As a homeowner, it’s vital to ensure you have your boiler serviced regularly to prevent more severe long-term damage to the boiler and your home’s central heating system. Regular services by a registered gas-safe engineer are an essential part of running your home safely and will save you money in the long run. But what does a boiler service include?
When you book your boiler service, you can expect several things to happen on the day. An engineer will arrive at their scheduled time and conduct some standard tests and attend to any issues you may have with your boiler at the time of the service. These tests and checks are listed below so you can rest assured your boiler has been thoroughly serviced.
What is a boiler service?
A boiler service should take place on an annual basis and is effectively a check conducted by a professional engineer to ensure your boiler is running as optimally as possible.
When your boiler is working at its best, you end up reaping the benefits of a fully functioning system including efficient energy use and the relief of not having to worry about faulty water and central heating. Regular servicing also drastically reduces the severity of certain issues associated with broken boilers.
What’s included in a boiler service?
A standard boiler service should include the following steps at the minimum. Remember, if you’ve experienced any unusual sounds, smells, or heating irregularities, you should flag these with your gas-safe engineer on the day of your service. You need to make sure the following steps are covered in your boiler service at the very least. These should also all be included in the price of your boiler service.
A visual inspection
A gas-safe registered engineer will understand what your boiler model will look like. If there are any visual irregularities or something out of place, this will likely be picked up in the visual inspection.
A gas-safe engineer should look at the following when conducting a visual inspection of your boiler:
- Check for water leaks. Water leaks may be a sign of something physically wrong with the pipes or internal water systems.
- Any damage to the boiler. Damage may be internal or external to the boiler and should include an assessment of the electrical functions.
- A check of the quality of the installation. An engineer should check that the boiler was initially installed correctly, poor installation jobs can affect the overall functionality of the boiler.
- Anything hazardous in close proximity to the boiler. External hazards that can be removed should be during the visual inspection.
- Temperature checks. An engineer should also check for temperature irregularities during the visual inspection.
Casing removal
Removing the casing of the boiler is an essential part of the service as it allows the engineer to assess whether or not there are any faults with the boiler’s specific components. Engineers will check the individual functions of components such as the heat exchanger and the burner among others. If you see your boiler without its casing, don’t worry – this is an essential part of the boiler service. A qualified gas-safe engineer will know exactly how to put everything back together.
Tests to check boiler efficiency
If your boiler is running at sub-optimal efficiency, it may have an adverse effect on your bills or your central heating’s functionality. For this reason, a registered gas-safe engineer must run the necessary checks to test your boiler’s efficiency.
An efficiency check will also ensure your boiler is using the right amount of electricity and gas. Faulty boilers often end up using more than they should, resulting in hefty increases in the homeowner’s bills.
If your boiler fails any efficiency checks, the engineer will see if they can fix the problem there and then. However, if they cannot, you may have to schedule another appointment where the fault can be attended to.
Ventilation and boiler gas safety checks
The top priority in any boiler service is to ensure that your boiler is functioning safely. This is the part of the boiler service where the engineer will check the individual components for anything specifically wrong with them and assess whether or not the system poses any danger to the household.
The ventilation checks form part of the risk assessment. It’s paramount that the vents of the boiler are open and allow air to flow as part of the combustion system. This part of the examination will also make sure nothing toxic such as monoxide will leak out from the boiler into your home.
System pressure checks
If the pressure in your boiler is too low, it may affect how well hot water is delivered to other areas of your home. Pressure checks are conducted at three different points of the boiler, including the boiler itself, the burner’s inlet, as well as the gas meter. These three points are the key areas that will let the engineer know if there is anything to be fixed in terms of the boiler’s overall pressure.
Too much pressure in any one of these areas may be hazardous. A simple service can, more often than not, rectify any issues surrounding your boiler’s pressure, ensuring that it runs properly in your home. For this reason, regular servicing can help to prevent any major issues such as explosions, monoxide poisoning, and a lack of hot water delivery.
Who should service your boiler?
In every boiler servicing case, a registered gas-safe engineer needs to conduct it. Gas-safe engineers will have all the tools and knowledge available to ensure your service is carried out properly, preventing further issues down the line.
SD Plumbing & Heating’s team of expert engineers can guarantee you boiler servicing that will give you peace of mind between service slots. Our thorough, no-nonsense approach to boiler servicing ensures your safety and convenience after we’ve paid a visit to your home. If you require a boiler service, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team today to book your service appointment.
