My name is Alec and here is a bit about me and my business Calderbank Heating.
I apologise in advance, this is pretty long, but behind every great person is another, tutting, checking their smartphone.
I’m quite used to tutting as I chase the best I can do, and that happens to be very good. But it wasn’t always straight forward. And so – cue Star Wars music…
In a town far, far away. Long, long ago. Hmm, that doesn’t sound very calming, does it? Let’s try that again. In the town of Bolton over in sunny Lancashire. A bit like Yorkshire but with rubbish tea bags and lots of rain. And about 20 years ago. I mean if I said exactly how long I’d feel really, really old. So let’s just agree on 20. Ish. 20-ish. Right so back then I decided that I just wanted a simple life. And pipes. A lot of pipes. And a van. Like a really cool van.
Fast forward through some rather arduous late nights, weekends, early starts, training. More training. Exams. Then even more exams and assessments and I stood there holding the keys to my first work van. Ready to pipe up…stuff. I didn’t really mind what that would be to be honest. I just really like pipes. Anyway, pipes aside for a moment. I began my own business back in 2007 and after quite a few years of gradually mastering plumbing, I began to specialise in heating around 2013 or 2014.
Then I entered this competition to find out who is the best tradesman in the eyes of Screwfix in the UK. I mean it’s kind of silly really, but I could win a pickup, like a proper one. I even had a picture with it at the North West finals. I did not win the pickup or van, but I did win the North West Screwfix tradesman of the year in 2015.
Off I went to Wembley with 11 other regional finalists. I really thought we’d have like a tool-off, or van loading competition or something. Actually we did a few tests then sat before a panel of industry experts and was absolutely grilled to the point of just wanting my blanket. Anyway, with that done I got The Phone Call a few days later and found out that Darren is the best tradesman in the UK (well done Darren). My first, and might I say humble question, was “Darren, the sparky?”
”Yes, Alec.”
”And so no plumber ranked higher than me? Out of 4,000 people, in the UK?”
Quite a long pause, and possibly a confused silence, then, “no, Alec. And you’re the runner up!”
”So I’m the best plumber?”
This did get a laugh, but it did not get me a pickup or a van, but I did get in the national paper, on the radio and so on. Not that anyone in their right mind would read or listen to these things in all honesty, but it was all quite lovely really. And Darren was a really nice bloke so I’d have picked him anyway, if anyone asked me.
A little spike in enquiries and a general dislike for installing bathrooms meant I completely specialised in boilers and heating from then on.
A lot has changed in the last 10 years. We’ve left Europe, a fluffy blond man lied about quite a few things (never liked him), we got a lock in (not the kind I hear about in pubs, this involved a terrifying pandemic), and the world has changed. You can even switch individual things on and off now with your watch! Your watch! Crazy really.
And the environment. Scary as it all is, things are not getting better on that front either, so I’ve always been quite obsessed with efficiency. Save money, save time, save hassle, save breakdowns and so on. That lead me down the rabbit hole of really understanding things like volumetric flow rate (how much energy heated water can deliver at a given speed through a pipe – I mean you didn’t think this would be exciting, did you?). Then the nutter from Russia invaded and fuel went to crazy highs, we had inflation and everyone started talking about heat pumps. Not all good either. The thing is a cake made badly will make you sick, so adopting a technology that is widely adopted in Europe but not in the UK doesn’t make it new, but it does feel like change. And we don’t like change, not expensive change.
I slowly became very good at heating system design (it helps oil and gas boilers run more efficiently) and it turns out heat pumps are the same. They just need to be done well, and be the exact right size for the house. It really is as simple as power in to the house, heat energy out of the house. Get this wrong and the thing might work but it won’t work well, or even at all in some cases.
I still really love pipes but now I’m obsessed with how efficiently they delivery energy into homes now. I even offer services to come out and correct installation errors, optimise systems and make sure you’re getting the best out of your setup. I’m really not focussed on changing things for the sake of it like replacing a boiler or heat pump. Let’s see if we can get the thing working properly first, if it needs a new anything then so be it, but I don’t have the idea that a new heat source will fix all problems, much of the time many of the right thins are already there just installed without thought or care. And when that happens, you need a cheerful pipe nerd to get involved, sip some tea and get to the bottom of the problem.
And thankfully, Darren doesn’t do heating so that’s a plus. Nice bloke though.
