Boiler Repairs in Stevenage
Turning off the boiler for summer
Although we are now hurtling towards autumn, with the looming threat of mortgage sized energy bills lurking around the corner, many people think that turning a boiler of during the summer months is a good way to save money, but this is not the case.
Much like leaving your car idle on the driveway for an extended period, when you need it, the chances are the battery will be dead and it won’t start. Turning your boiler off for long periods can also cause problems, which is why it is important to turn your heating on every now and then to ensure everything is operating fine. By doing this, you will protect the internal workings of the boiler and prevent them from seizing up and thus requiring a boiler repair.
Summertime blues and boiler repairs
When the sun shines and the weather starts to warm up, it may be a good idea to turn your boiler off to save energy and money, but what about heating your water?
We clearly don’t need the boiler to heat our homes during the summer, but we still need hot water. A combi boiler will kick in when the hot tap is turned on and conventional boilers will need to heat up the water at a predetermined time every day, so turning the boiler off may not be a practical solution anyway. In any case, even if you did turn your boiler off to save money, do not leave it off for long periods of time or you may end up needing a boiler repair when you least expect it.
Regular testing to avoid boiler repairs
If you do decide to turn off your boiler during the warmer weather, turn it on again once every few weeks for a short amount of time. Although this can be a bit of a pain, it could prevent you from having to get a plumber out for a boiler repair when it has seized up on you when it turns chilly.
So, if you want to avoid costly boiler repairs at the start of autumn this year, avoid turning your boiler off for long periods of time, and if you do, test to make sure it works quite often. By keeping a boiler in good working order, you will save more money than by turning it off during the summer. In short, any money you save by turning a boiler off will be far less than what it would cost for a boiler repair anyway.
Before the Conquest in Stevenage
Stevenage is situated near the line of the old Roman road from Verulamium, which is now modern day St Albans, to Baldock. Some Romano-British remains were discovered during the building of Stevenage, and a collection of two thousand silver Roman coins was discovered during house-building in the Chells Manor area in 1986. Other artefacts included a dodecahedron toy, fragments of amphorae for imported wine, bone hairpins, and samian ware pottery associated with very wealthy families. Archaeological excavations have confirmed the existence of a small Roman farmstead, a malting kiln and a Celtic round house in the Chells area, and a cemetery containing twenty five cremations. The most substantial evidence of activity from Roman times is Six Hills, six tumuli by the side of the old Great North Road, just opposite to the Asda supermarket, that are thought to be the burial places of members of a local family.
The first Saxon camp, just to the east of the Roman sites of Stevenage, was in a clearing in the woods where the church, the manor house and the first village were later built. Settlements also sprang up in Chells, Broadwater and Shephall. Before the New Town of Stevenage was established, Shephall was a separate parish, and Broadwater was split between the parishes of Shephall and Knebworth.
The Middle Ages in Stevenage
The Domesday Book, in 1086 states that the Lord of the Stevenage Manor was the Abbot of Westminster Abbey. The settlement had moved down to the Great North Road. In 1281 it was granted a Royal Charter to hold a weekly market and annual fair and this is still held in the Stevenage High Street to this day.
The earliest part of St Nicholas’s Church dates from the 12th century, but it was probably a site of worship much earlier than this. The list of parish priests is believed to be quite accurate from around 1213. In the year 1500, the church was improved, with decorative woodwork and the addition of a clerestory.
North of Stevenage Old Town is Jack’s Hill, associated with the legendary archer Jack O’Legs of Weston. According to local folklore, Jack stole flour from the bakers of Baldock to feed the poor during a famine, so it would appear that Stevenage had its own Robin Hood type character.
The remains of a medieval moated homestead in Whomerley Wood comprise an eighty yard square trench that is almost five feet wide in parts. It was thought to be the home of Ralph de Homle. Pieces of Roman era and later dated pottery have been found in this location.
A house from 1500 in Stevenage
The oldest surviving house in Stevenage is Tudor House in Letchmore Street, which was built before 1500. During the 16th century it was a butcher’s shop owned by a man named Scott. From 1773 onwards it served as the Stevenage workhouse, and later became a school from 1835 until 1885. It was the headquarters of the local town gas company from 1885 until 1936, when it was converted into a private dwelling.
Chells Manor was a medieval hall house located three miles from the Old Town of Stevenage. The hall was built in the 14th century for the Wake family on the foundations of a much older moated manor house which was recorded in the Domesday Book. The site of the lost village of Chells was redeveloped during the extension of the Stevenage New Town in the 1980s, and this is when a good deal of Roman coins was discovered. Today, Chells is a suburb of New Stevenage.
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- Croft Chambers, 11 Bancroft, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1JQ
