering the system, saves a lot of money and reduces carbon emissions in the process.

Repairing boilers when they break down, if they are above a certain age, can be uneconomic. It’s also the case that spare parts become more difficult to source and there may be a long wait, which your tenants won’t thank you for.

Service contracts

If you want to reduce the hassle if a boiler does break down, you may have considered using a breakdown service such as those provided by British Gas or Homeserve, or you may know a local heating engineer who attends quickly. The main problem is, these things generally break down when everyone needs an engineer, so unless you have some influence with local engineers, a breakdown service is worth considering.

Replacing the boiler

Replacing a stand alone boiler – which usually takes up a lot of space – with a modern combination boiler, which is much smaller, gives you great flexibility as to where you place the boiler. It means that water tanks, say in a cupboard or in the attic space, along with pipework, are no longer needed, and this may release even more space.

General property maintenance and repairs, such as replacing an ageing boiler, are genuine items that HMRC says you can claim for against your income for tax purposes, but you cannot claim for improvements. Though your new boiler may well be a technical improvement over the old one that breaks down, it is still a replacement and an allowable expense.

Working on or replacing boilers and heating systems should cause little disruption, so no need to start moving tenants out. In the meantime, if you need a source of heat when a boiler breaks down you should have a standby portable heater or heaters, but make absolutely sure these are serviced and safe to use in short-term emergencies. In any event you should be looking to have a broken down heating boiler up and running within two or three days at the outside and preferably sooner, to be fair to your tenants.

Insulation

You can have the latest energy efficient boiler available, but if most of the heat is being lost through an uninsulated home, then not only is it going to cost a fortune to keep the place warm, but your tenants are more likely to skimp on heating because of cost, causing condensation, black mould, health risks and long-term damage to your property.

As a responsible landlord you need to get your priorities right in these times of sky high energy prices. Properly insulating your rental homes makes economic sense, so don’t wait until you are forced to do it. It’s likely that all newly rented properties will require an EPC of at least Band “C” when the Minimum Energy Performance of Buildings (No. 2) Bill becomes law.

Alternative forms of heating

Electric heating, either with electric boilers or individual heaters, was always considered to be more expensive than oil and gas, but times have changed and some modern systems can actually work out cheaper, depending on your own situation and taking the average cost over the seasons.

Modern electric heaters are highly controllable, some come with an App control on a smartphone, and they are designed to be energy efficient, meaning you can actually save more energy and cut down heating costs, especially if you can combine this form of heating with solar panels.

Gas or oil heating requires an annual service and gas needs an annual check by a Gas Safe engineer, which can be a hassle when trying to tie down tenants to appointment times, and there’s the annual cost. With electric heating you’ll never have to do this. There’s no flue pipework or the risk of carbon monoxide leaks, giving you some peace of mind.

It’s much easier to control how your home is heated with modern electric heaters and the cost of electricity has come down over the years. Separate zone heating solutions fitted with digital thermostats mean that you can control these heaters on a room-by-room basis. It’s something worth considering, so do your own research.

Heat pumps

Last year the Government introduced a scheme to encourage people to install more environmentally-friendly heating systems, with grants made available to existing homes and non-domestic buildings in England and Wales.

There are two types of heat pump, the simplest one being air-source which is slightly less effective. Ground-source is more effective but much more expensive to install.

Heat pumps only suit houses that are very well insulated, and they must have room for a large water tank, plus increased (double) radiator sizes. Underfloor heating is best. The scheme is not available for social housing or a new-build property, but private rented accommodation is eligible.

To be eligible for the scheme the property must have an EPC issued in the last 10 years, and the certificate must have no outstanding recommendations, such as installing loft or cavity wall insulation. Otherwise, you can insulate before you apply. Your private rented accommodation is eligible but the decision to install has to be taken by you, the landlord.

Under the scheme, the Government is providing £5,000 for households to install air source heat pumps which should cover 50 to 75% of the cost. £6,000 can be extended for a ground-source heat pump or even a water-source heat pump which is likely to cover between 30 to 50% of the cost of the installation. There is to be no VAT on heat pumps for five years in England, Scotland and Wales.

Proving inadequate

My view is that you need to be cautious about fitting heat pumps in rental properties. There have been many instances of installations providing inadequate heat and they need careful control. The house must be suited to the installation by being ultra well-insulated and having space for the necessary equipment.

The other important consideration is that heat pumps don’t necessarily save on heating bills. They simply transfer the cost from gas or oil onto the electricity bill because they consume a considerable amount of electricity.

See this video from ‘Skill Builder – Worcester Bosch’ which gives in my opinion an accurate expert view of some of the latest developments in heating systems, namely hydrogen boilers and heat pumps. It also gives some idea of the many problems you can encounter when you retro-fit a heat pump installation where a standard gas or oil system was used before.

Hydrogen burning boilers

Another form of heating which holds out some promise for the future is boilers using hydrogen gas. Currently, hydrogen has several drawbacks, not least that it costs as much if not more in energy to produce it as it gives back. But by using off-peak or surplus green energy, such as wind and solar, hydrogen acts like a battery, a form of energy storage. Green hydrogen is produced in this way and is transportable energy.

Blended hydrogen gas boiler trials for domestic properties, using the existing gas infrastructure, as mentioned in the video, are ongoing and could become viable in the near future.

Total Landlord’s ultimate guide to having an eco-friendly property contains lots of useful advice on what you need to do to make sure your property complies with the law, both now and in the near future, and that it’s as eco friendly as possible.

And for more information on how to provide your tenants with a safe, comfortable home, which includes a decent heating system, this winter, read Total Landlord’s ultimate guide to preparing your tenants’ boiler and heating system for winter.

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