Washington district heating

The district heating system supplies heating and hot water to homes in Albany, Fatfield and Oxclose. Properties in Washington on the district heating system are unlikely to have a gas supply.

Replacing Washington district heating

We are replacing the district heating system in Albany, Fatfield and Oxclose with individual gas combi boilers for free. Find out more about our replacement programme.

Maintaining the district heating system

Switch2 is the service provider for the district heating system in Washington. They are responsible for:

  • credit and billing queries
  • credit meter breakdowns
  • repairing hot water tanks
  • radiators and pipework in your home
  • the heating controls
  • repairing system breakdowns

Reporting a repair

Contact Switch2 if:

  • you have credit on your meter but have no heating or hot water
  • your radiators are not working
  • there is a leak in the system
  • you have issues with your prepayment meter

To contact Switch2, you can:

Changing energy supplier

Tenants and residents on the district heating system cannot change energy supplier. The system supplies gas to your home and we make sure you are on the best tariff.

The cost of your tariff

Each household connected to the system only pays for the energy it uses.

We try to keep our costs as low as possible and have not increased our tariff since April 2013.

The unit price includes:

  • energy unit cost
  • maintenance charges for the boilers, pipework and metering
  • maintenance charges from the energy company
  • government-required charges for the Energy Company Obligation

If your tariff changes, we will contact you to let you know.

Moving into a property that has the heating system

You will receive a welcome pack from Switch2 when you move into a property that has the district heating system. The pack will include details of the system and how to register the heating in your name.

If you do not receive a welcome pack, you can:

Managing your Switch2 account

You can allow a family member or friend to manage your Switch2 account. You will need to let Switch2 know who manages the account.

Making alterations in your home

If you need to move a radiator to decorate, call 0191 525 5000 and select option 4.

If you damage any of the system when making alterations to your home, we may charge you for the repair.

Tenants and residents are not able to adapt the heating controls, meter, pipework and radiators.

Communal heating fraud

Adapting the heating system to get free heating and hot water is a criminal offence. In these cases, we will contact Northumbria Police and your tenancy may be at risk.