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Now’s the time to arrange your boiler service

If you want to avoid a breakdown when you need your heating most it’s a good idea to have a regular boiler service every year.  Over time your boiler will accumulate dirt and deposits making it less efficient and a breakdown more likely.  It’s important to use a Gas Safe registered engineer to carry out your boiler service so give us a call.

Avoid a breakdown

If you think of a boiler in the same way as a car, manufacturers provide a recommended process for servicing a motor vehicle and so does your boiler manufacturer. Without proper maintenance, your boiler will not operate at optimum performance and may not be as efficient as it could be. By having your boiler correctly serviced it will be fully inspected and any required maintenance work can be carried out proactively, maximising the lifespan of your boiler and enabling you to operate a more efficient appliance

Maintaining boiler efficiency

When it comes to saving money, getting your boiler serviced regularly can help as it can potentially lower your heating bills by maintaining maximum boiler efficiency.  This is because a service will clean up any deposits that have built up in the boiler.  Simple things such as ensuring the internal combustion area is clean and free of any debris will improve the heat transfer, allow the boiler to light more easily and burn efficiently.

Keeping it safe

A well maintained boiler will not only run more efficiently, it will also be safer.  Boilers have built in safety features to ensure correct operation, again these can be worn and can lead to an avoidable breakdown of your boiler. You must also ensure you use a Gas Safe registered engineer to carry out your servicing to ensure it done safely and legally.

Boiler servicing checklist

Your installer will inspect your boiler and controls to make sure they are operating safely.

They will fire up the boiler to identify any working faults.

The inspection will include checking your boiler for corrosion and leaks.

Your boiler casing will be removed to check the functioning of its main components - burner, heat exchanger, main injector, spark/sensor probe.

A gas pressure check will ensure your boiler is operating at the correct gas pressure.

A flue test will ensure that the flue is not obstructed and the flue components are sealed correctly to make sure no unsafe emissions are being released from your boiler.

The gas valve will be adjusted to check the burner is combusting efficiently and correctly (normally using a flue gas analyser)

A gas tightness test will be conducted to ensure there are no leaks.

Your boiler’s parts will be cleaned as required.

Your boiler’s casing will be put back on and properly sealed.

Your installer will leave a service report/checklist with you including all of the relevant information you need about the safety of your boiler.  Your installer will also fill in the service record in your boiler’s manual.  This is important to maintain the validity of your boiler warranty.

You can download a handy boiler servicing checklist from the Which? website and remember to always use a Gas Safe registered engineer such as D Rice Installations Ltd.