It’s 4am and I’m cold. Why can’t they turn on heating?

• THANK you for the Tribune’s support in the battle for 24-hour heating (Estates win battle for 24-hour heat, January 8). The good news is that one of the boilers that serve the Redbrick estate in Finsbury has been switched back on to provide heat at night – but not in Steadman Court.
It’s 4am, it’s damp and chilly and I am unable to sleep, suffering from asthma and respiratory problems and feeling miserable and angry. Ironically, a booklet  published by Islington Council, Be Warm Be Well: Your Winter Warmth Guide, warns  that “resistance to respiratory diseases can reduce when temperatures fall below 16C (61F) and the  risks of strokes and heart attacks also increase”.
I’m in my 60s. I have respiratory disease. It could happen to me or my elderly neighbours. Why have engineers visited Redbrick estate to adjust controls on one boiler and not the other? When will our heating be turned on?
Perhaps  Eamon McGoldrick, chief executive of Homes for Islington (HfI), who has been quoted recently as saying: “We are very proud of our achievements”, will  be able to achieve what we have not and instruct HfI heating contractors to switch the heating back on at night in Steadman Court. That would be an achievement.
SHEILA BEST
Steadman Court, EC1

• THE Tribune’s excellent article on heating on estates highlighted many of our concerns, no doubt shared by the vulnerable, the elderly and families throughout the borough. Although it is good news that Councillor Terry Stacy has promised 24-hour heating, so far this has not been the case in Steadman Court on the Redbrick estate, where heating has been going off at 11pm. Elderly residents have to wrap up in their woollies and put extra money in the meter or go to bed early just to keep warm.
All residents are fed up paying the same for less heat. Leaseholders have the added frustration of having no control over heating even though, just as in the private sector, they must bear the cost of boiler systems (on average £2,000 per leaseholder) and annual maintenance charges.
There are controls on radiator systems but apparently the council cannot entrust us to act responsibly and turn the heating off when not required. I urge the council to reinstate 24-hour heating, not just for this winter but as long-term policy.
SHIRLEY POLLAYA
Secretary, Redbrick estate Tenant Management Organisation

• THE council has stated that its decision to turn off heating on estates was to reduce carbon emissions. However, I believe this decision – made without consultation with residents – was counter-productive and nothing more than a cost-cutting exercise.
As someone who uses a carbon footprint calculator, which informs householders about energy usage and consumption, I agree that home heating can contribute significantly to household carbon emissions. However, as a result of turning off the gas heating at night I believe residents used more energy and created substantially more carbon emissions by using electric heaters (as electricity has a much higher carbon content than gas, unit for unit) This is what I was forced to resort to in an effort to keep myself and young children warm during cold nights. This also causes a negative financial impact on residents, who are paying for heating twice as they pay a fixed fee for gas heating.
The council should have focused on educating residents to use heating more efficiently, by closing doors to keep in heat, draught-proofing homes, using radiators sensibly and installing loft insulation (where possible) rather than resorting to draconian methods and denying us the heating we have already paid for. The council’s actions are detrimental to the wider effort to persuade people that saving energy is possible without causing discomfort.
Even turning the boiler thermostat down by a couple of degrees through the night would have been fairer than treating residents like children and taking away our freedom to heat our homes. The return to 24-hour heating should be upheld until a thorough consultation with residents has taken place.
LISA NYAMAH
Steadman Court, EC1

• SURELY the issue over heating on Redbrick estate is not that it is turned off at night but that charges were not reduced when this started. Or did it happen at a time when fuel prices were rising rapidly and did residents escape a substantial increase?
People who control their own central heating and pay for the fuel they use are unlikely to leave heating on all night or to heat rooms not in use.
Central heating warms buildings during the day, and Islington in any case does not have very cold nights; even with the heating turned off at night there is unlikely to be ice on the windows in the morning and room temperatures are likely to stay above 12C.
I wonder how Islington Council plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 10 per cent this year if it provides all-night heating.
MARTIN WEALE
N1