Reasons To Have a Boiler Serviced

Nov 30, 2011
Deborah Percy

Boiler Servicing Tools - D Percy

Does my boiler really need servicing if it is only 2 or 3 years old? Should my boiler stop working when it was serviced only weeks ago?

There are broadly three reasons for having a boiler service, these are:

to make sure the boiler is safe
to make sure the boiler is working correctly
because it is required as part of a guarantee or warranty plan.

Is My Boiler Safe to Use?

A boiler service will give the home-owner reassurance that the appliance is safe to use. The service will include checks that there are no gas leaks from the appliance and that there is no possibility of poisonous fumes escaping into the house either directly from the boiler or from the flue.

Is My Boiler Faulty or Working Correctly?

A boiler can break down within days of a boiler service in just the same way as a car may suffer mechanical failure just days after an MOT or after servicing. The things are unrelated. On the day the boiler was serviced, however, the engineer will deal with any problems and will advise as to whether there are any foreseeable problems developing.

The one of the main benefits from a boiler being serviced is the assurance that it is working correctly. Being finely tuned it will be burning gas correctly which means not only is it safe but it is at its most efficient. When tuned up it will burn less gas or oil and, therefore, cost less to run.

People often book a boiler service when they can hear strange noises or the hot water and heating system do not seem to work as they used to. The heating engineer can certainly address these concerns. If the boiler is completely not working then a repair call out is required, not a service.

Boilers Under Warranty Require Annual Service

Most boilers sold in the UK come with a two year warranty and many have longer guarantees, with three or five years being common. A stipulation of the warranty contract requires that the boiler is serviced within 12 months of installation and annually thereafter.

The typical cost of repairing a boiler out of warranty is between £230 to £300* including parts, labour and VAT in the UK. A boiler service will cost about a quarter of the cost of the repair so saving money by not having a service in the early years could work out to be very expensive if the manufacturer's guarantee is invalidated.

*Note that the price for boiler repair is based on typical repair packages offered by the main boiler manufacturers in the UK, Worcester-Bosch and Heateam (Baxi, Potterton, etc.).