Boiler Servicing - worth it? (and its 31+ outside!)

[Dahokolomoki]

I bought and moved into a home last December. There's a Valliant combi boiler as well an Oso hot water tank. Both worked when I moved in, so I haven't messed around with any settings. I've had great hot water, and great central heating too all winter.

But I was looking through the house purchase docs, and the previous owner had only serviced the boiler back in 2011.

Should I get the boiler serviced? Or are they just a con to get the "certificate", and more for landlords to get to tick the box?

And if they're worth getting, what should I ensure is included in the servicing?

All I want is to ensure (1) the boiler is good condition (2) any easy fixes/maintenance/tuneups are done and (3) professional advice. Is this a reasonable assumption to get from a standard boiler servicing?

definitely get it serviced!

As well as making sure it doesn't cark it as soon as you switch it back on, they'll check emissions and make sure it's safe.

I'd go with British Gas if you'd rather not risk a random independent plumber.

Having had a boiler break down on me in February (and it turned out to be unrepairable so 2+ weeks of no heating or hot water while waiting for a new one) I would get a service for the sake of £100 (?). For peace of mind if nothing else!

Definitely get it done now in the summer. As soon as the colder weather arrives in autumn, the service engineers get booked up for months.
There is the safety aspect, to make sure flues are clear and the boiler is safe, but also the cost - a badly serviced boiler doesn’t burn so efficiently, costing you more.
Ideally it should be serviced annually- yours is way overdue!

We’re on a boiler service plan (10+ year old at least boiler) so pay monthly and get serviced yearly. Low engineer call out cost inbetween times :)

You should get a gas boiler serviced every year to make sure it is working correctly and safely. You should also have a carbon monoxide alarm.

We have Corgi home cover for ours, they came by in June and did the service. Definitly worth it.
Our cover paid for itself last winter as we had too call them out twice for repairs. They visit quickly and repaired fast, only waiting till the next day for a part he had to order the second time.
As you said, it also proves you've been servicing and all is safe when you sell.

As soon as you move in to a new property you should get it serviced unless the previous owners have a record of when they last did it. I have recently moved and had mine serviced a few weeks ago, think it was £50. Do it now to be on the safe side, also you hopefully wont have a long wait.

Yes absolutely. The combustion needs to be checked, condition, flue etc. Some models of Vaillant require the seals to be changed every few years too or they can leak carbon monoxide into the boiler casing.

Your op seems to confuse a boiler service with obtaining a Gas Safe Certificate. The latter is a legal requirement for rented property. Good landlords do both...annually.

Thanks for all the replies!

I will go ahead to get someone to do a full service (not just an inspection/certificate). The pricing seems to be all over the place though - JL Home Services, and British Gas Local Heroes are around £100-£100. A local heating engineer (well recommended) is asking for £145+VAT, but promising a very thorough servicing over 2 hours, and another is offering for £90 but doesn't sound that they would do a thorough job when I asked on the phone (maybe more a checklist/certificate type of inspection).

Anyone use JL Home Services of Local Heroes before? Is it both inspection and a thorough servicing?

Blimey that’s pricey. I’m pretty sure a BG one off service is about £85 last time I checked. Around here on the south coast the going rate is around £65-£75 from a gas safe engineer, look on Checkatrade.

I have an oil boiler and get it serviced by a small local firm every year for about £60. My last boiler lasted 30 years but packed up in December.
I think you will always pay more with a big national company.

We have a BG Homecare contract and just had it serviced even though we are replacing in 2 months. It has been serviced annually but even so we had a co alarm triggered several months ago due to a problem with the flue and it recirculating waste gases which was dealt with very quickly. Definitely worth it and I negotiated a lower renewal premium by agreeing to an excess. Does your local water authority offer a service contract as these may be cheaper.

The annual plan I am on costs only slightly more than a stand alone service and gives free call outs and repairs for the rest of the year. It also has an insurance element built in if the boiler needs replaced. Worth exploring if you can get this instead.