Oil boiler service cost: what an oil boiler service includes, why it differs from a gas service, and who is registered to carry it out

How oil boiler service cost works

1. Check the registration. Gas Safe covers gas. Oil work is registered through its own competent person scheme, and the engineer should be able to show it. It is the same principle as gas: the register is the thing to check, not the van.
2. Expect the burner to come apart. A proper oil service includes removing and cleaning the burner, replacing the nozzle and the oil filter, checking and setting the electrodes, cleaning the heat exchanger and baffles, and a combustion test with a printout. That is an hour or two of work, not fifteen minutes.
3. The tank is part of the system. Bund condition, sight gauge, pipework, fire valve and the base the tank sits on all matter, and a tank problem is an environmental problem as well as a heating one. Ask whether the tank inspection is included.
4. Keep the paperwork. The service report and the combustion printout are what a manufacturer's warranty claim and an insurer will ask for. Where the property is let, the oil appliance sits under the general duty to keep installations in repair even though the annual gas check does not cover it.
5. Book before the heating season. Oil engineers are busiest in the first cold week of the year. A service in late summer costs the same and is far easier to get.

Paperwork and evidence

Common questions

Do landlords need an oil boiler safety check?

The annual gas safety check applies to gas. Oil appliances fall under the general duty to keep installations and appliances in repair and proper working order, and an annual service by a registered engineer is how landlords normally evidence it.

Is an oil service more expensive than a gas one?

Usually, because it takes longer and consumes parts: a nozzle and an oil filter are replaced as standard.

What is a combustion printout?

The result of the analyser test showing the burner is set correctly. Ask for it; it is the evidence the service was done properly.

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