Every year as winter closes in many energy suppliers will begin to offer free gas safety checks for elderly people who may not necessarily be able to check these things themselves. This is a very good thing for them to do and it does potentially save many lives every year. With that being said, there is a startling figure claiming that over £100 million worth of these life-saving checks goes unclaimed on a yearly basis.
Obviously there are situations where these are not entirely necessary, samples of this would be where the children of an elderly person are qualified within the plumbing and heating trade, however, more often than not this is down to forgetfulness or down to people just thinking that everything will be okay. Quite often this can be the case, however, there is no reason to run the risk, especially when these checks are being offered at no charge.
Over 80% of elderly homeowners have never claimed one of these free checks and it is something that should be addressed by friends and family wherever possible. If you know someone who would be eligible for one of the free checks, then you should bring it to their attention because there is a good chance that they have simply missed any notification about it. As a son I feel obligated to tell my grandparents about such things and it would be a good idea for more people to do the same.
Moving on from this it is worth considering about our own winter checks. These will not be free of charge, however a number of companies will offer discounted services around the Christmas period.
Servicing will highlight any areas that you should be concerned about and afford you the opportunity to have them repaired without them ever becoming a major issue.
Cold will obviously affect the elderly to a greater degree, but it will also affect young children and many adults.
The UK has the highest winter death rate in northern Europe, but by taking the right steps to have your system serviced, you can make sure that this will not happen to you or the ones you love.
Another startling fact that you should bear in mind is that the average home can quickly drop to 16° C if the gas boiler was to fail, and it is at this temperature that hypothermia can begin to set in. Obviously this is not something that we would generally think could happen to anyone that we know, however, there is a real risk of it occurring if the right steps are not taken and the worst should happen.
Take a look around and have a look on the Internet to see which companies locally to yourself are offering boiler and central heating servicing at affordable rates over the winter months and take advantage of these reduced rates to make sure that everyone in your family is safe and warm.
If you are based in London then give City Gas Services call on (0800) 075 8181 or visit their website www.citygasservices.co.uk