Annual Boiler Service Contract

[elsiegee40]

We've had a boiler service contract with British Gas for years... and frankly I'm sick of them. It seems very expensive and it's near impossible to get them out once a year to actually service the boiler... and as for what happened when I had a problem last January... It's time to dump them and find someone else.

 

So who do you use to service your central heating boiler at home? Is there a company better than British gas or are they all as bad as each other?

[Sirbendy]

I use a guy who I call up as and when. My CH is run by a venerable and ancient Bermuda Back boiler. He serviced it when I moved into the house VERY thoroughly indeed, all stripped down, each part checked and cleaned, air blasted and reassembled, new thermocouple, full workup. Took him an hour, cost £80. He gave it a clean bill of health and when I asked about replacing it he laughed and said "It'll run a good 20 years or so more, these are indestructable. Ignore modern, they have a design life of 10 years, these were made to last."

 

He advised about best setup, recommended a CO detector as it's an old open-flue boiler etc, tidied up perfectly and left. Damn good service. I do my own inhibitor topups and concentration tests, and there's not much else in my system bar that, the 3 port valve (which I will replace myself when it dies, syncron motors are £10 from Screwfix), the pump (running fine) and the control gear (Rewired and updated by me anyway to Honeywell wiring system standards).

 

That reminds me, I need to arrange a yearly service nowish, an get a quote on replacing a rotted out radiator (from before I bought the place, currently isolated).

[plexer]

If you can on recommendation from others maybe work colleagues find a local installer/engineer much better than relying on these big companies who over charge, check to see if watchdog have a rogue list:)

 

Make sure whoever you get is registered with their relevant body for the type of fuel the boiler is i.e Gas Safe etc....

 

Ben

[elsiegee40]

I think you're right I need to find someone local. I'll have a dig through CheckaTrade and see what I turn up in the first instance.

[pete]

I use a local guy and I tend to pick local people who've done work at the school because I can quiz the site manager about their work.

[Sirbendy]

I chose my guy though his website (which I forget) but because he's a time served guy with a long experience of back boilers. A lot of people will do the whole "Ooo, you need to replace that.."..or "parts not available"...BG tried that with my nans Bermuda - they got sent on their way. It's still running fine, and hers is a good 15 years older than mine, heh.

 

I shall issue a word of caution...I needed a plumber in a hurry to fix my Close-coupled loo..I called "Able Group", who then find a local guy and send him round..

 

Now, he did fix my loo, but the next day I had an "in kitchen shower" that I traced back to a loosened off pipe on the bath sink cold tap. Bearing in mind that's nowhere near the loo, we've lived in the house for a year without issue, and it was standing idle for a year before that, and I'm NOT calling a co-incience. Maybe a hope of a callback and another job, but no co-incidence...

 

I've since found a really good local plumber, who's based 20 minutes from me. He had to rebuild the loo again (stupid drop valves), but he left me with a personal guarantee for a month that if there was any recurring issue, he'd sort it for free. I build up a business card library of "good 'uns", and stick to them.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Sirbendy

[jamin100]

Im in a similar situation.

I have a new (4 year old) boiler that has warranty for 7 years. I was paying nPower £6 a month to service it annually. Then, when it was time to renew they decided to increase the price by 50% to £9 per month. I told them to get lost and cancelled it there and then.

 

I have a local firm coming to service the boiler for £45 + Vat next Tuesday....

[john]

At home we use a bloke that is the plumber where I used to work he is great and local and does all our needs and very reasonable