Do you service your boiler every year?

[Keenoonvino]

I normally do mine every summer to stop the heating breaking down in the middle of winter and having to pay a fortune/ go cold. I haven't done it this year.

Is it necessary to service your boiler every year or is that what companies say to get you to spend more
Money???

[Tabby1963]

I have lived in this house 19 years and never had it serviced. Last year, for the first time, the boiler played up. We got the pump replaced by a local specialist. I was so pleased we didn't need the whole thing replaced completely because I know that the modern boilers are not a patch on the older models. Friends with modern boilers are always complaining about boiler problems. You will probably be ok.

[neontetra]

Wish I had, actually. We are having building work, and the moving of our oil tank entailed by this caused a problem with the boiler, which was costly-ish, but because we hadn't had it serviced for yonks we were liable.

[nemno]

Yes, we get our 23 yr old boiler serviced every year. Pumps, thermostats and valves have been replaced over the years but nothing has gone wrong with the white box part. My parents with their 3 yr old boiler have had several call outs for more major problems and I agree that modern boilers are less reliable.

[ilovepowerhoop]

yes we get it serviced as part of our boiler cover

[buildingmycorestrength]

Wow, I have never heard of modern boilers being less reliable! Sorry to derail...I have a v old Vaillant boiler and am thinking of getting it replaced with a more efficient one with a 7 year guarantee. Is this a bad idea? It will save us money on our bills, surely?

[Jan49]

For safety they are supposed to be serviced annually so that's what I've always done. But it doesn't stop things going wrong.

We moved house last year and I was glad to leave the boiler behind. It was only 7 years old but we'd had a problem about once a year from the time we had it installed.

[lljkk]

yes annually serviced.

[valiumredhead]

We have a valiant so not had it done since we put it in 5 years ago. It's on the list of things to do before the cold weather starts.

[buildingmycorestrength]

A heating engineer did tell me today that if you have a boiler under warranty and don't service annually, it voids the warranty. . Sorry, peeps.

[gobbin]

You should have your boiler serviced annually for safety checks. Carbon monoxide is a killer.

Our old one was serviced a few months after we moved in (a large floor-standing thing). It had clearly never been serviced since installation in the 70s (we moved in 97) and there was 4 inches(!) of carbon deposits in the bottom. Fair play, it cleaned up just fine and only needed two changes of thermocouple until it was replaced in 2011.

New one has a 5 yr guarantee but has to be serviced (with a service stamp in the book) in order to activate the guarantwe.

[Keenoonvino]

Thankyou all - I am going to book a Service today. I don't think our boiler is under warranty but carbon monoxide issue and also our heating timer is a bit dodgy so it can't hurt!

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

We get ours done every year, it's about 18 years old, we've lived here for 12 and it's never gone wrong. Our plumber says hang on to it because the new ones tend to last 10 years max and don't save you enough on the fuel bills to offset the cost of a new boiler in that period.

[Bramshott]

We do, but it's an oil boiler and I think they need it. When we lived in a house with gas I'm sure we never got the boiler serviced and we lived there 5 years.

[SuperiorCat]

Yes DH does it each year.

Carbon monoxide can and does kill. Not only that but regular servicing prolongs the life of the boiler as degrading parts can be identified and replaced before they cause more serious damage.

[NotALondoner]

OMG please spend the money and get them serviced annually. Google carbon monoxide deaths.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

Yes, half an hour ago as it happens.

We have the boiler care thing and it feels well worth it. We've had to call them out three or four times in not quite three years including the time DH had turned it off by accident and we thought it was broken without needing to pay a £100+ callout fee each time or even pay for parts. And then the annual service as well. We are covered with our gas supplier and I don't think it costs more than a tenner a month.

[VestaCurry]

Yes

[SuperiorCat]

Those of you who don't have annual service contracts, you may save yourself money going to a local gas engineer rather than British Gas.

BG often outsource work to local traders so you can end up paying over the odds for the same person.

Also they have a reputation for recommending a new boiler, when often they can be repaired.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

We use a local plumber, no contract, no BG. Costs us about £100 for the service, which isn't cheap, but he's reliable, helpful and honest and the boiler has never needed repair at other times.

[nemno]

Yep, use our plumber. He charges £60 with full receipt etc. SE area (can't bring myself to write home counties ).

[WeAllHaveWings]

The plumber/heating engineer we use says he hasn't serviced his own boiler for over 5 years. He said combi's need regular servicing but conventional boilers don't.

We haven't serviced the boiler in our house since we moved in 10 years ago.

[Oubliette0292]

We had both of ours serviced today.

[SunnyRandall]

Our contents/buildings insurance won't pay out if damage is caused by an unserviced boiler.

Worth checking your policies.