Boiler Servicing Advice

Bubble16

Hi,

I am a new houseowner (1 week today!) and need to get my boiler serviced as the previous owner hadn't had it done for 2 years. What is my best option for this, an annual contract with someone or paying a one off lump sum? Thankyou.:D

Minerva69

I'm not sure what advice to give you at the moment as I'm in the same situation as you. All I would say is don't go for a British Gas annual service contract. We had one of those and the engineer who came told us our boiler was obsolete and needed to be replaced because they couldn't get the spare parts to fix it anymore if it broke down. They wanted to quote us for a new boiler of course.

I wanted to make sure the engineer had their facts right, so I searched on the net and found a phone number for the boiler manufacturer. They told me that parts are still being made for my boiler, and will continue to be for at least another 5 years. So the British Gas engineer was lying.

dounome

I have been with BG for about 5 years on an annual contract for boiler servicing etc, my boiler is at least 10 years old and i have had no problems at all with parts or with their engineers, i found them to be very good with call outs, often coming the same day as my call. I have saved myself hundreds of pounds on parts.
Thats not to say its the same for everyone with BG
p.s wouldnt use them for for my gas or electricity.

Boilercare

As a gas engineer myself, my advice is to go direct to the CORGI website (https://www.trustcorgi.com/Consumers.htmx) and follow the link for "Find an installer". Click on "find an installer" one the left again and enter your postcode. This will give you the details of 5 CORGI Registered installers near you who are capable of carrying out the work safely.

As for the choice of paying British Gas or paying as and when repairs are needed, my advice is to set up a savings fund, transfer the money that you would pay to BG each month into the fund, and should you need to have the boiler repaired, the money will be there. At the same time, if you don't require the repairs, THE MONEY IS STILL YOURS and not BGs'. At an annual cost in excess of £180.00, and few boilers requiring "open heart surgery" repairs, you could build up £1,800.00 after 10 yrs.

Whatever you do, always use a CORGI Registered engineer, and check their ID card (renewed on 1st April each year so check the date is valid) before you let him/her start working.

Avoriaz

I have never had a boiler serviced.

Our current boiler is a Potterton Prima and is 14 years old.

The previous boiler we inherited with the house so it was at least 10 years old when we upgraded.

Have I just been lucky?

Should I have it serviced?

EliteHeat

Boilercare wrote: »

my advice is to set up a savings fund, transfer the money that you would pay to BG each month into the fund, and should you need to have the boiler repaired, the money will be there. At the same time, if you don't require the repairs, THE MONEY IS STILL YOURS and not BGs'. At an annual cost in excess of £180.00, and few boilers requiring "open heart surgery" repairs, you could build up £1,800.00 after 10 yrs.

Top advice - could not agree more.

EliteHeat

Avoriaz wrote: »

I have never had a boiler serviced.

Our current boiler is a Potterton Prima and is 14 years old.

The previous boiler we inherited with the house so it was at least 10 years old when we upgraded.

Have I just been lucky?

Should I have it serviced?

The Prima is a room sealed appliance and therefore is not as potentially dangerous as an open flued, older boiler.

Have you been lucky? nah, not really - not much to go wrong on them

Should you get it serviced? well, why not? once in 14 years isn't going to break the bank!

dounome

Avoriaz wrote: »

I have never had a boiler serviced.

Our current boiler is a Potterton Prima and is 14 years old.

The previous boiler we inherited with the house so it was at least 10 years old when we upgraded.

Have I just been lucky?

Should I have it serviced?

Only my opinion but yes you should have it serviced

Avoriaz

EliteHeat wrote: »

..Should you get it serviced? well, why not? once in 14 years isn't going to break the bank!

But it might break the boiler.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is my philosophy.

OK, I do have my car serviced occasionally.

What will a service do and why do I need one. The boiler works fine. I do check it occasionally to make sure the flames look normal and that it isn’t cycling or making funny noises or smells.

Bubble16

Thankyou for all the advice people, that is a great idea Boilercare, thankyou very much.