Are maintenance contracts worth it?

[blondebier]

Hi Guys,

Last year we had a brand new central heating system put in. Potterton Gold 28HE boiler with Stelrad radiators. It has been brilliant!

It is now coming up to 1 year and I was wandering whether it is worth getting an annual service/inspection done? As part of the 3 Year Potterton warranty it says that it needs to have one of these done each year.

I am at a loss as to what this would cost as a one off charge. Any ideas? I'm in Sussex if that helps.

Is it worth doing? What are they likely to do and is this something I could do myself?

My post title refers to maintenance contracts. i.e. Pay the likes of British Gas £10 per month and they sort everything out if it breaks and you get an annual inspection thrown in.

Are they worth it or should I just wait until it stops working and then pay out?

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Blondebier

 

[Agile]

During the warranty period you have to have a service by a CORGI who stamps the service section of the Benchmark Certificate which I hope the installer has completed. We charge about £55 for a service, some will do it a bit cheaper ( and usually badly ! )

After that you have to choose if a BG £200 a year is going to be worth it.

We are a small independent with reasonable charges and even with parts few repairs come to as much as £200. A repair is only likely to be needed every 3-4 years anyway.

The "service" included in the BG deal is only an inspection, usually a flue gas check taking less than 10 minutes! A proper service includes a thorough inspection and examination of the operating parameters.

Tony

 

[gas4you]

Forget a maintenance contract whilst under warranty, you will be wasting your money as it is covering what your warranty is

I too charge £55 + VAT for a full proper service and safety check. I always leave print outs of the boiler running performance and tightness test carried out. Potterton have nothing to dispute then if ever a warranty call is needed.

 

[muggles]

We're £60+VAT for a full service, beware maintenance contracts, the small print often contains a list of what's not covered, which could well be the stuff that usually breaks. Much better to service annually and put the maintenance contract money in your bank account instead of someone elses - if you save £200 a year in your own account then you've still got it if you don't need to use it, if you give it to someone else it's gone whether you need to use the contract or not.

 

[nickso]

The "service" included in the BG deal is only an inspection, usually a flue gas check taking less than 10 minutes! A proper service includes a thorough inspection and examination of the operating parameters.

Tony

that depends on how diligent the engineer is, i dont do them in 10 minutes.

i agree though that a contract when you are under warranty is perhaps not worth it. why dont you get potterton to service it? then you know if any warranty issues arise their is unlikely to be any dispute.

 

[The Baker]

What has the original installer offered you as an annual service charge?

Tim

PS apologies if some one has already asked this question.

 

[SteveZodiac]

Here's my view for what it's worth. I have a Worcester combi which is now 8 years old and it's been pretty reliable. I've only had it serviced a couple of times, once when we lost hot water and a part had to be replaced in the diverter valve. This cost £80 I think about three years ago. Recently the boiler stopped working completely and I had to fork out £250 but fortunately this was a fixed priced repair from Worcester and the value of the parts alone was a lot more. This included a heat exhanger which needed replacing but only because there is sludge in the system which needs flushing out, which is my fault.

I took the gamble because there are things I'm prepared to do myself and am not really out of pocket, but I now have to go to the trouble and expense of sorting out the sludge in the system to prolong the life of the boiler. I would say don't bother with a maintenance contract but have it service properly because there are routine things which need to be done, once a year ideally (particularly if you're not technically aware if you know what I mean), but maybe every two years. But before you book the service (and do it in the summer!) give the heating and hot water systems a good test so you can tell the engineer about any obvious differences in performance since the previous winter. You obviously need to have it serviced under the terms of the warranty during the warranty period though.

 

[blondebier]

Thanks for the replies.

I haven't got a price from the installer yet, as I wanted to find out whether it was really worth doing it or not. I can't imagine much is going to go wrong in the first 3 years anyway.

I did phone Baxi Potterton UK whose outsource their servicing to HeatTeam and they were quite happy to relieve me of £125.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Deleted member 105431]

Thanks for the replies.

I haven't got a price from the installer yet, as I wanted to find out whether it was really worth doing it or not. I can't imagine much is going to go wrong in the first 3 years anyway.

I did phone Baxi Potterton UK whose outsource their servicing to HeatTeam and they were quite happy to relieve me of £125.

Decisions, decisions...

would you buy a new car and not service it?

 

[blondebier]

No, but it's not a car.

If it's a case of "it's still hanging on the wall - radiators are hot - warm water coming out of the taps - it's ok..." then I can do that. I'm quite a big fan of "If it ain't broke - don't fix it"

I guess what I am trying to determine is what exactly are they going to do when they "service" it?

Does anything require lubricating?

 

[Deleted member 105431]

No, but it's not a car.

If it's a case of "it's still hanging on the wall - radiators are hot - warm water coming out of the taps - it's ok..." then I can do that. I'm quite a big fan of "If it ain't broke - don't fix it"

I guess what I am trying to determine is what exactly are they going to do when they "service" it?

Does anything require lubricating?

A proper service (dependant on make and model) will consist of
changing seals as reqd, checking combustion co/co2 ratio, checking working and burner pressure where applicable, gas rate, clean siphon/trap, clean heat exchanger, check ignition system and flame failure device, check for leaks, check expansion vessel pressure, check operation of pressure relief valve, checking flueing and ventilation etc etc. A boiler that has not been serviced at the reqd intervals invalidates the warranty (same with cars) and some models if neglected have been known to catch fire! You have been warned. . . . . .

 

[Deleted member 105431]

If it's a case of "it's still hanging on the wall - radiators are hot - warm water coming out of the taps - it's ok..."

Maybe you should be an engineer for BG

 

[blondebier]

Jokes aside, some plumbers do that and charge a fortune for it!

Thanks for the check list - It'll prove useful ammo when I get quotes.

 

[ollski]

A proper service (dependant on make and model) will consist of
clean heat exchanger, check operation of pressure relief valve,.

On a 55 quid service??, yeah right.

 

[gas4you]

A proper service (dependant on make and model) will consist of
changing seals as reqd, checking combustion co/co2 ratio, checking working and burner pressure where applicable, gas rate, clean siphon/trap, clean heat exchanger, check ignition system and flame failure device, check for leaks, check expansion vessel pressure, check operation of pressure relief valve, checking flueing and ventilation etc etc.

Why not ollski Exactly what I do for a service, apart from charging extra for any replacement seals.

The only ones that take longer than most, well for me anyway, are the Isar/Icos, but would still aim to do all of the above in 45mins - 1 hr. I'm quite happy to be on £55/hr with between 6 and 8 services a day when I have a servicing week.