Boiler repairs and breakdowns

When the heating goes off, what you want to know is whether this is a twenty-minute fix or the end of the boiler. We'll find the fault, tell you what it costs to put right, and tell you whether it's worth spending the money on a boiler that's near the end anyway.

What the job includes

• No heating or no hot water
• Pressure dropping or repeatedly needing topping up
• Fault codes and lockouts
• Leaks from the boiler or nearby pipework
• Banging, gurgling or whistling pipes
• Radiators cold at the top or cold at the bottom
• Thermostats and timers that have stopped controlling anything

Two things worth trying before you ring

If you've got no heating at all, check the thermostat has batteries and the timer hasn't reset itself after a power cut. If the boiler is showing low pressure, the gauge should sit around 1 to 1.5 bar when cold. Neither is a fix, but it saves you a call-out for a flat battery.

If pressure keeps dropping after you top it up, there's a leak somewhere, and that one does need looking at.

When a repair stops making sense

Parts for boilers over about fifteen years old get scarce and expensive, and a heat exchanger or gas valve on an old unit can cost a good fraction of a new installation. If we think you're about to spend good money on a bad bet, we'll say so, and you can decide.

Cold radiators

Cold at the top usually means air, and bleeding it fixes it. Cold at the bottom while the top is hot usually means sludge sitting in the bottom of the radiator, and that's a system cleaning job rather than a boiler fault. One cold radiator when the rest are fine is often a stuck valve.