How to tell if my boiler needs replacing

Unless your boiler is costing you an arm and a leg in monthly gas bills, you will understandably not want to have to replace it unless it is simply too old.

But the age of your boiler is just one of a number of reasons why you should consider replacing your boiler.  While regular servicing and proper maintenance can help ensure you boiler lasts a very long time, there are some situations that require this replacement to be accelerated.

1- If your boiler frequently breaks down

If your best friend has become your boiler repair man because of the number of times that he has been called out to repair your broken down boiler then now may be a good time to replace it. There is only so long that repairing a boiler that is old and unreliable is financially viable.  A complete boiler swap is not as expensive as you might fear and can save you money on repair costs, reduce your energy bills and give you some peace of mind that you don’t have to have us on speed dial.

2 – Your gas bills have gone through the roof

It seems like a constant cycle of never hearing from your energy supplier unless they are increasing their prices.  So as gas costs creep up, your old and inefficient boiler has started to cost a lot more than it once did.

Modern boilers are A-Rated and can (depending on what brand you go for) operate at 90% + efficiency.  To put this into context. A G-Rated boiler only operates at 70% or less efficiency. Think about that.  If your boiler is a G-Rated one, 30% of all the energy produced by the boiler is wasted and lost.  That is like throwing money out the window every time your radiators heat up.

3 – Your boiler is not running whisper quiet

If you can hear a tapping sound from your boiler, it could be that you have sludge in the system.  A Powerflush can fix this but think of your boiler like the human heart.  Cholesterol (the sludge in the system) can easily cause a heart attack if left unchecked with exercise and proper diet (regular servicing).  Noises can be the first sign of a problem and the beginning of a bigger fault developing.

4 – Leaks in the system

A boiler should not leak.  If your boiler has started leaking then it is a sign that a valve or seal may have broken.  If you leave a leak like this to continue, it can corrode and rust away the internal parts of a boiler.  Damage like this is very hard to repair and can require a compelte replacement boiler.

5 – Old boilers and old parts are hard to come by

Finding spare parts for older boilers is a challenge.  The older your boiler is, the harder it is to source parts so when your boiler does break down, it may simply be a case that we can’t fix it because we can’t source the parts.  Early model combi boilers fitted to new build flats across the West Coast built in the 90’s (for example) can suffer from this problem because while the boiler has run smoothly for a long time, when it does finally require a repair job, the spare parts simply do not exist anymore.

6 – Its best days are behind it

Nothing lasts for ever and while a boiler may have been serviced regularly over the years, it may simply have got to the point where it takes too long to heat up the radiators or the water from the hot tap takes too long to come through.  As a boiler gets older, it can loose some of its efficiency and performance.  So it may simply be that you need more from your boiler than it can give you.

7 – Renovations and Extensions means it needs to move

For some home owners, there comes a time when they want a nw kitchen or they want to knock down a wall to let more light in and turn their kitchen and dining room into one larger room for better socialising and usability.  All of this can often mean that the boiler needs to be relocated.  And it would be daft to move a 10 year old boiler rather than have a new one installed as part of the renovation work.

Find out more

If you would like to find out more about replacing old boilers with a new more efficient one then get in touch.  We are a fully qualified, Which Trusted Boiler Installer and are happy to discuss the entire process of fitting a new boiler, the costs and what is involved.

Call us today on 07746 942 768