Five Key Reasons To Have An Annual Boiler Service

1) Safety

Carbon monoxide poisoning from badly installed and maintained gas appliances kills over 40 people a year in the UK, and injures many more. An annual service check will identify problems early on and significantly reduce the chances of this happening to you or your family. Some of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include:

Dizziness and nausea
Headaches
Tiredness
Confusion
Difficulty breathing

If you experience any of these symptoms in the presence of a gas appliance then ventilate the room by opening a window or door, turn off the appliance immediately and call a Gas Safe engineer to check the appliance and any associated flue pipe.

2) Efficiency

A well maintained appliance will work more efficiently and consequently reduce your fuel bills. It is now a legal requirement to use a flue gas analyser when servicing a condensing appliance, as it is the only way that the efficiency can be set accurately.

3) Reliability

If an appliance is serviced regularly then it’s easier to identify and resolve potential faults at an early stage, like minor leaks, noisy components, blocked condensate traps, that could otherwise lead to a much more expensive repair later on. There’s also much less chance that the appliance will breakdown when the boilers working at it's hardest during the cold winter months.

4) Legal Requirements

If you own a rented property that contains any type of gas appliance then it's a legal requirement to have it checked over annually by a competent person. There are serious consequences, including imprisonment, for any landlord who doesn’t comply with this requirement and their tenant is involved in a serious gas ‘incident’.
Although the law is less stringent for landlords where the property contains an oil appliance it is still sensible precaution to have an annual service check to ensure everything is functioning safely.

5) Manufacturer's Guarantee

Many modern boilers are supplied with a manufacturers extended guarantee, covering parts and labour costs in the event of a breakdown, for up to 10 years. All manufacturers specify that without a completed annual service record this guarantee is void.