How important is it to get a boiler serviced?

[Talia99]

My boiler is scheduled for service this Friday. Obviously I don’t want to end up with no heat or hot water if I can’t leave the house but is this an essential contact?

If it makes any difference, it is a 3 year old combi and I’m not having any difficulties with it.

I’m not vulnerable or self isolating, just social distancing.

Not important- don’t have anyone in your home. I’d be surprised if by Friday we’re not all locked in anyway

I had my annual service reminder recently and have it booked in for April 7th. It's a condition of my boiler warranty (only 3 years old) that I have it serviced annually although I'd like to think common sense would be applied if my service were to be cancelled given the current circumstances. At the moment, they''re going ahead but only in households where no-one is vulnerable or self-isolating. If we went into lockdown, my plumbers would only be offering emergency breakdown services.

I'm not advising you on what to do, I just wanted to mention that...

A condition of any boiler warranty you may have might stipulate that an annual service must be carried out by a qualified person.

For example - I have a 7r warranty as long as my boiler is serviced every 12 months and it's recorded in the log book.

I think that depending on the government guidance this week, I may go ahead. I have a bathroom just inside the front door for the technician to wash his hands and the boiler is on the wall of the kitchen and I can shut the rest of the house off. I really don’t want to end up with no hot water if we do end up self-isolating in due course.

I need a gas check for mid May. I have a tenant in a flat so I am not sure what will happen now. Normally I would book in the service and gas check in the next couple of weeks, which I think I will do, but I bet it is cancelled and then I am not complying with letting regulations.

Had ours done last week, it was already overdue. Easy enough to stay 2m away from each other for this type of work.

I would say do it if the gas person has no symptoms - but keep well clear and no tea or coffee. Pay by bank transfer too.

they want the work and want to keep well, and if it does conk out it is going to be ever more difficult to get it fixed.

I’m on a monthly contract so no payment due. I think unless I hear otherwise from them (or suddenly become ill and have to go into isolation), I will go ahead (assuming it isn’t forbidden by the government by then).

We’ve never had ours done and it’s 15 yo now. Hubby builds gas turbines for a bit and is happy that the boiler is either working or not. . I have a carbon monoxide alarm in every room!

My house insurance requires annual boiler service. I've only realised that this year when it stopped heating the water and called someone out and one it's pipes was filled with a cheesy substance. The boiler repair person was horrified that it had never been serviced in the 10 years I've had it, said it is very important.

If I was having a service in current circumstances, I would think about access to the boiler (eg mine can be accessed via the garage and inner door rather than someone coming into the house) and I would see what I could do in advance to limit contact and be prepared for sanitising afterwards. I'd also have a conversation about all of that when making the booking.

I’m holding off getting mine done until things are settled again

My smart meter was due to be installed this week too but that’s been cancelled

I won’t have anyone in my home now

As part of everyone's house insurance, getting your boiler serviced yearly is a prerequisite. It is also important for safety and piece of mind.
For a gas boiler, you want it done yearly, as many small things can cause a toxic build up of carbon monoxide.
For oil boilers, carbon monoxide is less of an issue, as the boiler is likely to cut out with other safety measures beforehand. You do want it serviced yearly though, as oil will soak in to the soot that builds up in the boiler and can cause fire risks.
In light of everything that has just been announced, I'm not sure how landlord safety certificates will be enforced, but I would imagine that a small leeway will be given. It is best that you wait for Gas Safe to announce something, I would imagine, tomorrow. Just keep checking their website over the next few days.

Dependent on who you're having to do the service, they may not come.
My dad's was booked for today. He got a call at 6:45am waking everyone up cancelling the booking as British Gas aren't doing anything other than emergency work.
My dad was fuming as he's taken the day off work (key worker so hard to get time off) for nothing. He was advised that there won't be any appointments available for the foreseeable future unless the boiler breaks down.

British Gas have just cancelled mine for this week

It’s an independent company not British Gas. I think I will let them decide and make sure every counter in the kitchen is clear so I can clean them all with bleach immediately afterwards if they don’t cancel.

They haven’t updated the website today but the last update says they will only do the boiler not the radiators which suits me fine if they do come out.

I have a 3 year old boiler that was working perfectly, but then broke down due to a faulty sensor. Thankfully we have it serviced regularly and the manufacturer came out and fixed it for free.

I would recommend servicing it to keep your warranty valid.

Have had an email this morning cancelling my boiler service. I use a local company and they are now only offering emergency breakdown callouts.

Vailliant have confirmed that anyone who has a boiler service due between February and June 2020 can have it done by the end of 2020 without affecting their warranty.

Somebody from British Gas was due at ours today to service boiler. He has cancelled. They are not going out at the moment. He said warranty was not effected etc. My DH was dealing with it so don't really know details. I suspect you won't get anybody. This is a fast moving situation, things will look different on Fri than they do today. Changes are being introduced incrementally and we will find that what is deemed as essential will get tightened even more.

Just look at the news. And your text message from Gov.uk. Is it essential work? People are all panicking about warranties etc. A 3 year old boiler is unlikely to fail unless there is a fault. I think it’s more important to stay at home and reduce any movement.

Worcester are giving an extra (up to) 6 month grace on their boiler warranties during this period. I imagine most other boiler companies will be doing the same.
In regards to safety of the boiler, as long as you have the boiler serviced yearly, it will survive over this period.

I do have it done every year and they rang up this morning to cancel as expected.

In regard to whether this was necessary, I had no idea - that’s why I asked. They are the experts and I assume would know so if they don’t think it is essential travel, I have no problem accepting that.

I am having my tenants gas cert done as usual.. don't bother with services after watching a man basically run a hoover around the boiler for few mins at friends house..most of components are sealed..there's very little you can service..it's not car !!