The questions we hear most.

For genuine emergencies (gas leak, no heat in winter, burst pipe) we aim to be on site within 60 minutes anywhere in Cardiff and within 90 minutes for Penarth, Barry, and the Vale. Out of hours, your call goes to a triage line that wakes Nigel for true emergencies.

No call-out fee for jobs we go on to quote. Diagnostic visits where we don't carry out work are charged at our standard hourly rate, which we'll always tell you about up front.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays toward an air-source heat pump install at one of two rates. If your home currently runs on oil or LPG you get £9,000, an uplift for off-gas-grid homes that runs until 31 March 2027. If you're on mains gas it's £7,500. The voucher is applied for through the installer before the work starts, so you never handle the paperwork or the money. The grant is discounted at the point of sale.

Yes, every gas engineer who works under PHBLUE is Gas Safe registered. You'll see our registration number on every quote, every invoice, and every Gas Safety Certificate. You can also verify us directly on the Gas Safe Register's public lookup.

Cardiff and the surrounding South Wales region, primarily Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Caerphilly, Llandough, Roath, Rhiwbina, Whitchurch, and Cowbridge. If you're nearby and we don't cover your postcode yet, drop us a message and we'll see what we can do.

No, not for any job we go on to quote or carry out. Diagnostic visits where we don't end up doing work are charged at our standard hourly rate (£90 first hour, £55 after) and we'll always tell you that up front.

Fixed-price for everything we can survey: boiler installs, bathrooms, EV chargers, EICRs, central heating refurbs, heat pumps. Variable-rate for diagnostic and repair work, but with hourly rates published on every relevant page so you know before we start.

For jobs over £3,000 we take a 30% deposit at scheduling, 50% on day one, balance on completion. That covers our materials outlay without exposing you. Smaller jobs are paid on completion. We accept bank transfer, card, and Apple/Google Pay; no cash in hand.

Not directly: we're not authorised to broker credit. For boiler installs, Worcester Bosch and Vaillant both run their own finance schemes (0% over 12 months on installs through accredited installers like us). Ask at quote stage and we'll send you the application link.

Always. Every job over £200 gets a written, itemised, fixed-price quote before any work starts. The quote is yours to keep, valid for 30 days, and the price on it is what you'll pay: line-item breakdown for materials, labour, and any provisional sums.

A like-for-like combi swap is usually a single working day. System or regular boiler upgrades, or installs that need the flue rerouted, take one to two days. Back-boiler removals add half a day for the chimney sweep and asbestos check. We'll give you a firm timeline at quote stage so you can plan around it.

PHBLUE's existing site says we service and repair all major boiler makes and models, including Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal and Baxi. The right brand depends on the house, budget, warranty and parts availability, so we confirm the recommendation in the quote.

A written boiler quote should set out the boiler, flue work, controls, any filter or system-cleaning work, warranty position, registration requirements and removal of the old unit where included. We confirm the exact scope before work starts.

Boiler prices depend on the model, flue route, controls, system condition, access and whether extra pipework or cleaning is needed. Send the boiler details and postcode and we will confirm the price before work starts.

Yes, every install includes removal and recycling of the old unit, packaging take-away, and a full clean-down before we leave. You'll get the warranty paperwork and the Gas Safety Certificate handed to you on the day.

Yes. The existing PHBLUE site says we service and repair all boiler makes and models, including Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal, Baxi and more.

Yes. Your voucher is applied for before any work starts, and the grant is deducted from your final invoice. You don't handle paperwork, you don't fund it and claim back. It's £9,000 if you currently heat with oil or LPG and £7,500 on mains gas. The scheme runs to 2028 (extended by DESNZ), but the higher oil/LPG rate ends on 31 March 2027 and slot availability tightens through the year, so apply early if you can.

Sometimes. Heat pumps run at lower flow temperatures (35–55°C versus a gas boiler's 60–75°C), so older single-panel rads in cold rooms may need upsizing to deliver enough heat. We model every radiator at survey and tell you which ones need to change: usually 3–4 in a 4-bed house, sometimes none in a well-insulated post-2002 build.

Quieter than your fridge. Modern Daikin Altherma and Mitsubishi Ecodan units run at 38–42 dB at 1m, about as loud as a quiet conversation. The unit goes outside on a slab; we measure the boundary noise at survey to confirm Permitted Development sign-off.

For most Cardiff homes upgrading from a gas boiler, yes: £150–£400 a year on running costs, plus the £7,500 grant on the install. Coming off oil or LPG the case is stronger on both counts — the running-cost gap is wider and the grant is £9,000. Worst-case (poorly insulated home with under-sized rads) is roughly cost-neutral on running but you've still de-fossilised. We'll show you the SAP modelling at survey, not just a glossy sales pitch.

3–5 working days on site for a typical 4-bed home, plus a 1-day pre-install survey. We commission and balance the system before we leave; you'll have a smart controller (Mitsubishi MELCloud or similar) walked through with you, and we register your warranty and install certificate on your behalf.

After the BUS grant, most installs land between £6,000 and £10,000, depending on the property, the size of the system, and what's needed for radiator and pipework upgrades. That's net of the £7,500 mains-gas rate; if you currently heat with oil or LPG the grant is £9,000, so take another £1,500 off. We give you a fixed quote after a free survey.

Yes: modern air-source heat pumps work down to about -25°C. The Welsh climate is well within their operating window. They run cooler than a gas boiler (so radiators feel less hot to the touch) but they run for longer, keeping the house at a steady comfortable temperature.

Sometimes. Heat pumps work best with slightly larger radiators because they run at lower flow temperatures. We'll calculate that during the survey and only swap radiators where it's genuinely needed.

About as loud as a fridge: roughly 40–45 dB at one metre. Most installs are positioned where the noise is irrelevant.

Most domestic installations in Wales fall under permitted development, but there are conditions on where the outdoor unit sits, how big it is and how close it is to a boundary. Listed buildings and some conservation areas are excluded. We check the siting on the survey and tell you if anything needs confirming with the council before you commit.

Yes. A modern inverter split system runs in reverse and produces heat efficiently well below freezing. For a loft conversion, a garden room or a home office the central heating never quite reaches, heating is often the main reason people fit one, and the cooling is the bonus in July.

It depends on the number of rooms, the output needed, the pipe run to the outdoor unit and the electrical work. A single wall-mounted unit in one room is a different job to a multi-split covering three bedrooms. We survey, then put a fixed price in writing before anything is ordered.

Much quieter than most people expect, typically comparable to a fridge at a few metres. Siting still matters though, especially near a boundary or a neighbour's window. If a position is going to cause a problem we will say so at survey rather than fit it and hope.

A single indoor unit with a straightforward pipe run is usually one day. Multi-split systems, long pipe runs or anything needing a new circuit from the consumer unit take two. You get the timeline in the written quote.

Yes. A split system needs its own protected circuit and a local isolator. That is ordinary domestic electrical work, done to Part P and certificated, and it is priced into the quote rather than added on the day.

Any work that breaks into the sealed refrigerant circuit is done by an F-Gas certified engineer, which the law requires. Nigel handles the survey, siting, brackets, condensate, electrical supply and project management, and is booked onto his own F-Gas course this year.

Yes, annually. Filters get cleaned, the condensate drain gets checked, and refrigerant pressures get verified. A neglected system loses efficiency and eventually blocks its drain, which is how you end up with water marks on the wall below the indoor unit.

Either works. We get trade pricing on Bristan, Roca, Crosswater, Methven and Hansgrohe; you'll save 10–15% versus retail through us. If you've already bought something or seen it on a designer site, that's fine, we'll fit it and stand by the workmanship, just not the product warranty.

Mostly yes, for the 5–7 days the room is open. We can sometimes save the WC for the first half of the job and bring in a temporary unit for the rest. If you've only got one bathroom and need it back evenings, tell us up front and we'll plan the sequence around it.

Yes, often, but it depends on the soil stack route, the floor structure, and where the existing waste runs. A bedroom-to-bathroom conversion in a Victorian terrace is usually doable; in a modern flat it's almost always a no because of the slab. Free survey before we quote.

Wet room (no tray, fully-tiled floor with linear drain) looks the cleanest and works in tight spaces, but the floor needs to be tanked properly and the gradient set right or you'll get standing water. Walk-in (low-profile tray, glass screen) is cheaper, easier to retrofit, and easier to retile in 10 years. Both work; depends on the room and budget.

Tiling, yes, the same engineer who does the plumbing usually does the tiling on smaller jobs, or our regular tiler if it's complex (large-format porcelain, metro patterns, niche detailing). Electrics, yes too, second-fix only, lighting and shaver sockets, NICEIC-certified.

For a standard 3-piece bathroom (bath, basin, WC) refit including tiling, flooring and second-fix electrics: £6,500–£9,500 fitted, depending on tile choice and whether the layout moves. Wet rooms and en-suites with shower trays start £8,500. We quote fully fixed-price after a survey; supply-only items are at trade plus 10%.

A straight refit (same layout, same waste positions) is 5–7 working days. Layout changes that need waste pipe reroutes add 2–3 days. We work clean: dust sheets up, daily clean-down, the rest of the house stays liveable.

Both. Most tap drips are a £20 cartridge, and we charge £90 for the first hour (covers diagnosis and most repairs) and £55 per hour after. If your taps are end-of-life we'll tell you and quote a swap, never the other way round.

A powerflush is a one-time deep clean of the heating system using a high-flow pump and inhibitor, which clears years of magnetite sludge from radiators, boilers and pipework. A magnetic filter (MagnaClean or equivalent) is fitted permanently on the return pipe and traps sludge as it circulates, year on year. Both are needed for a long-lasting modern system. Powerflush £450; magnetic filter retrofit £180 fitted.

Yes, first we'll find out whether it's coming in low (a problem with the incoming main, your stopcock, or a partially-closed valve), or dropping mid-house (a leak, a cylinder issue, or scale in the pipework). Diagnostic visit is £90 and gets credited if you go on to have the work done.

Yes: WaterSafe approved plumber scheme. That's the recognised standard for any work that touches the mains supply (stopcocks, incoming mains repairs, unvented cylinders, water softeners). It's also the scheme insurers and conveyancers look for on home reports.

Yes, PHBLUE's electrical work is carried out by NICEIC-approved engineers. Notifiable work (Part P) is registered with your local Building Control automatically through NICEIC. You get the certificate emailed within 14 days.

Domestic EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) starts at £150 for a flat or 1–2 bed home, £180 for 3–4 bed, £220 for 5+ bed. Includes the full report, photographs, and a follow-up phone call to walk you through any C1/C2/C3 codes. Landlord packages combining EICR + smoke/CO checks save £25.

Almost always one of three things. A failing appliance pulling the circuit down (we'll isolate by elimination). A damaged cable connection in the wall, usually behind a socket or switch where the live and neutral have crept closer over time. Or an end-of-life RCD, since modern dual-RCD consumer units are rated for around 15 years.

If yours is a wooden-back, plastic-back, or pre-2008 metal unit without RCD protection, yes, because Wiring Regs (BS 7671) require it for compliance. A standard CU swap is £550–£750 fitted, NICEIC-certified. We'll check yours during an EICR or any other visit free.

Yes, OZEV-approved installer for 7kW home wallboxes (Pod Point, Easee, Wallbox, Hypervolt). Survey is free for households with off-street parking. We handle the DNO notification if your supply needs upgrading. The OZEV £350 grant ended in March 2022 for homeowners, but it's still available for renters and flat-owners under EVHS.

Switch off the circuit at the consumer unit and ring us. Don't wait. Burnt connections behind a faceplate progress fast, so what's a hot socket today is a wall fire next week. We treat these as priority callouts.

Suspected gas leak (call us first, then turn off at the meter). No heat or hot water in winter where there are kids, elderly residents or vulnerable people. Burst pipes, meaning water actively coming through ceilings or walls. Sewage backing up. Anything actively damaging your house or making it unsafe.

Inside Cardiff, 60 minutes door-to-door for genuine emergencies. Penarth, Llandough, Roath: 60–75 minutes. Barry, Caerphilly, Cowbridge: 60–90 minutes depending on the time of day. We'll give you the live ETA when we pick up.

Standard out-of-hours rate is £150 for the first hour (covers diagnosis and most fixes), £85 per hour after. Materials at trade plus 15%. Bank holiday rate is £180 first hour. Genuinely-urgent cases involving vulnerable residents we'll discuss the rate before we set off.

Yes, between 7am and 7pm Nigel or one of our engineers picks up directly. Outside those hours, your call goes through a triage line that makes a real-time decision. True emergencies wake Nigel within minutes. Things that can wait until morning, we take details and call back at 7am. You always get a same-day human reply.

Usually not. Re-pressurise via the filling loop (target 1.0–1.5 bar cold) and we'll come out on a normal callout slot tomorrow. If it keeps dropping there's a leak somewhere; that's worth a same-day visit. If you've got no heat and someone vulnerable in the house, it's an emergency and we'll come out tonight.

About 30–45 minutes for a single-let with a boiler, hob and one gas fire. Bigger flats, multiple appliances, or HMOs take longer, and we'll quote the time alongside the price.

Yes. Once you book, we text the tenant to agree a window, and we update you when access is confirmed. We can also coordinate with your letting agent if you'd rather we go through them.

Most certificates land in your inbox the same day. We send PDF copies of the Gas Safety Record and any electrical certificate to you and (on request) the tenant.

Yes, we pre-book a free reminder for 11 months ahead. If you'd rather we just rebook the visit automatically, we can do that too.

Yes. We work with landlords from one let up to portfolios. For 6+ properties we'll set a fixed rate per property, scheduled in batches to keep tenant disruption down.

We document the fault category (At Risk or Immediately Dangerous) and tell you what's needed to bring it back to compliant. Most defects can be fixed on the same visit if parts are available.

Yes, that's our landlord bundle. One visit, both certificates, tenant only disturbed once. Electrical work is completed by qualified electrical contractors and certificates are provided where applicable.