Boilers are one of the few parts of your home that actually require regular servicing in order to continue functioning. While it’s all very well to just think that the boiler will be ok, and to leave it to do its thing, at some point, this approach will come back to bite you, either in the form of decreased heating efficiency or actual boiler failure.
If you haven’t arranged for a boiler service before, you might be wondering how disruptive it will be for your home life, and how long you’ll need to set aside to take care of it. Let’s take a closer look at the details of boiler servicing.
Typical servicing time
In most cases, a boiler service will take around 60 minutes. With combi boilers, that could even be a little bit shorter, while with system boilers, it could take a little bit longer, and with older, oil boilers, it could take even longer still.
Of course, this is based on a functional boiler that doesn’t need any big parts repairing or replacing. If there’s a more substantial issue that’s uncovered during the service, then the repair could end up taking a bit longer, depending on what’s gone wrong.
What does the service consist of?
During the service, a boiler engineer from somewhere like Able Plumbers will come to your home and carry out a range of checks. They’ll look for water or gas leaks, potentially problematic corrosion, and replace any basic seals or valves that might need to be replaced.
They’ll also conduct some performance tests, assessing whether things like gas pressure, ventilation and combustion are all up to scratch. They’ll clean out any areas where limescale could have built up, and inspect any other key safety components that could potentially go wrong.
Not only is this critically important from a safety perspective, but these checks also help to ensure that the boiler is working at peak efficiency. You’ll likely see lower energy bills, and in helping to avoid premature boiler failure, you could save thousands of pounds.
How frequently should services be done?
In most cases, it’s advised that boilers are serviced at least once a year. While this is just a recommendation for people living in their own home, if you’re a landlord, then this is actually a legal obligation under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
Failure to do so could leave you legally liable, whether or not an incident related to the boiler actually ended up occurring. Combined with the fact that you’ll be shortening the lifespan of the boiler itself, it never makes sense to try to save money this way.
As you can see, boiler servicing doesn’t take long at all, and it comes with a number of benefits. It’s well worth taking the time to arrange for regular boiler engineer visits, to make sure that you can continue heating your home in an efficient, safe manner over the years to come.
Marissa is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist turned stay-at-home mom who loves sharing her tips, tricks, and ideas for navigating motherhood. Her days are filled starting tickle wars and dance parties with three energetic toddlers and wondering how long she can leave the house a mess until her husband notices. When she doesn’t have her hands full of children, she enjoys a glass (or 3) of wine, reality tv, and country music. In addition to blogging about all things motherhood, she sells printables on Etsy and has another website, teachinglittles.com, for kid’s activity ideas.
