Central heating always offers comfort (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheer
'comfort' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'central heating always' is the wordplay.
'central heating' becomes 'ch'.
'always' becomes 'eer' (poetic way of saying ever).
'ch'+'eer'='CHEER'
'offers' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cheer that I've seen before include "Perk up" , "Shout applause and support" , "Applaud; mood" , "Encouraging shout" , "Hearten; shout" .)