If you’ve had your boiler serviced with HGS before, you’ll know the reminder, and let’s be honest – no one really enjoys having to get their boiler serviced. We’ll drop you a call or message at around the same time each year, letting you know we’re due to come and see you again. It’s easy to assume this is just good admin on our part, but it’s an important part of our role in ensuring your house is safe and ready for winter.
Why our boiler services reminders are important
Ultimately, no one wants to think about their boiler during the year at all – that’s usually fine, until something goes wrong with it. Boilers are, really, designed to be forgotten about. They can sit in a cupboard quietly doing their job, keeping you warm, while you get on with life.
The trouble is, a year can pass incredibly quickly. One missed service can turn into two, and by the time you do notice, it’s likely been quite a while since you’ve last had your boiler checked. We see this a lot, and we know it’s not deliberate. Life gets busy, and if your boiler keeps working, then the thought of booking a service slips down the list until something forces the issue. There’s no need to feel bad or guilty about it – all we want to do is ensure that come winter, you can count on your boiler to kick into gear when you need it most.
If you’ve used us before, we keep track of when your service is due so you don’t have to. It’s a small thing, but it’s the difference between staying on top of your boiler and only thinking about it once it’s already let you down, and you’re panicking to get it fixed at an increased rate for an emergency call out.
At the end of the day, we’d rather see you once a year for something routine than once every few years for something urgent.
What happens if you let it slide
Skipping a service doesn’t necessarily mean your boiler will fail immediately. Most of the time, nothing dramatic happens at all, but this is exactly why it’s easy to keep putting off year after year. A boiler that’s overdue for a service can carry on working perfectly well for months, sometimes longer, without any obvious sign that anything’s quietly gone wrong behind the scenes.
There are, however, a few things worth knowing.
Many boiler manufacturers, including Baxi, Worcester Bosch, and Vaillant, require an annual service to keep the manufacturer’s warranty valid for the full duration. Miss a year and you could find yourself without that cover when you need it most, leaving you to pay out of pocket for a repair that would otherwise have been included.
There’s also the simple fact that boilers left unchecked for longer periods are more likely to develop problems that could have been caught earlier, or potentially become a hazard to your home and family.
Nobody wants to discover an issue with their heating in the middle of that inevitable cold snap in October. We know that the timing of a breakdown is never convenient, and an overdue boiler has had longer to develop whatever issue eventually surfaces.
Keeping up to date with your annual services also ensures that your boiler is working as efficiently as possible, which we know is more and more important with the current cost of fuel.
If you do come to sell your home, a clear, up to date service history is something buyers and their surveyors will often ask about. It’s a small thing that can make a homebuyer inspection more straightforward.
Keep your home safe
As well as ensuring your boiler works efficiently, an annual boiler service ensures that your home is kept safe from any potential issues that can arise from your heating system.
This includes checks for any signs of damage or leaks, which is particularly important for identifying any build up of carbon monoxide. As carbon monoxide is both odourless and colourless, it’s basically impossible to spot, and incredibly dangerous.
This is the biggest reason for having a boiler serviced annually – ensuring that when you go to turn the heating on, it’s safe for you and your family.
It’s one less thing to think about
The honest answer to “why does this matter” is that it helps reduce your stress massively. You don’t need to remember when your last service was, work out when the next one’s due, or keep a note in your calendar. We do that part.
We know that everyone is juggling day to day life without having to add “remember to book the boiler in” to the list. Our reminder system exists because we’d rather take that responsibility off your hands than leave it to chance. It’s part of why customers tend to stay with us year after year.
All you need to do is pick up when we get in touch, or call us on 01603 630608 if it’s been a while and you’re not sure where you stand. There’s no obligation attached to the reminder itself, we’re just giving you a heads up that it’s worth getting sorted.
Why this matters more than it used to
Boilers are working harder, for longer, than they once did. Winters that bring sustained cold snaps put real strain on a heating system that’s been left unchecked. This means that a boiler service is now becoming more about making sure the system that keeps your home warm and your water hot has been looked at by someone who knows what they’re doing, before it has to work flat out again.
Already overdue?
If you can’t remember your last boiler service, or you know it’s potentially been longer than a year, that’s a good sign that it’s worth sending us a message and getting booked in. There’s no charge for asking, and no pressure either way – wherever you are across Norwich and the surrounding villages, we’ll help sort out your boiler service.
