Bad timing

Last week, when we were basking in sunshine, the central heating system barely came on. Now the temperature has plummeted, we have an issue. 

Last night the heating came on as usual at 5pm but by 6pm it had stopped and the house was cooling down. Then I got a call from my neighbour Pepe asking whether we had a problem with our heating. He had already concluded that the gas supply was the root cause - no gas = no heating. When I checked my boiler sure enough it showed an error code E1 meaning fault with gas supply.  

Pepe then phoned the gas company who said that they would send someone to investigate. Of course it is Father's Day today, a national holiday when shops, businesses etc are all closed. I hope that doesn't mean we will have to wait until Monday. Our air conditioning units are designed to either cool or warm the house but it isn't the same as the central heating. 

PS I presume it isn't just houses on our street that are effected. Please let me know if you have a gas supply to your house. 

In fairness, this is the first time in 16 years that we have had an issue with the gas supply. When we first arrived, our heating ran off two gas bottles outside the kitchen. Sods law meant that one of the bottles would run out of gas at weekends when the Ferreteria that sells propane was closed. Once we were connected to the storage tanks and mains gas, that problem was solved and we have basked in the luxury of warmth since.