1. Who we are
Heat Efficient Ltd (“Heat Efficient”, “we”, “us”) is the controller of the personal information collected through heatefficient.co.uk. This means we decide how and why it is used.
- Company: Heat Efficient Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 09552022
- Business address: 38 Hinton Wood Avenue, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 5AH
- Email: info@heatefficient.co.uk
- Phone: 0800 488 0621
This policy explains what we collect when you use our website, contact us or ask for a quote, how we use it, who we share it with and your rights. It does not cover other websites we link to.
2. What information we collect
We only collect what we need to respond to your enquiry and run the website. We do not sell your information or use it for advertising.
| Where it comes from | What we collect |
|---|---|
| Online job sheet (request a quote) | Your name, email, phone number, site postcode, company name and job role (if given), preferred contact method, the type of customer you are, job type, property type, number of sites, urgency, preferred survey dates, budget range, your description of the job, and any photos you upload (up to 5) |
| Small-job referral form | Your name, email, phone number, postcode, a description of the job, urgency and any photos you upload (up to 3) |
| Phone calls and emails to us | Your name, contact details and whatever you tell us about the job. We do not record phone calls |
| WhatsApp messages | If you message us on WhatsApp: your name, phone number and whatever you send us, including photos |
| Chat assistant | The messages you type. Please don’t enter personal details in the chat; if you’d like us to contact you, use the job sheet or call us |
| Technical information | Your IP address, used briefly to stop spam and limit repeated form submissions and chat messages |
| Analytics cookies (only if you accept them) | How you use the site: pages viewed, device and browser type, approximate location (town or region), and actions such as starting the job sheet or clicking our phone number. This does not include your name or contact details |
| Our staff | Name and work email of Heat Efficient staff who log in to view enquiries |
We don’t ask for, and you shouldn’t send us, sensitive information such as health details. If a job involves an accessible bathroom or wet room, describe what’s needed in practical terms only.
3. How we use it and our lawful basis
UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for each use. Ours are set out below.
| What we use it for | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Responding to your enquiry, arranging a site survey and preparing a quotation | Steps you’ve asked us to take before entering a contract; then performing the contract if you go ahead |
| Carrying out and managing the work, invoicing and after-care | Performing our contract with you |
| Passing a small-job enquiry to a partner plumber | Your consent, given when you tick the box on the referral form |
| Sending you a confirmation email with your reference number | Our legitimate interest in confirming we’ve received your enquiry |
| Keeping records of work, gas safety certificates and invoices | Legal obligation (for example gas safety and tax record-keeping rules) |
| Answering questions through the chat assistant | Our legitimate interest in helping visitors find the right service |
| Preventing spam and abuse of our forms and chat | Our legitimate interest in keeping the website secure |
| Understanding how the website is used through analytics | Your consent, given through the cookie banner. You can withdraw it at any time via ‘Cookie settings’ in the footer |
| Prioritising enquiries (our system scores each job sheet by job type, size and urgency so we can respond to urgent and larger jobs first) | Our legitimate interest in managing our workload. This doesn’t decide whether we help you, and a person reviews every enquiry |
We will not use your details to send you marketing unless you’ve separately agreed to it.
4. Who we share it with
We only share your information where it’s needed to deal with your enquiry or run the website. Each service provider below acts on our instructions and may not use your data for its own purposes.
| Who | Why | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Trusted local partner plumbers | To handle small repair jobs we don’t take on, only if you ask us to refer you | Name, phone, email, postcode, job description, urgency and photos |
| Lovable (website hosting, database and email sending) and its infrastructure providers | To host the website, store enquiries and photos securely, and send confirmation emails | Everything submitted through the job sheet and referral form |
| OpenAI, via Lovable’s AI service | To generate the chat assistant’s replies. Conversations are not stored by the website or used to train AI models | The messages you type in the chat |
| WhatsApp (Meta) | To receive and reply to messages you choose to send us on WhatsApp | Your messages, phone number and profile name |
| Google (Google Analytics) | To measure how the website is used, only if you accept analytics cookies | Usage data as described in section 2 |
| Our accountant | To keep our books, prepare accounts and meet tax obligations | Customer name, contact details, invoices and payment records |
| Xero (accounting software) | To raise invoices and record payments | Name, contact details and job details |
| Other professional advisers, insurers and authorities | Where required by law, to defend legal claims, or to meet gas safety obligations | Only what is needed |
If Heat Efficient is ever sold or restructured, your information may transfer to the new owner, who would have to keep using it in line with this policy.
5. Where it’s stored, how long we keep it and how we protect it
Transfers outside the UK. Some of our providers (Lovable, OpenAI, Google and Xero) may process data outside the UK, including in the EU and the United States. Where they do, we rely on UK adequacy regulations (including the UK–US Data Bridge) or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, so your information keeps an equivalent level of protection.
How long we keep it. We keep information only as long as we need it:
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that don’t go ahead (including photos) | 2 years from your last contact, then deleted |
| Customer and job records, quotes and invoices | 6 years after the end of the job, for tax and legal claims |
| Gas safety records and certificates | At least 2 years, or longer where the work or law requires it |
| Small-job referrals | 12 months, then deleted |
| IP addresses used to stop spam | 30 days, then deleted |
| Chat messages | Not stored by the website once the conversation ends |
| Analytics data | 14 months in Google Analytics |
| Staff login accounts | Until the staff member leaves |
Security. Enquiries and photos are stored in a secure database that only authorised Heat Efficient staff can access, using an individual login. The public can submit information but can never read it back. Photo links sent to staff expire after 30 days. Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). No system is completely secure, but we’ll tell you and the ICO about a serious breach where the law requires it.
6. Your rights
You have the right to:
- Access a copy of the information we hold about you
- Correct anything that’s wrong or incomplete
- Delete your information, where we no longer have a reason to keep it
- Restrict or object to how we use it, including any use based on our legitimate interests
- Data portability: receive information you gave us in a common electronic format
- Withdraw consent at any time, for analytics or referrals. This doesn’t affect anything we did before you withdrew it
To use any of these rights, email info@heatefficient.co.uk or write to us at the address above. We’ll reply within one month and won’t normally charge.
7. Cookies
The website uses essential storage to work (for example, remembering your cookie choice and keeping staff logged in). Analytics cookies are only set if you click “Accept analytics”. You can change your choice at any time using “Cookie settings” in the footer. Full details are in our Cookie Policy.
8. Complaints
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please contact us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or on 0303 123 1113.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when our website or the way we work changes. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated.
Last updated: 2 November 2026