npower Reveals Billericay is Home to Britain's Oldest Boiler

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Sep 02, 2010, 01:42 ET

WORCESTER, England, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- npower hometeam's nationwide search for Britain's oldest boiler has come to an end with Colin Sadler from Billericay being revealed as the owner of the oldest boiler in the country.

While the floppy disk, the video cassette and Bananarama have all been and gone, Colin Sadler's boiler has been quietly ticking along at his home in Essex since 1968 and is still going strong.

Colin had never given his boiler a second thought, until his wife Sue read in his local paper that npower hometeam was on the search for Britain's oldest system. It was then that he thought his old Crane Caviller boiler, that has been in his home since he and his wife moved in 28 years ago, may stand a chance.

Since the Government's boiler scrappage scheme launched in January, npower hometeam, which installs, services and repairs boilers, has overseen the replacement of hundreds of old, inefficient boilers across the country. Inspired by these discoveries, the company launched a nationwide hunt to find the oldest boiler and, out of over 100 entries, Colin's system was confirmed as the oldest.

He will now receive 3,000 pounds Sterling towards a new A-rated energy efficient boiler and installation.

Colin commented: "When my wife and I moved into our home in 1982, the seller warned us the boiler was quite old, but we decided to keep it as it was in good working order. It wasn't until an engineer recently told us he was reticent to service it because it was so old that we thought it might be about time to have a new one.

"That said, when I entered it into the competition I certainly didn't think it would be the oldest one they'd find. It's done us proud for many years, but we're looking forward to get a new energy efficient boiler, as I think this one has earned its retirement."

Richard Cotton, head of sales for npower hometeam, commented: "Colin's boiler is a great example of some of the antique systems entered in to our competition. It's a surprise to see a system still working after more than 40 years.

"But as with many older boilers, Colin's system is no longer in production, which can make it difficult to service as parts are no longer available. And the boiler itself is very inefficient compared to modern boilers which could save hundreds of pounds in heating bills.

"We're pleased to be able to provide Colin with help towards installing a new energy efficient boiler which will make a big difference to his energy bills and carbon footprint."

For customers who want to protect their current gas boiler, npower has a pioneering new boiler care service called npower hometeam 50. It offers boiler care including an annual boiler service usually worth 74 pounds Sterling and repairs.

For more details of npower hometeam's new boiler installations or hometeam 50 visit www.npower.com/hometeam

Notes to editors:

npower hometeam installs, services and repairs boilers, in addition to offering a wide variety of heating cover options.

About npower:

npower is one of the top energy suppliers to the UK business market, serving over 238,000 small to medium sized enterprise sites and around 17,000 industrial and commercial customers, with over 100,000 sites

npower is dedicated to helping UK businesses use energy more efficiently and therefore spend less money on their bills. We aim to have a positive impact on the communities we serve and reduce our customers' carbon footprint whilst always improving our service to our customers.

npower supplies green energy to Wembley Stadium and the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

For major energy users, npower offers multi-utility management consultancy to enable organisations to improve efficiencies right across the procurement/consumption chain.

npower customers include BT, Wembley Stadium plc, AstraZeneca and Sainsbury's.