Boiler Service cost - unresonabley high? Conflicted.

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I'm conflicted.

My boiler is due for a service, overdue in fact (due to covid). It is a pretty old boiler, non-condensing, permanent pilot light etc, but I have kept it in very good condition. Runs perfectly and has never broken down. Services have usually been a simple affair.

My last service, two years ago, was about £80. Which some may say was a high price. I thought £60ish was an average. But I was happy to pay it.

I could no longer use that same company, so I took a punt on a local trade. He seemed good to chat to, experienced, and I said to myself, don't quibble on the price I thought it would probably be around the same give or take.

So I booked it in, and then asked to confirm what his charge was....

....answer, £135.

Now, I was too polite to refuse the booking at that point, I was a bit in shock.

On reflection I am in two minds. I appreciate he has a job to do and he may well do a thorough job, and he has his cost overheads to consider. But, is this, a bit high? I am a bit conflicted. It it erring much more towards being cheekily high? unreasonable even?

This is not a London based quote either.
 
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Had a couple service quotes recently one being £70-£150 depending on extent of work? The other £60 no mention of extent of work. Both gas safe obviously.

Boiler is Vaillant condensing combi. Area Midlands.

Years gone by I've never paid more than £60-80.
 
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You've not mentioned what boiler you have so there may be specific service items for your boiler which increase the cost. Some examples would include a Remeha Avanta for which the service kit alone costs over £100 to buy, and a Powermax where a full refurbish service on a neglected one could run to £500.

My standard service charge is £70+vat. I don't know anyone charging £60 Inc VAT who is actually doing a proper service rather than just a poke-and-go emissions check
 
I'm conflicted.

My boiler is due for a service, overdue in fact (due to covid). It is a pretty old boiler, non-condensing, permanent pilot light etc, but I have kept it in very good condition. Runs perfectly and has never broken down. Services have usually been a simple affair.

My last service, two years ago, was about £80. Which some may say was a high price. I thought £60ish was an average. But I was happy to pay it.

I could no longer use that same company, so I took a punt on a local trade. He seemed good to chat to, experienced, and I said to myself, don't quibble on the price I thought it would probably be around the same give or take.

So I booked it in, and then asked to confirm what his charge was....

....answer, £135.

Now, I was too polite to refuse the booking at that point, I was a bit in shock.

On reflection I am in two minds. I appreciate he has a job to do and he may well do a thorough job, and he has his cost overheads to consider. But, is this, a bit high? I am a bit conflicted. It it erring much more towards being cheekily high? unreasonable even?

This is not a London based quote either.
Might be worth finding out what a thorough service should include, check that he intends to do it, and make sure he does.
 
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£60.00 does not seem much to carry out a thorough preventative maintenance on a boiler. Then again a thorough service does not need repeating every year
 
My standard service charge is £70+vat. I don't know anyone charging £60 Inc VAT who is actually doing a proper service rather than just a poke-and-go emissions check
I’m wondering if that’s what I’m getting?

I have an EcoTec Plus 418 heat only boiler. The bloke that fitted mine charged £60 to service it. My sons mate (newly qualified Gas safe registered) did it in return for a service on his car (he supplied his own parts). Vaillant will charge £85 for a service on the same boiler. I don’t know what they actually do as my boiler is in the loft and I just leave them to it but they’re not here that long. How long should a service take and would Vaillant be likely to do a more thorough job?
 
I’m wondering if that’s what I’m getting?

I have an EcoTec Plus 418 heat only boiler. The bloke that fitted mine charged £60 to service it. My sons mate (newly qualified Gas safe registered) did it in return for a service on his car (he supplied his own parts). Vaillant will charge £85 for a service on the same boiler. I don’t know what they actually do as my boiler is in the loft and I just leave them to it but they’re not here that long. How long should a service take and would Vaillant be likely to do a more thorough job?
Vaillant would at least do everything their service schedule requires. Whether they'd go beyond that if, for example, they spotted a connection which was showing signs of past leakage and swap in a new washer I don't know. Cheap "services" tend to be no more than a quick flue gas analysis and fiddle with the gas valve if the numbers are outside tolerance. You are/were a car mechanic I think?? I'm sure you wouldn't just analyse the exhaust gases and send the customer on their way if all was well, calling it a service, yet a lot seem to think that's all a boiler needs.
 
Cheap "services" tend to be no more than a quick flue gas analysis and fiddle with the gas valve if the numbers are outside tolerance. You are/were a car mechanic I think?? I'm sure you wouldn't just analyse the exhaust gases and send the customer on their way if all was well, calling it a service, yet a lot seem to think that's all a boiler needs.

I agree with muggles completely that there are different standards of "service", as opposed to just a gas safety check. However, I disagree that price has anything to do with it. More expensive does not equate to more thorough. I would ask each GSE to explain what their service entails before deciding who to go with.
 
In London they charge around £100/120.
I used an independent gas safe for years and charges £100.
Spends about half hour checking pipes, cleaning buts and checking fumes, but nothing major.
So last year I called Worcester bosch and for £125 they did exactly the same thing.
So I suppose my boiler must be one of them that unless it starts going wrong you just leave it and keep monitoring.
It's a 15 year old Greenstar Junior 28i.
 
In London they charge around £100/120.
I used an independent gas safe for years and charges £100.
Spends about half hour checking pipes, cleaning buts and checking fumes, but nothing major.
So last year I called Worcester bosch and for £125 they did exactly the same thing.
So I suppose my boiler must be one of them that unless it starts going wrong you just leave it and keep monitoring.
It's a 15 year old Greenstar Junior 28i.

On that boiler minimum check list is manifold pressure check that should be in tolerance. If not heat exchanger needs swept which can take time and parts will be required. If manifold pressure ok, then pressurise EV, clear out condensate trap and flue gas analysis and if required, set to book value not 0.004 trigger value
 
It would help if OP told us make & model of boiler, we'd know then what a service entails.

It's an old glow worm MK II 45-60. Old but simple and reliable. No electronics.

The services usually entail a vacuum of the interior as there is usually a bit of soot deposit. Removal, a tap and vacuum of the burner, a possible change of the thermocouple and then the usual checks on the flue readings. The thing is very easy to open up an access.

As I said, my quotes have usually been around £80. So this jump is more than I expected. Hence some kind of feedback as to whether it is a bit of a leap towards being overcharged.
 
In London they charge around £100/120.
I used an independent gas safe for years and charges £100.
Spends about half hour checking pipes, cleaning buts and checking fumes, but nothing major.
So last year I called Worcester bosch and for £125 they did exactly the same thing.
So I suppose my boiler must be one of them that unless it starts going wrong you just leave it and keep monitoring.
It's a 15 year old Greenstar Junior 28i.
Heat exchanger needs cleaning periodically with a special brush, the burner gasket needs regular replacement as it suffers heat degradation over time, and the internal rubber gas hose is prone to splitting so should be upgraded to the new design if it hasn't been already. Condensate trap to be cleaned (although it's a risky business as you've got to pull a dripping wet thing, which might decide to discharge its contents, out over the top of the circuit board) and expansion vessel pressure to be checked and adjusted if necessary.
 
Heat exchanger needs cleaning periodically with a special brush, the burner gasket needs regular replacement as it suffers heat degradation over time, and the internal rubber gas hose is prone to splitting so should be upgraded to the new design if it hasn't been already. Condensate trap to be cleaned (although it's a risky business as you've got to pull a dripping wet thing, which might decide to discharge its contents, out over the top of the circuit board) and expansion vessel pressure to be checked and adjusted if necessary.
None of that has ever been done or mentioned either by the independent or WB.
I suppose they don't bother because those boilers last 15 years plus, so one would accept a fault after such time.
 
It certainly seems that £130 is a bit over the mark. Especially if London prices, at the high end, are in that ball park.

I was expecting around £80, which was in line with my last service. I don't think I am being unreasonable expecting a service around that price point.
 

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