Would this letter stand up in court (from landlords)

If its gas, the boiler only comes on when it's needed. Turn the hot water on the boiler fires up.
When the temp drops below the thermostat setting, the boiler fires up. The boiler isn't always consuming gas.
 
I have a vokera (25e compact) and it has an anti freeze kick in to heat it back up should it hit the danger zone...

As I said previously - there is zero chance of weather arriving that will take the temp inside down to below freezing over xmas - it would be an extraordinary feat for it to happen any time at all.
 
We have to turn the thermostat to 17c for the boiler to kick in at the moment. Does that mean if we leave it on 10c and it gets below 10c in the house then it will kick in?
 
We have to turn the thermostat to 17c for the boiler to kick in at the moment. Does that mean if we leave it on 10c and it gets below 10c in the house then it will kick in?

Yes, and You can set it even lower than that assuming it goes down lower.
You just need to keep the house above freezing. Which is very unlikely to happen, with current weather.
 
like its been said you cant do anything about cold water pipes so whats the point in pretecting central heating pipes?

if you're going on holiday at this time of year you're best off turning the main water supply off and draining the heating..

most pipes that burst arent protected with lagging, is that your fault? send a letter back asking for the pipes to be lagged if he's worried about the pipes bursting..

from what ive seen, most pipes burst because they've been fitted outside without lagging, under draughty floors or lofts, under draughty baths..

its the way they've been fitted or where they've been fitted which is the problem imo.
i was busy as hell last year fixing burst pipes, not had one this year so far so i wouldnt worry too much
 
The letter itself, probably not, but it's just a reminder isn't it? If the pipes burst it would be your fault anyway because you are in charge of the property.
 
The letter itself, probably not, but it's just a reminder isn't it? If the pipes burst it would be your fault anyway because you are in charge of the property.

Is it. so if our ceiling caves in, its our fault? dont think so. They should have landlords insurance to protect them against things like this

When I was at uni, our toilet was leaking. We rang our landlord and told him. He didnt show up. Another call a week later and he didnt show up...

2 months later we rang him and told him the kitchen ceiling had caved in, about a 3 foot hole. He was around in a shot!
 
Happened to the pipes in our house at Uni. We all came back after the holidays and there was water all down the walls. There was nothing in the contract about it so the landlord sorted it all out on the insurance!

Not sure if a note like that would make much difference!
 
Do you really want to risk it actually happening for the sake of a few quid - its in your interests that they don't burst too regardless of the fact it would probably be the landlords insurance coughing up for the repairs - being without hotwater until its fixed and potentially having possessions damaged wouldn't be fun - also don't expect your landlord to be too pleased if you decided to shut off the heating and they do burst after he's written to warn you that it is a possibility. How likely it is to happen? - I don't know. But its hardly going to cost you much to turn the heating on for an hour a day .
 
Last edited:
The letter wouldn't be needed in court - as a tenant, you are expected to behave in a "tenant like manner" and that includes not letting the pipes freeze. The landlord is simply reminding you of your responsibilities. This isn't uncommon (particularly with student lets) and could indicate you have a decent landlord who gives a ****.

As others have said, it requires minimal heating to acheive this. Turn the thermostat down and set the timer for a couple of hours. If you don't know how, ask your landlord!

Shelter page explaining your responsibilities if you don't believe others (it's Scotland, but same applies in England):
http://preview.*******.com/7nc2x7l

Shelter said:
This involves making sure your home is kept reasonably well heated (in winter, it's particularly important that you don't let the pipes freeze up and burst)
...
Remember, it's up to you to take care of the installations. For example, your landlord may want you to empty the water tank and turn off the water in winter if you are going away, to prevent the pipes from freezing and bursting.
 
Is it. so if our ceiling caves in, its our fault? dont think so. They should have landlords insurance to protect them against things like this

When I was at uni, our toilet was leaking. We rang our landlord and told him. He didnt show up. Another call a week later and he didnt show up...

2 months later we rang him and told him the kitchen ceiling had caved in, about a 3 foot hole. He was around in a shot!

That isn't the same at all.

You have a duty to look after the property and report issues and also keep it occupied. Most contracts forbid you to move out and leave it unoccupied.
 
My landlord wanted us to do this last Christmas but we had all left the property already... so he came in and left the heating on full 24/7 :mad:

That was an expensive gas-bill.
 
like its been said you cant do anything about cold water pipes so whats the point in pretecting central heating pipes?

if you're going on holiday at this time of year you're best off turning the main water supply off and draining the heating..

You're missing the point. The idea is to use the heating to prevent the property going below zero, thereby protecting any pipes in it. And draining the heating system just to go on holiday?? Seriously?:eek:

OP you have a modern combi boiler - it almost certainly has an automatic anti-freezing feature, but you may have to activate it. Read the manual! :)

Referring to your point that your boiler is 'always on' and reading 49 degrees - that's most probably the feature many combi boilers have that kicks it in every now and again to keep the hot water in the boiler itself hot (50 degrees) so that when you turn on a hot tap you get hot water a bit quicker than if the boiler had to heat up from cold. You can probably turn this feature off and save a few p if you dont mind waiting longer for hot water to come out of the taps (and lose a few p in water wasted :)). Again - read the manual.
 
I belive the only way it would be enforceable would be for the landlord to subsidise the gas bill by some small ammount.

In reality its in no ones interest to have a burst pipe, but that said, it rarely (read: pretty much never) gets cold enough, especially for internal CH pipes, to cause a burst.

I would think my landlord was an utter freak if got a letter like that!

EDIT: maybe the op's landlord has dodgy pipe work, and he's trying to palm off the blame in the event something goes wrong...
 
Last edited:
I belive the only way it would be enforceable would be for the landlord to subsidise the gas bill by some small ammount.

In reality its in no ones interest to have a burst pipe, but that said, it rarely (read: pretty much never) gets cold enough, especially for internal CH pipes, to cause a burst.

It doesn't just state CH pipes though, it also says about other pipework.

As for rarely getting cold enough, you were around last year and the year before?
You remember, when it was well below freezing in many areas for what was it, 5 weeks? :)

It's a polite reminder to take precautions to protect the property from needless damage (possibly sent out to all the tenant be they in flats or detached houses after someone was away last year and cost the landlord money and a huge headache*).

It doesn't cost anything to do as a precaution, and will barely register on your gas bill even if it does kick in for 30 minutes once a day.

Common sense says you leave your heating on a frost setting when you leave the house for days/weeks at a time in the winter.


*I can quite imagine some twerp going away for 2-3 weeks having turned all the heating off completely, then arriving back to find a pipe had burst because the house did get that cold, and blaming the landlord for it.
 
I thought this would be standard in any tenancy agreement? Every time I've rented there's been a clause about it being the tenant's responsibility if pipework is damaged due to being allowed to freeze.
 
Your contract probably stated you have to look after the property, which implies having the heating going to avoid freezing pipes. If you don't then you maybe legally responsible for any damage.
 
Back
Top Bottom