Tenant claims fuel bills will triple
A FURIOUS Sutherland tenant has slammed the council for allegedly tripling his fuel bills after installing a “monstrosity” stove in his home.
Roy Green (59) is concerned that his house of nearly six years in Calder Crescent, Embo, will be cold this winter after his Highland Council landlords replaced storage heaters at the residence with a multi-fuel stove.
He claims the heaters used to cost him £50 a month in electricity to run but fuel for the new stove is likely to amount to more than three times that.
He is also angry that the local authority did not consult him before deciding to change the system, and is frustrated that the job, which was supposed to last three to four days starting in March, is still not finished three months later.
The installation continued this week as a new tank, which was put in with the stove, was replaced with a different model.
He said: “They’ve stuck this multi-fuel burner in and it’s going to cost me £160 a month if I burn two bags of coal.
“It’s almost trebled my heating bill straight away and they’re just not interested one bit. We never got consulted.
“I had two letters from them saying they were upgrading the storage heaters, then this year they said they were putting a wood burner in and that’s it. You’ve got no choice.
“All they had to do was take five radiators out of this house and put new ones in and that would have been it. This monstrosity they’ve put in is just unbelievable and it doesn’t work.
“You can have the fire as hot as you like and it doesn’t heat the radiators up right, they’re lukewarm for about two hours before you even start to get a wee bit of heat into them.
“In the winter time, I’ll be going out of the house at 7.45am and I’ll not be back until 3.30pm, so this house is just going to be absolutely bitterly cold. You try to tell them at the council and they don’t even answer.”
Roy’s next door neighbour, Iain Hayes, also had a multi-fuel stove installed at his house.
Iain (41), who is unable to work due to mobility issues stemming from multiple sclerosis, has been hit hard by the change.
He has had to use money from his Employment Support Allowance to cover the costs of using the new system.
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He is also stuck with the bill for any redecoration needed following the installation as he was told compensation for such would not be given until the work on the heating system was completed.
Despite this, Roy received a £265 cheque last week for
redecoration expenses.
Iain has lived in Calder Crescent for three-and-a-half years and used to heat his home using an open fire.
He said: “My concern is how long it takes. They’ve put these things in and for the last 13 weeks it’s been taking three hours from when you light the fire for
radiators to come on.
“It used to take half an hour to heat up to have a shower, now it’s taking three hours to do the same thing.”
Roy, who had a heart attack seven years ago, claimed he did not know you could object to the new fires on medical grounds until after the installation.
He said: “Why didn’t they say this to people? The consultation between the tenants and the council has been zero.”
Iain had objected to the installation on medical grounds, saying the wood in the stove produced toxins which caused nerve pain, but was told the claim was not valid as he could burn other fuel.
Roy added that there were other vulnerable residents in Calder Crescent who were also having their heating systems changed but were unhappy about the way it has been handled.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The Highland Council are engaged in bringing heating systems to 500 council houses in Sutherland up to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). There are five houses in Calder Crescent which are
included in the programme.
“The properties are surveyed and assessed by Mechanical and Electrical Engineers who make recommendations as to the most suitable and efficient heating system for the particular property type. The tenants are informed of the proposals by letter and subsequently given the opportunity for further discussion at the pre-works visit to the property by the installation company.
“In the letter, the tenants are asked to make contact with the Highland Council if they have any special circumstances or a medical condition that might be affected by the work.
“The tenants of Calder Crescent did not raise any issues with the proposals prior to installations and acquiesced with the progress of the installation of stoves.
“It is recorded that one tenant stated a concern that there may be some difficulty using wood fuel, but another fuel would be sourced to supply the stove.
“Post installation a technical issue was discovered impacting on the domestic hot water flow rates which required a change of the hot water storage cylinder but there were weeks, not months, delay in sourcing a replacement cylinder suitable for the house types in Calder Crescent.
“All the installations will be complete, commissioned and fully functional with the replacement cylinders by Thursday (yesterday).
“In approximately 200 other stove installations in this SHQS programme, the tenant experience is a reduction in fuel costs and increased efficiency in heating and hot water supply.”
The spokesperson added: “At the initial letter stage and on completion of the installation, the tenants are offered the services of an independent energy advisor who will provide information on the new system, associated tariffs and any fuel poverty concerns the tenant may have.”
