How long has your boiler been sitting in your understairs cupboard, quietly getting on with its job without anyone noticing? Boiler servicing is one of those jobs that seems to fall to the bottom of the to-do list every year. But is that wise?

Experts recommend that you have your boiler serviced every summer. It’s a sensible recommendation, and it’s also important for safety reasons.

What to Look For in a Boiler Service

First of all, let’s get the most important note in: all work on a boiler should be carried out by a competent person. Assuming you have a gas boiler, that means you need a Gas Safe engineer. Never allow anyone to work on your boiler if they do not have Gas Safe credentials.

Other than that, what else should you look for?

Cost is just one factor. Going for a service that includes cheap labour is likely to be neither here nor there if you need replacement parts. It’s very difficult to estimate how much parts will cost because they vary depending on manufacturer. But your aim should be an effective service, not a bargain one.

Obtain recommendations from friends and compare pricing carefully. But remember that the cost of servicing is always going to be cheaper than an emergency repair, so it is worth paying out before that happens.

Finally, remember to allow some time for the servicing and the sourcing of any parts that are needed. If you get this right, your service shouldn’t be an emergency.

Servicing in Summer

Summer is the ideal time to get your boiler serviced. That’s not to say that we’d recommend waiting until summer if your service is very overdue already. But if you’re more or less on track with servicing, it can make sense.

For one thing, your boiler is unlikely to be needed as much in summer, so if you have to turn it off for a day for new parts or checks, it won’t impact the family quite as much as a service in January might.

Additionally, your boiler gets less use when the weather warms up -- you may never use it to heat the radiators at all. So a service in summer will give you a chance to warm up the whole system before autumnal temperatures bite.

Neglect to book your service and you may find that the boiler doesn’t work properly when winter comes. Not only that but an urgent problem could result in a call-out for a plumber at short notice. That is never cheap!

Final Thoughts

Remember: carbon monoxide poisoning is a nasty, silent killer. And if you don’t have your boiler serviced, it could leak carbon monoxide without you ever knowing. So having your boiler serviced is a very good idea when it comes to the safety of your family. It could also prolong the life of the boiler itself.

For more details about boiler servicing, be sure to check the instruction manual that came with your boiler.