how much for a boiler service

mukki

last month i was charged €95 to get the oil boiler serviced, the guy was 40mins in my garage :mad:

christ the guy is a glorified cleaner, he has to remove a few panels and scrape some soot and put the panels back on, and for doing that he gets about €2500 a week

going to do it myself from now on.

wee bey

I'd be very surprised if you were able to I'm afraid. Have you got your own flue gas analyser? Have you done your relevant training courses? You realise,as Duncan says, "carbon monoxide is a silent killer"? Price around the next time and you'll realise its not an outrageous price.

brianwalshcork

Paid 90 euros to have mine serviced, took probably around the same amount of time.

Thought it was reasonable.

items

Under 100 is a reasonable price, boiler might have been holding up well during that service, next time nozzle might need replacing, oil pressure and air pressure reset, filter cleaned etc. Most service people have a fixed price, they don't really know what to expect so they have to cover themselves in order to cover costs of basic service, next time you might see more work done for same price.

mukki

wee bey wrote: »

I'd be very surprised if you were able to I'm afraid. Have you got your own flue gas analyser? Have you done your relevant training courses? You realise,as Duncan says, "carbon monoxide is a silent killer"? Price around the next time and you'll realise its not an outrageous price.

okay the guy studied boilers for a few days/weeks, so now he can earn the same as a doctor who got all a's in the leaving and did 6 years collage and 3 years post grad
the guy should have €500 or €600 at the end of the week, thats a brillaint wage these days


but surly what your saying about a flue analyser is like saying i cant change the oil and filter in my car becuase i dont have an engine emmisions tester

i just want to clean the inside once or twice a year not adjust anything

kippy

mukki wrote: »

okay the guy studied boilers for a few days/weeks, so now he can earn the same as a doctor who got all a's in the leaving and did 6 years collage and 3 years post grad
the guy should have €500 or €600 at the end of the week, thats a brillaint wage these days


but surly what your saying about a flue analyser is like saying i cant change the oil and filter in my car becuase i dont have an engine emmisions tester

i just want to clean the inside once or twice a year not adjust anything

Sure all a doctor does for his 50 yos is write a generic perscription......

items

mukki wrote: »

okay the guy studied boilers for a few days/weeks, so now he can earn the same as a doctor who got all a's in the leaving and did 6 years collage and 3 years post grad
the guy should have €500 or €600 at the end of the week, thats a brillaint wage these days


but surly what your saying about a flue analyser is like saying i cant change the oil and filter in my car becuase i dont have an engine emmisions tester

i just want to clean the inside once or twice a year not adjust anything

When testing oil boiler combustion with probe not only are you making sure air and oil pressure are set correctly, your testing boiler efficiency. It's not as handy as you think, besides knowing all technical aspects the person who serviced your boiler is now responsible for it. The person has to pay public liability insurance, if your boiler blows up, service man has to pay for all damage. If boiler servicing is as simple as you make out, everyone in the country would be doing it, 90 euros is not that much considering the responsibility involved.

No need to hold a grudge and I doubt service man is making 2,400 euro a week, thats a crazy figure. In this day and age, he'd be lucky to even make an average wage.

mukki

items wrote: »

No need to hold a grudge and I doubt service man is making 2,400 euro a week, thats a crazy figure. In this day and age, he'd be lucky to even make an average wage.

not holding a grudge, just thinking these guy have everyone fooled,

bit like if a window cleaners charged €200 to clean windows, do we just accept that it costs €200, or should we winge about it on a forum


i say we winge, until we are proved wrong, and from your last post, i feel i am proved wrong

wee bey

What Items said.
Why don't you write out your own NCT cert for your car the next time as well? The work the service man did in your house could possibly(and it is a real long shot) have fatal consequences for the inhabitants of the house if done incorrectly or carelessly. Its 95 quid, its worth it, get over it.

mukki

wee bey wrote: »

What Items said.
Why don't you write out your own NCT cert for your car the next time as well? The work the service man did in your house could possibly(and it is a real long shot) have fatal consequences for the inhabitants of the house if done incorrectly or carelessly. Its 95 quid, its worth it, get over it.

relax, its not a firebird nuclear reactor

its a red and grey box in the garage that needs the soot removed every few months, its not going to kill anyone ever

wee bey

Ok I'm sorry. That duncan stewart is full of lies and poorly maintained boilers aren't dangerous or inefficient. You'd prob be better off with this topic in the ranting and raving section though cos you haven't got much sympathy from us nervous ninnies in here.:rolleyes:

Carpenter

Did you ask the price before he started the job

mukki

wee bey wrote: »

Ok I'm sorry. That duncan stewart is full of lies and poorly maintained boilers aren't dangerous or inefficient. You'd prob be better off with this topic in the ranting and raving section though cos you haven't got much sympathy from us nervous ninnies in here.:rolleyes:

its actually only you that i am not listening too, you keep using duncan stewart as a excuse for glorified cleaners to charge what they like. if duncan stewart told you to take a picture of the sunset from a tree, would you?

Did you ask the price before he started the job

nope, wonder would he been as greedy before he got the job

Carpenter

nope, wonder would he been as greedy before he got the job[/QUOTE]

Well then would you buy a Tv in a shop and not ask the price (Same thing)

demanufactured

You got your boiler serviced didnt you , if the nozzle went or the stat or our pump went would you be able to fix it your self???

Stop whinging and take it like a man.

luap_42

demanufactured wrote: »

You got your boiler serviced didnt you , if the nozzle went or the stat or our pump went would you be able to fix it your self???

Stop whinging and take it like a man.

Actually I agree with him. €90-100 is way overpriced for the time involved regardless of travel, insurance, parts etc. He will obviously charge you for any expensive parts anyway, so the fee only covers the cost of cleaning and checking.

My local plumber will do the job for about half this amount and still make a good profit. He is a good guy, been in plumbing (commerical and domestic) for over 40 years and believes that almost all plumbers are overpaid.

Just because it is the going rate does not mean it is the correct rate. It is what the market will bear, and right now that is the same as Celtic Tiger fees. Or put it another way, the fees haven't dropped a cent since virtually everything else has due to recessionary times.

No wonder Ireland is one of the most overpriced countries in the world to live in.

mukki

luap_42 wrote: »

Actually I agree with him. €90-100 is way overpriced for the time involved regardless of travel, insurance, parts etc. He will obviously charge you for any expensive parts anyway, so the fee only covers the cost of cleaning and checking.

My local plumber will do the job for about half this amount and still make a good profit. He is a good guy, been in plumbing (commerical and domestic) for over 40 years and believes that almost all plumbers are overpaid.

Just because it is the going rate does not mean it is the correct rate. It is what the market will bear, and right now that is the same as Celtic Tiger fees. Or put it another way, the fees haven't dropped a cent since virtually everything else has due to recessionary times.

No wonder Ireland is one of the most overpriced countries in the world to live in.

thank you


sure 2 years a go, a plasterer was nearly considered upperclass, because they charged tes of thousands per house, had a boat and a jeep, now they are on a normal wage, and about bloody time

repairmen have to stop thinking they are high earners

Juwwi

mukki wrote: »

thank you


sure 2 years a go, a plasterer was nearly considered upperclass, because they had a boat and a jeep, now they are on a normal wage, and about bloody time

repairmen have to stop thinking they are high earners, most of them are school dropouts

Thats a boody disrespectful thing to say.

This is a diy forum for genuine queries about diy.

There is a ranting and raving forum if u want to rant
maybe a mod could move this thread there?

mukki

robbie1977 wrote: »

Thats a boody disrespectful thing to say.

This is a diy forum for genuine queries about diy.

There is a ranting and raving forum if u want to rant
maybe a mod could move this thread there?

your right

i had edited it before you posted our quote

i started this thread to find out about diy boiler servicing,

all i got was people saying it was fine to charge €95 to spend 40mins cleaning something the size of a microwave :eek:


i have no problem with a mod moving/locking/deleting this thread,

knighted_1

mukki wrote: »

your right

i had edited it before you posted our quote

i started this thread to find out about diy boiler servicing,

all i got was people saying it was fine to charge €95 to spend 40mins cleaning something the size of a microwave :eek:


i have no problem with a mod moving/locking/deleting this thread,

you really are apiece of work -

if your service man is legit ,the 95 is including vat so we will break down the costs shall we ?

95 less 13.5 % vat = 83.70

costs out of this should be roughly 20% to cover van insurance tools and ACCOUNTANCY and general running costs -(open to correction )

83.70 less 20% costs =69.75

this is now a pre tax figure

i will assume he took 30 mins to get to you and 30 to get to next job or back home so we will say one and three quarter hours ?

thats a pre tax hourly rate of 39.85 now deduct 5% prsi = about 38 euros

now deduct the 41% tax he must pay the government

thats a lot less than 95 isnt it

-think twice b4 insulting uneducated people because if you couldnt work this out and realise these are the costs involved it is you who is uneducated -

jimmyw

I got a fellow based in clonmel that done it for us last year here in mooncoin for 80 quid. He's a top notch guy and even gives a cert. He knows his stuff. He does all around kilkenny, tipp, Waterford etc. We always got a fella in the local area that done it for 40-50 I think but he was a total botch!!. Never used any probe or anything. I think he could have even made it worse, BLOODY COWBOY:mad:!!!!!!!..Its due again and I am going to get him again:cool:.

slavetothegrind

Back to your cave troll!!!!!!!:D

As well pointed out by the man above it is stupid to think he earns anything like 2500.

Fecks sake, he would be driving a hummer then like a certain painter and decorator!!!!!
How he ever got work in that thing i don't know!!! Fair play to him.:rolleyes:

sullzz

mukki wrote: »

thank you


sure 2 years a go, a plasterer was nearly considered upperclass, because they charged tes of thousands per house, had a boat and a jeep, now they are on a normal wage, and about bloody time

repairmen have to stop thinking they are high earners

your one snobby stuck up piece of sh1t ,
if you really think that any tradesman gets 2 and a half grand a week your mad , if you think that its such a simple job why bother paying someone to come out to your house to do it when you could simply do it yourself .

peoplle like you really make my blood boil you pratt.

items

Its possible for a trades man to make 2500 a week, as an apprentice their was once a time I made over 1700 euro working in construction of intel fab 24 but to make that I had to work over time 3 nights a week, all day Sat, all day Sun. To say an average boiler service person makes 2500 is madness, chances are person is married with kids and what not, to make that kind of money a lot of hours would be worked.

90 to 100 is not a lot for oil boiler service, anything under 100 is a good price, anything less than 90 to 80 is pointless, I' have doubts over the quality of service if only charged such small amount. Most guys that charge less figures tend to only service boiler as a side job, handy cash, they are not really that experienced and only do the basics.

When servicing oil boilers best hire a dedicated oil boiler service person, they are the only ones who set boiler right, they tend to be more interested in job even hold some pride in getting best out of boiler as its all they do.

Have a gas boiler fitted and have it serviced, you'll never complain about prices of oil service after a gas service. Gas is more regulated than than Oil, Gas has risks associated so price goes up but an Oil boiler not serviced properly can be just as risky as gas and tends to cost a fortune to run.

danjo-xx

items.... When servicing oil boilers best hire a dedicated oil boiler service person

How do we identify these folk, should we look for a Heating engineer as opposted to a blumber or just someone who says they service gas and oil boilers

items

danjo-xx wrote: »

How do we identify these folk, should we look for a Heating engineer as opposted to a blumber or just someone who says they service gas and oil boilers

Ask service person have they been certified by OFTEC.

Cowboy oil boiler installers and service persons days are numbered and its about time,

Since 1st September 2009, all Irish manufacturers of oil boilers must produce a corresponding oil boiler passport for each boiler produced. This passport includes a Commissioning Certificate which must be filled in by the commissioning technician and returned to the manufacturer, before a warranty for the boiler will be issued by the manufacturer.

For now commissioning certificates can be completed by a “cowboy”.

By 2010/2011 the definition of such a Person will be that he/she to be either an OFTEC registrant or a member of another recognised Competent Persons Scheme

Recognised Competent Persons Scheme = FETAC, City & Guilds, Renewable Energy Installer Academy, SEI, or persons holding oil boiler installation / service certificate obtained directly from Oil boiler manufacturers.

Forgot to mention, most people with oil boiler recently fitted (up to 5 years). When an oil boiler was purchased by a plumber to install, if plumber was not OFTEC certified, plumber could fit boiler and have boiler commissioned into proper use by an OFTEC certified person, free of no extra charge, all part of boiler price, this came about as boiler manufacturer received far to many warranty calls all down to poor installation. To make things handy and keep sales going manufacturer covered the cost of proper commissioning. This idea failed as plumbers without OFTEC certs still fitted boilers without availing of free commission, manufacturers have now pulled the plug and want their boilers fitted / serviced properly throughout duration of warranty.

yoshytoshy

mukki wrote: »

all i got was people saying it was fine to charge €95 to spend 40mins cleaning something the size of a microwave :eek:


i have no problem with a mod moving/locking/deleting this thread,

Mukki ,you must have a really comfortable life ,to make comments like that.

If the guy spotted something wrong or a blockage in your flue ,you would probably in consumer issues praising him.

Life isn't all soaps n'movies.

mickeychips

danjo-xx wrote: »

How do we identify these folk, should we look for a Heating engineer as opposted to a blumber or just someone who says they service gas and oil boilers

Look on the OFTEC site for a registered Technician in your area. http://www.oftec.org/ireland.asp

In my experience most plumbers either don't have the equipment or don't know how to set up a boiler correctly, or both. And some plumbers I know will fit the boiler and then happily recommend a technician to commission and then service it thereafter.

In reply to Mukki, to say that a boiler technician, JUST cleans a boiler is the understatement of the year. I personally charge €80 for an annual service which will take on average between 60 and 90 minutes, and this includes a replacement nozzle.This is the going rate in my area and considering what is involved I don't think its overpriced.

I dont have a flashy car and certainly dont earn €2500 /week..:rolleyes: I wish..

danjo-xx

thanks items for the detailed reply and MC

kippy

mickeychips wrote: »

Look on the OFTEC site for a registered Technician in your area. http://www.oftec.org/ireland.asp

In my experience most plumbers either don't have the equipment or don't know how to set up a boiler correctly, or both. And some plumbers I know will fit the boiler and then happily recommend a technician to commission and then service it thereafter.

In reply to Mukki, to say that a boiler technician, JUST cleans a boiler is the understatement of the year. I personally charge €80 for an annual service which will take on average between 60 and 90 minutes, and this includes a replacement nozzle.This is the going rate in my area and considering what is involved I don't think its overpriced.

I dont have a flashy car and certainly dont earn €2500 /week..:rolleyes: I wish..

Hi Mickey,
Just going to pull this thread slightly off topic with this.
Have a Thunderbird something or other oil burner outside the house. Been in the house about 4 years and havent had anything serviced yet, the house was occupied a few (three years) before that making the boiler about 7 years old.
How often should it be serviced and what advantages come from a service?
I dont think it is particularly inefficient or anything like that.......

mickeychips

Hi Kippy,

An Oil Boiler should be serviced annually.

This service will include safety checks- Excess Carbon Monoxide, oil leaks, Fire valve operation etc.
Also efficiency and burn quality will be checked, this will extend the life of the boiler.
A new burner nozzle should be fitted as these wear even with normal use.
The firebox and baffles will be cleaned from soot and other residues, this will make the boiler more efficient.

As for efficiency, if you look on the SEI website; http://www.sei.ie/ they state that even a boiler not serviced for four years will be at least 8% less efficient:eek: work that out with your annual oil consumption, and see if a service makes sense.
Not to mention peace of mind for you and the family:).

If you need a boiler tech in the Galway area I can recommend a guy I know from Loughrea.

Hope this helps.

chuck eastwood

Any trades man will charge up on 80/90 Euros an hour and after four years training ,years of experience he has every right to do so. As the point was made..could you change the nozzle, could you clean the plates, check the photo cell for damage. check the electrodes and filters.I have done the course for boiler maintenance out of my own pocket.maybe you should to

danjo-xx

pinkz wrote: »

i was charged £60 for mine to be serviced cant remember his name but ive got his number its: 0863074734 hope this helps.

sounds very reasonable but then there is servicing and...... 'servicing'

irishguy

mukki wrote: »

last month i was charged €95 to get the oil boiler serviced, the guy was 40mins in my garage :mad:

christ the guy is a glorified cleaner, he has to remove a few panels and scrape some soot and put the panels back on, and for doing that he gets about €2500 a week

going to do it myself from now on.

That seems quite a lot. I paid €60 for a 10 year old gas boiler, very nice guy. Also I live in central dublin.

happydaawg

mukki wrote: »

last month i was charged €95 to get the oil boiler serviced, the guy was 40mins in my garage :mad:

christ the guy is a glorified cleaner, he has to remove a few panels and scrape some soot and put the panels back on, and for doing that he gets about €2500 a week

going to do it myself from now on.

Just got my Boiler serviced.
The guy was here for 20mins. €90...
The ESB send a guy who was charging €100.
Rip off Ireland still Exists...

chuck eastwood

In fairness lads your worse for giving him that much money for scrapping soot off. They should be registered for a start, change the burner nozzle's, check the electrodes, photo electric sensor, emissions etc. Did they give you a detailed list of work done. If not ring them up. Ask them what they did do and if they haven't done any of this then on the off chance they are registered report them. That is not a service by any stretch of the imagination

DoneDL

chuck eastwood wrote: »

In fairness lads your worse for giving him that much money for scrapping soot off. They should be registered for a start, change the burner nozzle's, check the electrodes, photo electric sensor, emissions etc. Did they give you a detailed list of work done. If not ring them up. Ask them what they did do and if they haven't done any of this then on the off chance they are registered report them. That is not a service by any stretch of the imagination

+1 also checking oil tank, filter and flue gas analysis. Generally I would allow 1-1 1/2 hours for a service not to mention the time to get there.

Gen.Zhukov

Serviced my Sime boiler last year. All the thick asbestos type gaskets were knackered. Got a full set of new gaskets from a crowd on the Naas Rd and a nozzle for €33. Cleaned it out in 30 mins. Grand job.

The guy that used to service it for the ma is fecked. Lungs trashed from doing that work for years.

Billy Bunting

DoneDL wrote: »

+1 also checking oil tank, filter and flue gas analysis. Generally I would allow 1-1 1/2 hours for a service not to mention the time to get there.

Agreed, hr and a half at least with the paperwork anyone who can do it in 20 minutes aint doing Jack ****.

OFTEC REG TECH

chuck eastwood wrote: »

In fairness lads your worse for giving him that much money for scrapping soot off. They should be registered for a start, change the burner nozzle's, check the electrodes, photo electric sensor, emissions etc. Did they give you a detailed list of work done. If not ring them up. Ask them what they did do and if they haven't done any of this then on the off chance they are registered report them. That is not a service by any stretch of the imagination

THE CUSTOMER SHOULD BE BUDGETING AT LEAST 100 EURO FOR THEIR SERVICE ON OIL BOILER AND ITS THER OWN FAULT IF THEY ARE EXPECTING UNREGISTERED SHAMS TO DO A PROPER JOB FOR 50 EURO
FOR THAT AND CUSTOMER GETS NOTHING AND ALSO IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG WITH THER BOILER OIL TANK AND THEY DONT HAVE A CERTIFICATE OF COMFORMANCE THEY ARE NOT LIKELY TO PAY
SO IS 100 TOO DEAR FOR
YOUR OFTEC CERT
FLUE ANALYSIS PRINTOUT
OIL PRESSURE CHECKED
SAFETY OF INSTALLATION CHECKED
FILTER
NOZZLE CLEAN

Billy Bunting

Shouting!!

OFTEC REG TECH

mukki wrote: »

relax, its not a firebird nuclear reactor

its a red and grey box in the garage that needs the soot removed every few months, its not going to kill anyone ever

WHY DO WE BOTHER REGISTERING WITH GOVERNING BODIES WHEN PEOPLE JUST WANT THE CHEAP FIX

Billy Bunting

Being Oftec Registered doesnt mean people have to use you.

OFTEC REG TECH

YES I KNOW THEY DONT HAVE TO USE ME BUT IN THEIR OWN INTERESTS THEY SHOULD

Billy Bunting

A 5 day course will give a FAS man the qualification you have. :rolleyes:

And please stop shouting.

OFTEC REG TECH

OFTEC REG TECH wrote: »

YES I KNOW THEY DONT HAVE TO USE ME BUT IN THEIR OWN INTERESTS THEY SHOULD

people dont realise the dangers of using unqualified lads the regulations
related to their insurance policies and they really dont want to know how much it costs to clear an oil spillage
so to have all your paperwork for your oil tank and boiler i think its worth shelling out the extra few quid to have it done by a professional
not joe the part time plumber with nothing but a scraper and brush and a new mobile number every month

danjo-xx

Just because someone is 'registered' in what ever field that may be, doesn't always necessarily mean that they will go by the book but it probably is a lesser risk to the customer than someone who is not registered.



Can anyone tell me if the list on oftec web site is up to date because some contractors listed there and advertising in the papers are not stating that they are oftec reg. which is a bit surprising.

OFTEC REG TECH

im rgii and oftec reg
also plumbing apprentichip in fas then dit bolton st with 17 yrs exp

yes you could do a course in fas 5 day or whatever but it would be wasted on you cause you dont have the foundation and skills behind you also the cert you would get from fas for this is not blue flame accreditation which means sorry you wouldnt be qualified
so its not that easy

Billy Bunting

But Joe could still be a professional and fully insured to work on oil but not shell out the money to register with Oftec.

OFTEC REG TECH

and when your boiler blows up or your tank leaks will your insurance company pay out on the strenght of joe saying he is a pro and has insurance no you wont find him
as oftec we are signing and dating cert and so we are taking responsibility for what we are doing meaning yes we do everything by the book cause if we dont the book stops with us

jimmyw

We used to get a local fella up the road to service our old boiler, and I thought I was great getting it for half nothing:P:.I then decided to get a chap that was registered that installs and services boilers.Well,:o I got the third degree when he saw it, in a friendly way .A useless toy (words to that effect!) he said he was cause he did f..k all to it.How was I to know?.Anyway, I upgraded my central heating last year with a brand new efficient boiler and heating controls and the same chap does it for 130 quid.I even have a logbook for filling it in too:cool:.


P.S he said something about that he cant ask for the book, I have to offer it to him or something? Not sure, could be talking through my, you know what........:)