An LPG village
In the 2021 Census, 7% of homes in Upchurch parish heated with LPG alone, from a bulk tank or bottles. Across Swale it's 1.4%. Another 5.5% heat with oil. So while most of the village is on mains gas, a lot of the homes on the lanes and towards the marshes aren't.
LPG boilers look like natural gas ones, but they run at different pressures and settings and need an engineer registered for LPG. We are Gas Safe registered for both, and OFTEC registered for oil.
Bulk tank or bottles
If you're on bottles and use a lot of gas, a bulk tank can make life easier, and the supplier sets the rules for where it can go. If you're on a bulk tank, it usually belongs to the supplier and they look after it, while the boiler and pipework inside are yours. We service the boiler, check the regulator and pipework, and tell you if anything should go back to the supplier.
Park homes and mobile homes
About 9% of homes in the village are caravans or mobile homes, according to the Census. Park homes have their own Gas Safe category, separate from houses. If you live in one, ask us first and we'll tell you straight whether it's a job for us.
The church with the odd spire
St Mary the Virgin is Grade I listed, with a chancel from around 1300. Its shingled spire is an eight-sided cone set on a pyramid, rebuilt in 1915 after an explosion. Francis Drake's father, Edmund, was vicar here in the 1560s. The old village round the church is a conservation area, so a boiler flue facing the street needs planning permission. We route it to the side or back wherever we can.
Water
Southern Water supplies Upchurch from the chalk at Rainham Mark and Gore. Its checker gives 100 mg/l of calcium, about 250 mg/l as calcium carbonate, which is hard. A new combi here should have a scale reducer.