Boiler Servicing

upsydaisydoo

Hi
My house and boiler are 5 years old. I have never had the boiler serviced as I thought it should be ok seeing as it was new, but now think maybe I should get it checked. Am I best to sign up to the boiler maintenance plan with my supplier Npower, or would it be ok to get a local heating engineer to come and have a look ?
Any advice gratefully received

neilmcl

Get it serviced regularly.

Cardew

There are literally hundreds of posts asking much the same question.

The problem is the very high cost of the Boiler/CH servicing plans £20 to £30 a month is average and it sometimes exceeds that amount.

A further difficulty is that companies will happily take your money when your boiler is newish - and hence reliable - but don't really want to know when it gets older. 'Spare parts not available' is a favourite excuse, as is the requirement for the system to have a power flush at the cost of £hundreds - and this is not covered by the service plan.

However many people, understandably, like the 'insurance' aspect of these schemes and are prepared to pay the premium.

There is little doubt that if you can find a good local RGI fitter, who will turn out in an emergency, it will save money over the course of a few years. Depending where you live and type of boiler, a service usually costs between £60 and £70.

I suggest you ask neighbours if they can recommend a plumber.

giraffe69

The problem is the very high cost of the Boiler/CH servicing plans £20 to £30 a month is average and it sometimes exceeds that amount.

A further difficulty is that companies will happily take your money when your boiler is newish - and hence reliable - but don't really want to know when it gets older. 'Spare parts not available' is a favourite excuse, as is the requirement for the system to have a power flush at the cost of £hundreds - and this is not covered by the service plan.

However many people, understandably, like the 'insurance' aspect of these schemes and are prepared to pay the premium.

If you go with, say, British Gas, then you can well pay more than £20 per month BUT you can also do an insurance type plan with them where you pay the first £50 if there is a problem and they cover the rest and also give the boiler a service each year. The cost of this in London is £14 per month. If all you want is a service and not the emergency cover and piece of mind then there are cheaper ways to do it.
Our boiler is 12 years old and for the last 3 services there has been vague mutterings about the day coming when the manufacturer stops producing parts but it still hasn't happened.

retepetsir

Just get it serviced from a local heating technician. No need to really sign up to some of these schemes as for the cost they are still rather expensive. It's better to put away £10 a month to cover things like boiler servicing. As already mentioned, a regular service should be around £70 or so.

We had the Potterton boiler in our flat serviced last year as we had purchased the flat in Feb 2011 and had no idea when it was last serviced. Cost £70, the technician cleaned the insides, checked the gas flow (adjusted this down slightly), checked operation and emissions and all was sorted within about an hour.

Well worth doing

wakeupalarm

The problem is finding someone who does a proper service. Also with newer condensing boilers there isn't really that much to service its more of a safety inspection.

aliellen

upsydaisydoo wrote: »

Hi
My house and boiler are 5 years old. I have never had the boiler serviced as I thought it should be ok seeing as it was new, but now think maybe I should get it checked. Am I best to sign up to the boiler maintenance plan with my supplier Npower, or would it be ok to get a local heating engineer to come and have a look ?
Any advice gratefully received

Any gas appliances should always be serviced annually, if your new boiler came with a warranty this could be void if you do not keep annual services up to date. Boiler maintenance plans tend to cost more in the long run than if your boiler needs parts. A service should cost around £40 ish mark, a service plan £10 a month? minimum? isnt worth it. Any parts should be covered under a warranty, BUT as I said, double check your warranty is not void if you fail to get it serviced.

P.S. Touch wood it would never happen (but it has and will continue to), but if there were any gas leaks, or accidents relating to gas and you have not kept up to date with servicing, YOU are held responsible.

aliellen

wakeupalarm wrote: »

The problem is finding someone who does a proper service. Also with newer condensing boilers there isn't really that much to service its more of a safety inspection.

and go to the gas safe register and click "find an engineer"

verntern

Cardew wrote: »

There are literally hundreds of posts asking much the same question.

The problem is the very high cost of the Boiler/CH servicing plans £20 to £30 a month is average and it sometimes exceeds that amount.

A further difficulty is that companies will happily take your money when your boiler is newish - and hence reliable - but don't really want to know when it gets older. 'Spare parts not available' is a favourite excuse, as is the requirement for the system to have a power flush at the cost of £hundreds - and this is not covered by the service plan.

However many people, understandably, like the 'insurance' aspect of these schemes and are prepared to pay the premium.

There is little doubt that if you can find a good local RGI fitter, who will turn out in an emergency, it will save money over the course of a few years. Depending where you live and type of boiler, a service usually costs between £60 and £70.

I suggest you ask neighbours if they can recommend a plumber.

Cardew is 100% correct in his observation. There may be peace of mind that you are covered by a boiler 'plan' which may include an annual inspection/service until you come to make a claim and come across the small print in your policy. My experience over the years is that the annual 'service' has never been very thorough with operatives seemingly having to fulfil a quota of rushed jobs each day. Far better to get recommendations and test out some local, registered heating engineers. I know nothing about boiler systems but the local guy I found dismantles a lot of components, scrapes off carbon deposits, tests, refits, tests again, cleans everything and completes the maintenance record. Spends over an hour on the boiler for £60. He is a local phone call away, knows my system, and is the same friendly and reliable person each time!
Failure of parts in the heating system? Self-insure. I stick away the equivalent of a monthly 'insurance' premium in a savings account. After a while the total builds up and is there for an unexpected c/h bill. The temptation is to avoid spending it when you think a breakdown is not going to happen to you!

Ionkontrol

wakeupalarm wrote: »

The problem is finding someone who does a proper service. Also with newer condensing boilers there isn't really that much to service its more of a safety inspection.

...or just plug their laptop in check the error codes. 15 minutes work, £80 please.

unclebulgaria

I will be accused of sounding like a stuck record but, not getting your boiler, new or old, serviced regularly is a false economy IMO.
Find a decent local RGI, someone who is recommended usually works, get your boiler serviced once a year. New boilers dont need a lot doing during a service, a couple of checks and a test with a flue gas analyser. Older boilers obviously more checks. What a lot of people on this forum miss when they promote leaving a service on a boiler is; most boilers have 2,5 or even 7 year warranties but the main heat exchanger has, usually, a 10 year warranty. This is void if your boiler isn't looked after.
I replaced a boiler a few months ago, it was 7 years old! Looked great from the front but when the homeowner called me in I had to condemn the boiler as a small persistant leak above the boiler case had rotted the boiler beyond repair. New boiler = £725inc. + Labour. Total was £1005. Work out that against a yearly service for 7 years @ approx £50.
I've found monthly service contracts dont do what they say on the tin! Just my opinion.