Pensioner's noisy boiler problems

A PENSIONER who could not sleep because of noise from her central heating system today claimed she was told the answer to the problem was to turn it off.

Lilly Ring, of Landseer Road, Ipswich, was delighted when she had the heating system installed in her home by West Anglia Insulation as part of the government's Warm Front scheme.

However, her joy turned to despair when she endured sleepless nights thanks to the noisy boiler, which she believes is faulty.

Today, the 78-year-old said she wished she had never applied for central heating.

She said: “I have had nothing but trouble with it.

“First of all I had problems when I applied for the heating when my application details were lost.

“It was finally fitted in September last year, but I've never been satisfied with it. Whenever I put it to 20C or more, you can hear the noise all over the house.

“My friends who have had it installed have had no problems, but there's something wrong with my mine. No one is listening to me. I was on the phone for 20 minutes the other day and in the end all they told me was to turn it off.”

The boiler is supplied by EAGA, the company enlisted to help run the Warm Front programme in the region.

Launched in June 2000, Warm Front is a government grant-funded programme for tackling fuel poverty.

A spokesman for EAGA said they had looked into the problem and an inspection had found nothing wrong with the boiler.

However, he added: “We could replace one of the parts of the boiler which could make a difference. In the meantime, we are encouraging Mrs Ring to use the timer on the boiler so it switches off.”

Ralph Loader, from West Anglia Insulation Ltd, confirmed his company had been in touch with both Mrs Ring and EAGA in a bid to solve her problem.

Have you had problems with the Warm Front scheme? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk