Wondering how often you should service your home's boiler? Here's everything you need to know about boiler servicing; from why you need to have it done, how much it costs, to where you can find a registered gas installer.
Though perhaps not the most interesting of areas, it’s certainly important to understand the benefits of regular boiler servicing by a qualified professional.
Here are four reasons why you should regularly service your boiler:
- To maintain the safety of your home: a faulty, poorly maintained or badly installed boiler can significantly increase chances of carbon monoxide poisoning which can be lethal to you and your household. A qualified boiler engineer will check for and fix any leaks or weak points during a service.
- To lower your gas bills: A regularly serviced boiler is an energy efficient boiler. During your boiler servicing, your boiler engineer will ensure your boiler is running as efficiently as possible. If your boiler is running efficiently, you’ll use less energy and so save money on your bills and reduce your carbon footprint in the process.
- To maintain compliance with your insurance policy: Some home insurance policies and most boiler warranties require confirmation that your boiler is in safe working order. Insurance policies will differ but for most, an annual boiler service should suffice. Check with your insurance provider to see what yours requires.
- To preclude expensive future boiler repairs: Getting your boiler serviced regularly means that your engineer will be able to spot and fix any minor issues, that if left unchecked, could lead to bigger malfunctions requiring bigger (and thus more costly) repairs down the line.
How often should I service my boiler?
The Register for Gas Installers in Ireland (RGII) states that your gas boiler needs to be serviced once a year, as recommended by the manufacturers, to ensure that it is operating efficiently and safely.
How can I get my boiler serviced?
There are many different companies that offer boiler servicing but as Gas Networks Ireland’s memorable 2016 campaign featuring Daniel O’Donnell reminds us - not just anyone can carry out a boiler servicing! It’s important to always make sure that your gas installer is registered and the easiest way to do this is to find the closest one in your area using rgii.ie.
How much does a boiler service cost?
Prices for boiler servicing will vary from company to company and some boiler insurance policies will include boiler servicing at a discounted rate.
Generally, boiler servicing prices start around the €85-€90 mark.
If a one-off payment is too expensive for you, there are companies that offer options to pay in installments to take the sting out of annual boiler servicing.
As with any service, make sure to shop around!
There’s quite a bit of competition in the boiler servicing market so we recommend that you shop around before settling on a registered gas boiler installer to carry out your service.
Different companies will offer various incentives and discounts to sweeten the deal. For example, SSE Airtricity is currently offering a free Climote to anyone who signs up for a €99 boiler service before August 31st.
