Servicing Your Boiler

Who should I get to service my boiler?

As with all heating appliances, your boiler should be serviced on a regular basis to ensure that it

is operating efficiently and safely. The service should be carried out by a qualified and

experienced service technician / service engineer.

More information regarding boiler service providers and service contractors can be found on the

following websites:

 Natural Gas fired boilers

 LPG fired boilers

 Oil fired boilers

What should I expect when a service engineer arrives?

When carried out by a competent technician, a boiler service should entail little disruption to

your routine. A typical service should take around an hour and leave you with a safe and

efficiently operating appliance.

A service engineer will perform a number of tests on the boiler during a service. This will

depend in part on the fuel and boiler. While there is no set standard or regulation specifying what

constitutes a boiler service at this time, we have prepared checklists of the type of work that the

Service Technician should carry out during the course of a typical service.

These checklists can be downloaded in PDF format below:

 Gas Boiler Servicing Checklist.pdf (size 36.5 KB)

 Oil Boiler Servicing Checklist.pdf (size 40.3 KB)

Why should I service my Boiler?

An annual boiler safety check and boiler service, carried out by a professional service engineer

ensures that your boiler is functioning properly. Regular servicing of your boiler is important as

it ensures that the boiler is working to the specifications designed by the boiler manufacturer.

This will help prolong the life of the boiler as well as reduce the risk of faults and expensive

repairs down the line.

The efficiency of boilers, both oil and gas fired, deteriorates with use. There are several reasons

for this, the key ones being:

 Soot production from the combustion process coats the heat exchanger surfaces.

 The critical air-to-fuel combustion ratio changes due to gradual component wear.
A boiler service will remove any sooting and, by adjustment, will re

combustion conditions. But while optimising operating efficiency is paramount in these days of

rising fuel costs, there are other important benefits in having your b

 By checking the safety controls, early failures can be detected and rectified in good time.

 A variety of operational systems and components will be checked including:

- Gas/Oil leaks

- Boiler start-up performance

- Noises that give an early warning signal of pending component failures.

Just like cars, boilers can operate for many years without servicing but generally with fuel

consumption penalties, undermined reliability and even safety implications.

Is there really a benefit to servicing my boiler?

Because of the difference between individual installations, it is difficult to predict what saving

servicing will bring for a particular house.

The following chart is conservative and gives the increase in fuel costs each year that the boiler

is not serviced.

For example, servicing a kerosene bo

about an immediate fuel reduction of some 5%.

A boiler service will remove any sooting and, by adjustment, will re-establish the optimum

combustion conditions. But while optimising operating efficiency is paramount in these days of

rising fuel costs, there are other important benefits in having your boiler serviced:

By checking the safety controls, early failures can be detected and rectified in good time.

A variety of operational systems and components will be checked including:

Noises that give an early warning signal of pending component failures.

Just like cars, boilers can operate for many years without servicing but generally with fuel

consumption penalties, undermined reliability and even safety implications.

Is there really a benefit to servicing my boiler?

Because of the difference between individual installations, it is difficult to predict what saving

articular house.

The following chart is conservative and gives the increase in fuel costs each year that the boiler

For example, servicing a kerosene boiler, which has not been serviced for 3 years, will bring

about an immediate fuel reduction of some 5%.

establish the optimum

combustion conditions. But while optimising operating efficiency is paramount in these days of

oiler serviced:

By checking the safety controls, early failures can be detected and rectified in good time.

Just like cars, boilers can operate for many years without servicing but generally with fuel

Because of the difference between individual installations, it is difficult to predict what saving

The following chart is conservative and gives the increase in fuel costs each year that the boiler

iler, which has not been serviced for 3 years, will bring
How often should I service my boiler?

Most boiler manufacturers recommend an annual service, primarily on the grounds of safety but

also to ensure reliability. On efficiency grounds it is well worth servicing oil boilers annually

because the soot build-up is such as to significantly increase oil consumption. With gas, while

soot build-up is not so much a problem because of its clean burning characteristics, an annual

service would still be recommended.

Who should I get to service my boiler?

As with all heating appliances, your boiler should be serviced on a regular basis to ensure that it

is operating efficiently and safely. The service should be carried out by a qualified and

experienced service technician / service engineer.

More information regarding boiler service providers and service contractors can be found below:

Fuel

Type Oil Natural Gas LPG

Contact OFTEC Register of Gas Installers of

Ireland

Irish Liquid Petroleum Gas Association

(ILPGA)

Phone 01 8645771 1850 632 632 01 450 5000 / 041 9831 041

Website www.oftec.org www.rgii.ie www.ilpga.ie/members