Case Studies

FLOGAS LP GAS SOLVES OIL THEFT THREAT FOR KERRY FAMILY

THE CHALLENGE
Castlegregory resident Denis Harty had heard about one of his neighbours having two full tanks of heating oil stolen in quick succession but it didn't hit home until he tried to turn on his own heating one chilly day. When nothing happened, Denis checked his tank to discover that his family was now a victim of what is a rapidly growing crime in rural Ireland. In his case, the loss was not as bad, about a quarter of a tank, but the prospect of suffering the same level of financial loss experienced by their neighbour was enough for him and his wife Michelle to begin seriously considering an alternative fuel.

Denis Harty said, "There's no insurance for this kind of theft and even though most of the tanks are locked, the thieves can just drill through. They can empty a tank in minutes and the fact that they're often located around the back of someone's home, out of sight of passing traffic, makes it even easier for them. For many families at the moment, the financial impact of this kind of crime would be just disastrous."

SOLUTION
Around the time of the theft, Denis and his wife Michelle were in the middle of an extension and upgrade to the family home when their builder suggested switching to LP Gas for their heating and hot water needs. He pointed out that LP Gas is secure and safe from theft and gave Denis the name of the local Flogas representative, Mike Murphy. Mike did an initial survey before calling in Brendan Martin of Heat Services Network, an independent RGII-registered and Flogas-approved installer to do a more detailed survey and provide a quote.

Denis had used natural gas when living in London and liked its clean efficiency and versatility. "Mike Murphy of Flogas was very good to deal with and went out of his way to help us. Although we have a standby gas cooker that uses the bottled LP gas, I wasn't really aware that you could have an entire heating system powered in this way from a bulk tank in your garden," he said.

Brendan Martin's survey revealed that using LP gas was going to work out cheaper for them than oil, even taking into account the cost of the conversion. The Flogas offer of a free gas boiler worth €800 helped seal the deal for the Harty family.

The actual conversion took a couple of days and Brendan worked around the builder's schedule so everything went smoothly.

"Our Flogas tank is at the side of the house and while visible from the road, it looks well and is not obtrusive at all. In fact, I see it as a deterrent in that oil thieves immediately know there's no point in targeting our house. Several people have quizzed me about the conversion and the first thing I say to them is that gas can't be stolen," said Denis.