INSTALLER ADVICE by Flame Heating Spares

PREVENT DOWNTIME BY CONSIDERING EQUIPMENT LEASE

“The key to success for any business is building a strong foundation that people can trust and, above all, delivering a high level of customer service.”

John Savage, Managing Director of Flame Heating Spares

John Savage is Managing Director of Flame Heating Spares, a supplier of boiler replacement parts to the domestic, commercial and industrial heating markets. Despite starting out in business during the economic downturn three years ago, John has seen his business flourish from one trade counter in the North East, to what will be his third later in the year. It is through offering customers a bespoke service, including its unique and installer-friendly equipment lease service, which helps avoid unnecessary downtime that Flame has grown.

The key to success for any business is building a strong foundation that people can trust and, above all, delivering a high level of customer service.

In our industry, time is key and can be the difference between keeping the customer happy and losing their business to the competitor. What’s even worse is when you’re losing out because of issues that are out of your own control.

Take, for example, flue gas samples and the difficulties that installers are facing when commissioning boilers. Flue gas, which may contain oxides of carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur as well as other pollutants, can prove to be a potential danger to households if the occupants’ heating appliances haven’t been properly maintained.

Carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be given off from a faulty combustion chamber, is probably the greatest danger to any occupant of a house or flat, so the importance of having any combustion product from heating appliances, such as boilers, checked and calibrated each year cannot be underestimated.

As we all know, any tradesman who carries out any form of heating installation, repair or maintenance work must take a flue sample using a flue gas analyser when a boiler is commissioned. This piece of kit, of course, must then be sent back to the manufacturer for servicing each year to be calibrated, which previously only took a matter of days to be completed.

In a move to further improve carbon monoxide (CO) safety on condensing boiler installations, last year, the Heating & Hot Water Industry Council (HHIC) recommended that all installers should use a flue gas

analyser to measure the level of CO and combustion ratio. This has since been made mandatory by the Gas Safe Register.

Obviously, it is important to take an accurate measurement when collecting the sample and it is a relatively simple process for the installer.

Unfortunately, due to significant growth in the number of products now owned by manufacturers, this once seemingly simple task is becoming quite a handful for manufacturers. The turnaround time has increased significantly, and the knock-on effect can leave installers out of pocket, and unable to do their jobs which are their bread and butter, which will not only frustrate tradesmen, but their customers too. Who would have thought a portable electronic device would prove to be so much potential trouble?

Busy is good, as long as you can handle the workload and still maintain a high level of customer service. As it is an important precaution to take and, as it happens, a requirement by law, this process shouldn’t be taken lightly and needs to be handled correctly.

To help bridge the gap and lend a helping hand to installers who may well have come across this awkward situation, we have introduced our leasing service – the first of its kind among merchants in the UK.

www.flameheatingspares.com