‘Freedom day’ has come and gone and lives are feeling a little more normal. While none of us know what the future holds, the wise are making the most of the here and how. This should also apply to those household jobs you keep putting off like servicing your boiler. Admittedly the thought of boiler maintenance during the summer months is the last thing on your mind, but did you know that now is actually the best time of year to get it done?
The CIPHE has put together the following reasons why you should think about servicing your boiler now:
1) Servicing your boiler keeps you safe and healthy
Carbon Monoxide is a real danger to anyone with a fuel-burning appliance in the home. This toxic gas is odourless, colourless, and tasteless, meaning that most don’t even know they are being poisoned. Regularly servicing your boiler ensures it is combusting fuel safely and efficiently, minimizing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
And for the elderly, vulnerable or those with young children, ensuring you have a working boiler is a must for the months ahead. While to most of us, the boiler breaking down is an inconvenience, for some a lack of heating and hot water can have severe health and financial repercussions.
It's not just homeowners who need to take note of boiler maintenance. Landlords are still obliged to take all necessary steps to ensure gas boilers and appliances are running safely, even during Covid-19. An annual boiler service is essential and a relatively inexpensive piece of maintenance to undergo each year.
2) Servicing helps to avoid boiler breakdowns
Once that first cold snap hits, so will the boiler breakdowns. Heating engineers across the country will be inundated with call outs and you are likely to have to wait much longer to get your central heating and hot water back up-and-running – especially if either your engineer or members of your household are having to self-isolate due to coronavirus.
If you are able to, servicing your boiler now will not only make it much more likely that it is working correctly when you most need it, but you can also choose when to have it serviced on your own terms. No panic, no sitting in the cold, no having to wash in freezing water. No worry either about that unexpected bill or needing to raid the Christmas fund, which brings us nicely onto our next point…
3) Servicing your boiler saves you money
Maintaining an appliance will almost certainly save you money in the long run - the cost of regularly maintaining an appliance can be significantly less than the cost of repairing or replacing an appliance which is not serviced and breaks down. When it comes to household appliances, your boiler is one of the more expensive ones to replace and can cause the most upset to everyday life.
4) It can make your boiler last longer
Boilers are expensive to replace, so just like your car, you should look after it with an annual service. If you’ve read the above, it should be no surprise that regularly serviced boilers tend to outlive those that are not maintained.
5) Warranties
New boiler? If you read the small print on your warranty, you’ll almost exclusively find that it is subject to regular maintenance, so it’s just as important to regularly service a new boiler as it is an old one.
6) Beat the threat of any winter lockdowns
We are starting to learn to live with the pandemic, but no one knows what the future holds. It would be wise to book in boiler maintenance while the majority of restrictions are lifted, and things are relatively normal.
And don’t forget…
Heating Engineers working on gas boilers should all be Gas Safe registered. For oil-fuelled appliances turn to OFTEC registered engineer and a HETAS registered engineer for bio and solid fuel. You can ensure your engineer also works to the highest of standards by employing CIPHE registered heating professional. Use our find a plumber online service to find the best one for you.
So don’t wait until the mercury drops – get on top of any boiler issues now, while you don’t need the heating and stay cosy and snug when the cold weather hits.