Overview
- British Gas estimates roughly 54,000 households could need help with heating and hot water during the coming freeze.
- Customers with no heating or hot water are urged to call before 11am to secure a same-day engineer visit.
- Engineers say many faults stem from a frozen condensate pipe on condensing boilers, which can be thawed with hot (not boiling) water and a hot water bottle before resetting the boiler.
- Suspected bursts should be handled by turning off the stopcock and draining taps until a qualified engineer inspects the system.
- Forecasts point to sub-zero temperatures after a very mild December, and the company cites more than 1.2 million callouts last winter plus eligibility for up to £2,000 from its Energy Support Fund.