Gas Boiler servicing

STEINER

Registered User
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1,162
Hi,

I have used Bord Gais for servicing the boiler for the last few years.

I am just off the phone to Bord Gais, no joy. On 21st September they phone me about my annual gas boiler service, and we arrange it for Tuesday 8th October between 10am and 1pm.

No one came or phoned me today. I phoned them and someone(??) didn't put the appointment on the system. Also, there is no other appointment slot for several months!!!

Can anybody recommend a reliable boiler servicer please? Bord Gais charge €99.
 
We user Airtricity recently and found the very good. No hidden costs etc.
 
Hi,

I have used Bord Gais for servicing the boiler for the last few years.

I am just off the phone to Bord Gais, no joy. On 21st September they phone me about my annual gas boiler service, and we arrange it for Tuesday 8th October between 10am and 1pm.

No one came or phoned me today. I phoned them and someone(??) didn't put the appointment on the system. Also, there is no other appointment slot for several months!!!

Can anybody recommend a reliable boiler servicer please? Bord Gais charge €99.

It seems absolutely disgraceful that they let you down and are not putting measures in place to rectify that. Did you ask to speak to a supervisor and read them the riot act? I'm sure they will get cancellations and they should be looking after a long time customer.
 
It seems absolutely disgraceful that they let you down and are not putting measures in place to rectify that. Did you ask to speak to a supervisor and read them the riot act? I'm sure they will get cancellations and they should be looking after a long time customer.

I was wrecked from lack of sleep last night so I wasn't in the mood for chatting at length to anybody from BG.

I phoned at 2pm to query the no-show and they had no record of the appointment whatsoever. On her system there were no appointments free for "several" months! The rep gave me a 10 digit complaint number and said a supervisor would phone me within 10 days! I at least expected a call back by close of business today. I won't use them again. It was an annoying let down.
 
I honestly think you would be better off contacting a registered gas engineer yourself and maybe building up a relationship with the same guy if you feel he did a good job rather than letting an energy company act as a middle man for you.

[broken link removed]
 
I checked out Airtricity online and it is easy to make an appointment online for €89, the earliest apointment next Monday which is reasonable.

I went with Electric Ireland over the phone for €79 who had no problem giving me tomorrow afternoon, which saves me €20 over Bord Gais as well.
 
I agree with Pudds, you would be better using a local registered gas installer as you will get better and more comprehensive service.
 
There is a boiler service for €39 on Groupon today!
I used a Groupon service before and it was fine, got a certificate of service too. The service man was bord gais registered and just did groupon in the hope of gaining repeat customers.
 
I got my boiler serviced for €49. I am in Kilkenny and the offer was on KCLR radios real deal service. the engineer who did the service is the same one that I have always got. check out groupon and other offers and see who the engineer is, once he is bord gais registered you have no need to worry.
 
There is a boiler service for €39 on Groupon today!
I used a Groupon service before and it was fine, got a certificate of service too. The service man was bord gais registered and just did groupon in the hope of gaining repeat customers.


Hello,

I also used one of these vouchers in the past, I think I paid circa €50 plus an additional €10 cost because of the type of boiler we had - it was for Kinsealy Plumbing and Heating (they service Dublin, both North and South City I think) ... very happy with the deal and service, no messing about on times etc.

Needless to say, they are on the list: [broken link removed]

- I've absolutel no connection with the company by the way.

....I see that the Groupon deal is valid for another couple of days: Gas Boiler Service (€39) Plus System Check (€49) from Dublin Gas & Plumbing (who appear to be Kinsealy Plumbing & Heating also ?) - which is even better value then the deal I got, assuming your happy with the service provider.
 
You will generally know how good a service you are getting by the length of time the engineer is there. Most cheap services are only about 20 minutes or so. All of the required checks for a gas boiler & gas system pipework takes well in excess of an hour. The full gas system pipework must be checked for gas soundness. This alone takes a test times of 14 minutes plus the set up times.

The other criteria I would be looking at is the Cert. You must, by law, be issued with an RGII Cert No.3 Certificate of Conformance. Not a system report form. Many of the utility companies only issue this as they must be purchased from RGII.
It is the law that they are issued.

The other important check is the expansion vessel pressure in the boiler. This can only be done if the boiler is drained down with zero pressure on the vessel. The vessel would generally need topping up with air. Again, this would be part of a decent RGI's service but I find is rarely done.
Many HE condensing boilers have their heat exchangers opened. This is a must for a longevity of the boiler. Carbon builds up over time, but if given only a wipe annually, it removed the hardened build up of ever becoming a problem.

It's your money, but in all honestly in my experience, you get what you pay for. All the decent operatives I know would be charging circa €80.
 
All of the required checks for a gas boiler & gas system pipework takes well in excess of an hour.

You must, by law, be issued with an RGII Cert No.3 Certificate of Conformance. Not a system report form. Many of the utility companies only issue this as they must be purchased from RGII.
It is the law that they are issued.

The other important check is the expansion vessel pressure in the boiler.

Whenever Bord Gais did come they did take an hour or so to service.

Last year's RGII Cert 3, I still have.

I wonder what his reaction today will be when I ask him( or her) how the expansion vessel pressure is!

I saw that current Groupon €39 deal, I was just wary, but I would trust the RGII Cert 3 issued after about an hour of servicing by whatever RGI.
 
That's good. Let's hope you get the same engineer again. Most of ones I come across are a 20 minute job as they are paid extremely low rates so have to get through a lot to cover their costs.
 
The guy from Electric Ireland spent 65 mins here, including outside at the gas meter. RGII Cert 3 as expected, plus a checklist of what he actually did. He had some good advice re particular issues I was having with the boiler and heating. He had his hoover on for a few minutes too, presumably cleaning whatever soot. I wouldn't expect the boiler to be in bad shape anyway as it is not heavy use by any means.

When I told him about Bord Gais messing me around, he was aware of issues there, something about them being in a state of flux changing from sub-contractors to in-house boiler servicers, they all know each other anyway and he's had a few switches from Bord Gais because of the hassle. I havn't had the complaint callback from BG yet....

I'd post up the checklist as an attachment, but I don't seem to be able to or have that function.
 
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I havn't had the complaint callback from BG yet....

I finally got my customer service callback from Bord Gais today 23rd October about the no-show of the boiler servicer on 8th October. They must have a lot of complaints to wade through. They are sending me a cheque for €30 as a goodwill/apology gesture.
 
Did you notice if he drained down the boiler & check/adjust the expansion vessel pressure? This would be one of the most common call outs I get & is rarely checked during a service.
 
Did you notice if he drained down the boiler & check/adjust the expansion vessel pressure? This would be one of the most common call outs I get & is rarely checked during a service.

I don't think he did. When he arrived, I said theres a jug there if he needed to drain anything, and he said he wouldn't be "doing that". He gave me a checklist afterwards, the yes ticked ones which I summarise as follows;

check flue soundness, routing & terminal location.

appliance location and proximity of combustible materials.

main burner, remove and clean as necessary.

pilot burner and probes/cables;clean as necessary.

clean heat exchanger.

operation of flame sensing device.

operation of boiler thermostat and high limit thermostat.

operation of low water pressure control(where appropriate).

check boiler for correct operation(including consumer controls and safety devices).

correct ventilation provision.

check 3 amp fuse fitted.

check double pole isolation switch fitted.

inspect electrical wiring for damage and correct connection to appliance.

with boiler running, check effectiveness and functionality of flue.

with boiler running, check for gas leaks.

test and record appliance burner/main burner pressure.

check operation of timer and heating control.

timer and controls left in position suitable for homeowner.

appliance conforms to IS813.

The box is unticked for Condensate drainage system (condensing boilers only)

combustion gas O2 7.3% combustion gas CO2 7.7&

BOILER COMBUSTION GAS RATIO 0.0018

net resultant boiler combustion efficiency 97.9
 
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