April 3, 2024
Q&A with Tim Foreman from TC Foreman Ltd
Innasol Certified Partners are renewable energy specialists who have undergone rigorous training at the Innasol academy. They have demonstrated their commitment to the highest standards of service, and become accredited installers of ETA boilers.
In the second of our installer profiles, we interview Tim Foreman, owner and operator of TC Foreman ltd. Tim has been installing and maintaining boilers in East Yorkshire since 2007. Starting when he joined what was then Barry Clark Plumbing and Heating. The team started installing ETA biomass boilers in 2013. When his boss retired, Tim took over the business, gained a HETAS registration, and rebranded as TC Foreman. 7=-
We spoke to Tim about how he started his career, what it’s like to be part of the Innasol network, and why he chose ETA.
How did you get into biomass boilers?
I left school in 2007 when I was just shy of 17 years old, looked to pursue a career in construction, but wasn’t too sure of the direction I wanted to take. I ended up being a machine operator, but I eventually bumped into Barry, the man who would turn out to be my employer, and I proceeded to work for him, doing gas boiler installs, bathrooms, general domestic plumbing, and light commercial builds.
In 2012, just after the RHI [Renewable Heat Incentive] started, we’d already fitted some biomass boilers before the scheme came in. After the RHI started you couldn’t fit them fast enough to keep up with the demand. Looking for a biomass boiler that could provide varied outputs, had a good size range, and could take lots of different fuels, and we happened across ETA. We liked the look of the machines, and we fitted our first small boiler in 2013. We’ve gone on to fit more than 130 ETA boilers over the next five years.
Our primary business now is servicing and maintaining ETA boilers. We’ve seen a lot of other manufacturers come and go.
And what made you choose ETA when you found it?
Aside from the appearance and the reliability, what I like most is the software. The boiler’s controlled by a computer. If there’s an issue, chances are it can be resolved remotely, but if not, 99% of the time you can at least diagnose the problem remotely.
That means you go to the customer with all the parts and all the tools you need. We can fix it with one visit. If it’s a domestic boiler, that means the customer can have a warm shower that night. But a lot of our customers are farmers, so fixing it that quickly means they can keep their animals warm.
That’s got to make a huge difference when people could have been waiting days.
Absolutely. Like any machine, it needs servicing, but it’s so much easier to do with such reliable pieces of kit. The wearing parts like the igniter are predictable, and they hold up so well in a very harsh environment. If you do need to do any work, you can easily take an ETA apart to reach stuff.
They’re some of the most durable and reliable pieces of kit out there. Especially if you care for it well. Most of the customers we do installations for are running agricultural or light industrial businesses, so they know better than most the importance of looking after machinery.
It’s a premium piece of equipment, so it needs premium service backup, and that’s what you get. There’s technical advice if you need it, and you’ve also got the whole UK network of installers. Anything you need help with, chances are one of them has seen it before.
Once a year we’ll do some training with the other installers, and you’ll end up swapping stories and advice. Anything to do with service or maintenance you’ve either been trained for, or you know someone who’s handled it before.
Do any installations stand out to you?
We had one customer at a stately home. He had an ETA boiler already, but he’d got it pre-Innasol and it was badly fitted by someone who wasn’t trained. It makes you want to pull your hair out. It’s like they hadn’t seen a biomass boiler before. At the ten-year mark, the boiler had failed catastrophically. The thing is, he wasn’t put off ETA, he knew the installation was the problem. We fitted a new 130kw eHack, which is now running perfectly and he’s delighted with it.
We had another customer, who was running a different biomass boiler, not an ETA. It was totally unreliable, and he had a man whose full-time job was basically to keep the boiler limping on. After we’d fitted his ETA, the biggest challenge was to convince him that he didn’t need to pay someone to look after his boiler anymore.
The accessibility of ETA boiler parts
The thing is, he had an oil boiler that was his backup boiler, so once we’d installed his ultra-reliable ETA he was thrilled. RHI isn’t available for new installations, so he didn’t have that incentive. He was just happy not to be paying for backup kerosene or wages for a person to keep the old biomass boiler going.
It’s at times like that, when we come across another manufacturer or sub-par installer, that we realise how lucky we are to have Innasol and ETA. If you’re dealing with a different manufacturer, I’ve found it’s impossible to get parts, but really the biggest benefit is that network. You know you’re installing something ultra-reliable, and you’ve always got the support of Innasol, ETA and your fellow installers.
Innasol is the UK’s sole distributor of ETA biomass boilers, the leading national brand for biomass heating systems with wood chips, wood pellets, or log fuel.
If you want to remove fossil fuels from your heating and you’d like to find out if biomass boilers would be a fit for your home or business, contact us, or call 01621 892613 to speak to one of the accredited installers from our nationwide network.
