The Importance of Boiler Servicing
It is often the case in life that a repair may end up costing a lot more than the cost of preventative maintenance that may have prevented the problem arising in the first place. That may typically apply to boiler servicing as much as it does to other areas of life.
Boiler servicing – financial protection
A modern typical gas boiler is a piece of precision engineering that has evolved over many decades.
Yet in one respect, they remain unchanged from the earliest boilers. That respect is that they are still essentially a combustion chamber for the purpose of heating water.
When burning gas and heating water, there will inevitably be pressures, wear and stress on some components.
The good news is that they are typically well designed to tolerate those stresses but manufacturers also typically advise that their boiler is inspected and serviced each year. Maintaining and keeping your boiler running efficiently will help keep fuel costs down, and reduce the chances of your boiler breaking down.
Also, if you ever decide to sell your home, it is always useful to be able to show a record of annual boiler servicing, so this is another good reason to have regular heating inspections carried out.
Boiler servicing may involve the checking and cleaning of several key components and some safety tests. The central heating and hot water functions are checked etc.
Why is this a financial issue?
As stated above, preventative maintenance may help avoid a problem arising and that will potentially save you a lot of money and inconvenience in the event your boiler breaks down.
You may also find that a service may improve the efficiency of your boiler and that is something that may be important to many of us in today’s uncertain economic time.
Your boiler and your health
In terms of health, preventative maintenance may be close to essential.
Although perfectly safe if correctly installed and maintained, if it is not, your gas boiler may present two potential health issues:
- CO2 (carbon dioxide) – a natural by-product of combustion, this gas is normally harmless if it is conducted away correctly by flues, though it may become dangerous in concentrations where flues and outlets are blocked etc;
- CO (carbon monoxide) – this is lighter than air and is formed when there is incomplete combustion, possibly due to insufficient ventilation in the room which may lead to insufficient oxygen for normal combustion, but not exclusively so. CO is colourless, odourless, invisible, tasteless and also highly toxic.
A qualified boiler service engineer has special instruments and techniques for fully testing the combustion of your boiler to ensure that it is safe for you to use.
False economies
Deciding to ignore boiler servicing may be a very false economy in pure financial terms – you may also be risking your health and that of your family.
