Getting your Boiler service is it worth it?
16 September 2011, 07:42 AM
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Getting your Boiler service is it worth it?
We live in a new build house about three years old and with Winter coming up I keep thinking about getting the boiler serviced?
How much roughly does it cost and is it worth it?
Thanks
How much roughly does it cost and is it worth it?
Thanks
16 September 2011, 07:58 AM
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My new build comes with a 5 year warranty on everything. But the boiler is only covered if I have it serviced every year. To be honest, once the warranty runs out, it isn't that difficult to do yourself. Just check and clean. 
16 September 2011, 08:08 AM
#3
our boiler is over ten yrs old. we were with british gas for 4yrs and all they do is come out clean it check the heating works and leave....
As it's over 10yrs old they won't fix or replace it for 'free' (bar the monthly fee of I think £40) so I canciled it...
As it's over 10yrs old they won't fix or replace it for 'free' (bar the monthly fee of I think £40) so I canciled it...
16 September 2011, 09:53 AM
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Can't believe this. If it goes wrong it will kill you, simple.
Its about £25. I would seriously look at the British Gas car pack, not the £40 a month job, you can get it for a lot less, includes a service each year too.
Ours has saved us a fortune and the boiler isn't that old. Brother in law works for British Gas and even he has it because it more than covers the cost of parts alone if something goes wrong.
5t.
Its about £25. I would seriously look at the British Gas car pack, not the £40 a month job, you can get it for a lot less, includes a service each year too.
Ours has saved us a fortune and the boiler isn't that old. Brother in law works for British Gas and even he has it because it more than covers the cost of parts alone if something goes wrong.
5t.
16 September 2011, 10:03 AM
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Had ours serviced once so far, in 6 years (combi).
It defo made a difference, starts up a lot faster and we have now turned the "power" down a bit on it as it runs hotter. Runs quiet too. Had it done at the start of this year, was about £180 incl parts.
It defo made a difference, starts up a lot faster and we have now turned the "power" down a bit on it as it runs hotter. Runs quiet too. Had it done at the start of this year, was about £180 incl parts.
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16 September 2011, 10:47 AM
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What exactly is there for you to check as the user? Do you have a flue gas analyser to check emissions? Do you gas rate it? Do you carry out a tightness test on your gas pipework? What boiler do you have in your property? Also, what do you do for a living?
I'm genuinely interested
16 September 2011, 10:47 AM
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16 September 2011, 11:22 AM
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Bit cruel though ....
16 September 2011, 12:19 PM
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Can't believe this. If it goes wrong it will kill you, simple.
Its about £25. I would seriously look at the British Gas car pack, not the £40 a month job, you can get it for a lot less, includes a service each year too.
Ours has saved us a fortune and the boiler isn't that old. Brother in law works for British Gas and even he has it because it more than covers the cost of parts alone if something goes wrong.
5t.
Its about £25. I would seriously look at the British Gas car pack, not the £40 a month job, you can get it for a lot less, includes a service each year too.
Ours has saved us a fortune and the boiler isn't that old. Brother in law works for British Gas and even he has it because it more than covers the cost of parts alone if something goes wrong.
5t.
Plus as said, if they go wrong, they will kill you without you even knowing.
16 September 2011, 01:07 PM
#15
Just swapped from British gas as it crept up to £24 a month to N power at £15 per month
With £90 cash back if not called out in the first year
N power also do a call out for £50 if you sign a 12 month contract but at a slightly higher rate of £20 a month
It's a risk servicing
My old father who has a hobby or watching his money grow (tight) never serviced it for 10 years and everything was ok yet his neighbour did the same and had a £2000 bill after five years
But then there is a safety aspect which is another issue of discussion so depends how much ventilation your house has !
With £90 cash back if not called out in the first year
N power also do a call out for £50 if you sign a 12 month contract but at a slightly higher rate of £20 a month
It's a risk servicing
My old father who has a hobby or watching his money grow (tight) never serviced it for 10 years and everything was ok yet his neighbour did the same and had a £2000 bill after five years
But then there is a safety aspect which is another issue of discussion so depends how much ventilation your house has !
16 September 2011, 01:30 PM
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Just swapped from British gas as it crept up to £24 a month to N power at £15 per month
With £90 cash back if not called out in the first year
N power also do a call out for £50 if you sign a 12 month contract but at a slightly higher rate of £20 a month
It's a risk servicing
My old father who has a hobby or watching his money grow (tight) never serviced it for 10 years and everything was ok yet his neighbour did the same and had a £2000 bill after five years
But then there is a safety aspect which is another issue of discussion so depends how much ventilation your house has !
With £90 cash back if not called out in the first year
N power also do a call out for £50 if you sign a 12 month contract but at a slightly higher rate of £20 a month
It's a risk servicing
My old father who has a hobby or watching his money grow (tight) never serviced it for 10 years and everything was ok yet his neighbour did the same and had a £2000 bill after five years
But then there is a safety aspect which is another issue of discussion so depends how much ventilation your house has !
Personally, the lives of my family are worth a lot more than £50
British Gas also do a one off call out for £100 or so. Might be £150 but not more than that (I don't think) so if you don't want to pay for the cover, that's another option but get a bloody service done.
5t.
16 September 2011, 03:04 PM
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What exactly is there for you to check as the user? Do you have a flue gas analyser to check emissions? Do you gas rate it? Do you carry out a tightness test on your gas pipework? What boiler do you have in your property? Also, what do you do for a living?
I'm genuinely interested
However, I have two chums that 'are' heating engineers that will quite happily do a gas analysis test and show me how what to check.
It isn't rocket science you know!
I am not saying just to leave it either. What I am saying is that if you have the right chums and a little bit of knowledge, you can check it yourself. Even nice, healthy, serviced boilers fail you know.
Last edited by Gear Head; 16 September 2011 at 03:06 PM.
16 September 2011, 03:25 PM
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My wife phoned to check on her dad one night as he was old and lived alone but no answer which was unusual. We got his neighbours to break in who found him sound asleep but with a pink glow. Ambulance rushed him into hospital and CO poisoning confirmed. He just pulled through.
Silly old sod had stuffed his solid fuel boiler with papers to light which it failed to do and filled house with smoke and gas. Plenty of air bricks but he had papered over these to keep the place warm
dl
Last edited by David Lock; 16 September 2011 at 03:27 PM.
16 September 2011, 03:44 PM
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My wife phoned to check on her dad one night as he was old and lived alone but no answer which was unusual. We got his neighbours to break in who found him sound asleep but with a pink glow. Ambulance rushed him into hospital and CO poisoning confirmed. He just pulled through.
Silly old sod had stuffed his solid fuel boiler with papers to light which it failed to do and filled house with smoke and gas. Plenty of air bricks but he had papered over these to keep the place warm
dl
Silly old sod had stuffed his solid fuel boiler with papers to light which it failed to do and filled house with smoke and gas. Plenty of air bricks but he had papered over these to keep the place warm
dl
Sounds more like the onset of dementia. :sad:
My poor old nan was the same.
After finding her asleep, with a half smoked ciggy that was still lit and then noticing that the gas fire was still on, we decided enough was enough and that she just wasn't capable of living on her own anymore.
16 September 2011, 04:09 PM
#21
We have the cover and the call up and arrange a time, would never remember otherwise, dont think they do much though but its peace of mind which is better than killing the whole family for the sake of a few quid.
16 September 2011, 11:26 PM
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Get a CO monitor for about 15 quid and stick it next to the boiler and run the test button each month. You anly need to spend ££££'s on servicing if your water goes cold or the CO alarm keeps going off. It's basically just a tin box with a flame in it, no not much to go wrong like in a car that needs regular servicing. Where I live near london I can't get a service below £100.
17 September 2011, 12:00 AM
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Well if you want to know, I am an applications engineer for a marine and industrial transmission supplier. I am not for one minute saying that this qualifies me to be a self proclaimed heating engineer, but I am not a numpty when it comes to most things 'mechanical'.
However, I have two chums that 'are' heating engineers that will quite happily do a gas analysis test and show me how what to check.
It isn't rocket science you know!
I am not saying just to leave it either. What I am saying is that if you have the right chums and a little bit of knowledge, you can check it yourself. Even nice, healthy, serviced boilers fail you know.
However, I have two chums that 'are' heating engineers that will quite happily do a gas analysis test and show me how what to check.
It isn't rocket science you know!
I am not saying just to leave it either. What I am saying is that if you have the right chums and a little bit of knowledge, you can check it yourself. Even nice, healthy, serviced boilers fail you know.
17 September 2011, 12:16 AM
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Two days ago i serviced a gas fire, i did a flu flo test (smoke bomb) and nothing came out the chimney outside, after haveing the chimney swept we removed 5 black bags of sticks and twigs from nesting birds
had they had the fire on over the coming winter they probably would be dead and there 2 kids...is that worth £50 ?
and for the engineers on here yes i fitted a cage
had they had the fire on over the coming winter they probably would be dead and there 2 kids...is that worth £50 ?
and for the engineers on here yes i fitted a cage
17 September 2011, 05:53 AM
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Two days ago i serviced a gas fire, i did a flu flo test (smoke bomb) and nothing came out the chimney outside, after haveing the chimney swept we removed 5 black bags of sticks and twigs from nesting birds
had they had the fire on over the coming winter they probably would be dead and there 2 kids...is that worth £50 ?
and for the engineers on here yes i fitted a cage
had they had the fire on over the coming winter they probably would be dead and there 2 kids...is that worth £50 ?
and for the engineers on here yes i fitted a cage
Of course it is worth it if you are not confident of doing it your self or have friends that can do it for a 'beer'.
The examples given on here are extreme and shame on those people for leaving their boiler unchecked for so long.
17 September 2011, 08:34 AM
#27
If its a modern condensing boiler there is very little that can be done to service barring a) the flue/casing doesn't leak into the house and isn't blocked/restricted b) the condensate trap is clear and c) actually works! d) the person who isntalled it or worked on it last didn't bodge it (of which will always be pointed out). Really, from an advertsing point of view a 'service' on one of these boiler should actually be called a 'Safety Check' or 'Inspection', because thats about all that can be done. The word 'service' implies its being fidled with when really nothing is fliddled, its just visually inspected.
Because with modern boilers, the heat exchanger and burner is often so enclosed within its combustor housing and has such a tiny inspection cover, it renders it impossible to either properly clean or inspect - if at all. The fan either works or it doesn't (or makes a noise if its about to seize). Flame modulation is usually automatic, the gas pressures are often factory set and shouldn't be messed with unless someone's diddled about with it (such as conversion to LPG). The only thing left is to make sure the casing seals and it actually works.
The irony is, flues and casings usually only leak gases after they are messed with. And guess who messes with the boiler? You guessed it the plumber! So there is a case or certainly a risk that a plumber who is cag-handed doesn't put the boiler cover back on correctly or damages/dislogdes a seal on the cover or flue and then risks your house filling with flue gases. I've had this happen - I've even had a Homeserve contracted plumber wrenching at our old boiler's casing like demented monkey to try and remove it - bending the securing fasteners that keep it gas tight. All that was needed to remove it was to lift it up and away gently...like what was printed on the sticker infront of him!
Suffice to say these days I have to follow the plumber round to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, as unfortunately I'm still unable to find one I can fully trust - the only one I do know and trust doens't have the correct qualification (ahem, "gas-safe subscription") for servicing boilers as the company he works for only employs him for installation - but his knowledge and experience, attention to detail and level of intelligence/common sense far suppases that of his colleagues that are allegedly fully quailified to service boilers. I recall one comming to attend to a condensate leak caused by a cracked syphon tube and then declaring the boiler as being totally knackered when all it needed was a £20 part.
Although I will say the best service I've come across are Worcester-Bosch's own service technicians (although they'll call themselves 'engineers' where none will have a B.Eng or M.Eng certificate
). Buts that really only because they already know my boiler inside out from working on hundreds beforehand, whereas the Homeserve contractors I've endured before had no clue nor service manuals/data to refer to (barring what I supplied), unless by pure luck they had worked on one before (and even then experince was limited). Would you let someone blindly poke around with your boiler who was unfamiliar with that model?
OK, one could say that logic would dicate that most go together in a similar manner, and all that requires is a little extra common sense, but with some plumbers this is either lacking or doesn't stop them making a right hash of it.
In reality though even with a leaky cover, if it does happen the boiler usually still gets the majority of gas in/out the flue so it won't suddenly kill you as the alarmists above imply (unless you have some antique Baxi Bermuda or other old fashioned non-fanned flue boiler). So you wouldn't really know about it anyway (As the CO alram won't go off), nor would it kill you, unless its an old antique which has an open flue which sucks air from the room to combust.
The latter is always a risk, as it'll quite happily fire up with a blocked flue and fill your house with CO. Or if you suddenly go on a draught excuding mission and then restrict the boiler's ability to get fresh air by inadvertantly installing PVC windows or blocking an air brick. The same applies to gas fires.
Sorry for the long winded post - I'm no plumber, but I did work in commercial/industrial HVAC so learnt quite a few things from there, and then had to endured far too much from bad practice and expense from previous plumbers as a customer. One bunch were partially responsible for the demise of a brand new boiler that only lasted 5 years before being condemned as scrap due to allowing a reported fault to manifest to the point that it was no longer fit for repair (internal condensate leak basically rusted the thing to peices) - that was boiler maintained on a fully comprehensive service/repair contract.
So my warning follows; don't assume competance of either a person or their company (no matter how small or large), Gas-Safe registration only goes as far as showing they are subscribed and qualified on paper - what they practice in their workmanship (knowingly or unknowingly) maybe different.
Because with modern boilers, the heat exchanger and burner is often so enclosed within its combustor housing and has such a tiny inspection cover, it renders it impossible to either properly clean or inspect - if at all. The fan either works or it doesn't (or makes a noise if its about to seize). Flame modulation is usually automatic, the gas pressures are often factory set and shouldn't be messed with unless someone's diddled about with it (such as conversion to LPG). The only thing left is to make sure the casing seals and it actually works.
The irony is, flues and casings usually only leak gases after they are messed with. And guess who messes with the boiler? You guessed it the plumber! So there is a case or certainly a risk that a plumber who is cag-handed doesn't put the boiler cover back on correctly or damages/dislogdes a seal on the cover or flue and then risks your house filling with flue gases. I've had this happen - I've even had a Homeserve contracted plumber wrenching at our old boiler's casing like demented monkey to try and remove it - bending the securing fasteners that keep it gas tight. All that was needed to remove it was to lift it up and away gently...like what was printed on the sticker infront of him!
Suffice to say these days I have to follow the plumber round to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, as unfortunately I'm still unable to find one I can fully trust - the only one I do know and trust doens't have the correct qualification (ahem, "gas-safe subscription") for servicing boilers as the company he works for only employs him for installation - but his knowledge and experience, attention to detail and level of intelligence/common sense far suppases that of his colleagues that are allegedly fully quailified to service boilers. I recall one comming to attend to a condensate leak caused by a cracked syphon tube and then declaring the boiler as being totally knackered when all it needed was a £20 part.
Although I will say the best service I've come across are Worcester-Bosch's own service technicians (although they'll call themselves 'engineers' where none will have a B.Eng or M.Eng certificate
). Buts that really only because they already know my boiler inside out from working on hundreds beforehand, whereas the Homeserve contractors I've endured before had no clue nor service manuals/data to refer to (barring what I supplied), unless by pure luck they had worked on one before (and even then experince was limited). Would you let someone blindly poke around with your boiler who was unfamiliar with that model? OK, one could say that logic would dicate that most go together in a similar manner, and all that requires is a little extra common sense, but with some plumbers this is either lacking or doesn't stop them making a right hash of it.
In reality though even with a leaky cover, if it does happen the boiler usually still gets the majority of gas in/out the flue so it won't suddenly kill you as the alarmists above imply (unless you have some antique Baxi Bermuda or other old fashioned non-fanned flue boiler). So you wouldn't really know about it anyway (As the CO alram won't go off), nor would it kill you, unless its an old antique which has an open flue which sucks air from the room to combust.
The latter is always a risk, as it'll quite happily fire up with a blocked flue and fill your house with CO. Or if you suddenly go on a draught excuding mission and then restrict the boiler's ability to get fresh air by inadvertantly installing PVC windows or blocking an air brick. The same applies to gas fires.
Sorry for the long winded post - I'm no plumber, but I did work in commercial/industrial HVAC so learnt quite a few things from there, and then had to endured far too much from bad practice and expense from previous plumbers as a customer. One bunch were partially responsible for the demise of a brand new boiler that only lasted 5 years before being condemned as scrap due to allowing a reported fault to manifest to the point that it was no longer fit for repair (internal condensate leak basically rusted the thing to peices) - that was boiler maintained on a fully comprehensive service/repair contract.
So my warning follows; don't assume competance of either a person or their company (no matter how small or large), Gas-Safe registration only goes as far as showing they are subscribed and qualified on paper - what they practice in their workmanship (knowingly or unknowingly) maybe different.
Last edited by ALi-B; 17 September 2011 at 08:52 AM.
17 September 2011, 11:32 AM
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17 September 2011, 02:14 PM
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We wanted to get rid of the gas fire as we never use it and its an eye sore in the living room but were told if we wanted it removed we'd have to have a new boiler and as you can't have back boilers anymore we'd have to have a whole new system put in.
We are also a bit short on where to put it for an outside wall and only place to put it would be the dining room which would be an eye sore in there. Or lose a cupboard in the kitchen and put it there which will mean lots of work and we've only just had our kitchen re-fitted.
We have ours serviced once a year. We also have one of those carbon monoxide sensor things.