Your oil boiler requires a regular annual service to perform both safely and efficiently. A service allows for replacement parts that are needed to be planned and budgeted for rather than having the inconvenience of trying to arrange them at short notice.

Any appliance that burns fossil fuel generates a certain amount of carbon monoxide, poor or inadequate servicing can cause extreme generation of carbon monoxide. And without a regular service, your appliance will not be checked to ensure it is not leaking deadly carbon monoxide into your house.

The Oil Firing Technical Association, OFTEC recommend that you contract the services of OFTEC Registered Technicians to service your oil appliance. Clare Boiler Services as a company and myself personally are registered with OFTEC and I pride myself in giving a high quality, professional service.

What is included in a service?

• I will ask you if you have experienced any issues with the boiler and start the boiler to ensure it is working correctly
• A visual inspection of the boiler installation will be undertaken to make sure it complies with current regulations
• I will check the pipe supplying oil to your boiler for any sign of leakage
• The oil filters will be replaced or cleaned and the oil tank will be checked for compliance with current regulations
• I will check the oil tank for water contamination with water detecting paste
• The flue will be inspected and cleaned
• The boiler baffle door will be removed and internal components such as the heat exchanger and baffles will be cleaned
• I always replace the oil nozzle and, if required, the flexible hose
• Safety systems such as thermostats, pressure relief valves and burner lock out devices will be checked to ensure they are functioning correctly
• The burner will be thoroughly checked over for wear and damage
• The boiler will be fired up until warm and the combustion will be checked with my flue gas analyser
• I will go through any breaches in regulations, faults, or recommended work needed with you
• I will leave you with a signed OFTEC job report with a printout of the flue gas analyser readings attached

A service is a fixed price of €80 for a standard efficiency oil boiler and €90 for a high efficiency condensing oil boiler.

Since September 2009, Irish Boiler manufacturers have issued a Boiler Passport with every boiler manufactured within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The boiler passport has been prepared in consultation with OFTEC , and is a booklet containing a Commissioning Certificate and a number of Annual Service Report Forms.

Your new boiler must be checked to see that it is installed to current building regulations and the combustion settings fine tuned for the particular installation location. The Commissioning certificate will be completed and returned to the manufacturer on your behalf. Service Report forms will then need to be filled in annually and will remain in the Passport.

I am Blueflame certified and OFTEC registered to commission your newly installed high efficiency boiler.

Commissioning of a new high efficiency oil boiler costs €90

Noticeable changes in your oil appliances performance precede most mechanical failures. If you notice a change in boiler performance such as new noises, smells, rising radiator temperatures, excessively hot tap water or continually resetting safety devices, you should give me a call and have it checked out.

I charge €50 for a domestic call-out, and this includes the first hour of labour on site.

The total cost of a call out will depend on the fault diagnosed and the parts required to fix the fault. However most repairs would be completed within the first hour. I am not in the business of ripping people off by making excessive amounts of money from a call out. I want you to be happy with the service I provide and call me back again, and for me to have you as a valued, long term customer.

In the event of a breakdown there are a couple of things you can check before calling me out .

• You can first check you have sufficient oil, try dipping a broom handle into the tank to see the level of oil you have. Remember that the oil line outlet is about 1" or 2.5cm from the bottom of the tank, so you need to have at least that amount of oil. Under no circumstances should you ever tip up your oil tank, as this will most likely cause irreparable damage to your oil pump.
• Secondly and if you are confident to do so, try pressing the reset button on the front of the burner within the outer casing. This will probably be red and may be lit up. PRESS THIS BUTTON TWICE ONLY. The boiler should attempt the ignition sequence, if this does not happen, or the appliance still fails to start then a call out will be required.