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The American economic crisis has been making headlines all over the world for a few months but the US is not alone when it comes to financial difficulties. Various countries around the world have suffered severe economic meltdowns (Iceland and Ukraine just to name a few). The UK has also been having serious economic troubles as well, especially in the housing industry. There has been a twelve percent drop in the price of homes in the UK in the last twelve months. We ask – has the heating and plumbing industry been affected by this?

So far evidence shows that the fallout from the economy has not affected the heating and plumbing industry as initially feared. Although there are reports of sales drops, there are still many companies reporting that sales are steady. The only major change seems to be the type of jobs undertaken by the engineers.

Up to last year, when the housing market was on an upswing, many heating and plumbing engineers were hired to create completely new plumbing and heating or cooling systems. In many ways, a new house and would often lead to completely new plumbing and heating system to be designed and installed. Now that the housing market has slowed down, home owners are more concerned with making sure their current systems will last as long as possible, while keeping costs down.

In recent months professional heating and plumbing engineers are being hired to undertake renovations and repairs to kitchens and bathrooms, as well as necessary refurbishments of cooling and heating systems. While on such jobs, the plumbers and heating engineers spend most of their billable time ensuring that a home’s vents and drains are working correctly and carrying out replacements and repairs for water systems such as hot water cylinders and older boilers.

Heating and plumbing engineers are happy to book their hours, and they do not necessarily look for a redesign project with new built homes. Repairs and replacements provide dependable work and they ensure that these professional engineers are able to pay their bills.

Some heating engineers have discovered that diversifying their business and learning how to practice “green” methods of plumbing and heating can remarkably improve their number of billable hours, as recently clients have shown interest in making sure their homes are environmentally friendly. Solar thermal panels, under floor heating systems and environmentally friendly sewer systems are becoming more popular.

The simple fact remains that even though the economy is clearly slowing down, the heating and plumbing industry will be able to stay fairly stable because of the simpler jobs of renovations and repairs and periodic maintenance. Engineers who are up to date on “green” technologies will also be able to bring in a fair amount of work each week. It is important for heating and plumbing engineers to be flexible. The more flexible an engineer can be, the more likely they are to survive no matter what the economic conditions are.

Tal Potishman, editor of Heating Central, writes articles about boiler, central heating, plumber Cardiff, underfloor heating and solar thermal. He specializes in helping save money by advising on efficient heating.

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