June has brought some mixed weather, with hot sunny days but also some downpours. However, it certainly hasn’t been necessary to put the heating on, while the amount of light needed has been at its lowest due to the longest days of the year.
All this means energy bills will have been very low, so it may be little surprise if Londoners haven’t been thinking about getting their gas boilers serviced or replaced at this time.
However, there have been some other things going on in the world that might raise some concerns about energy prices.
International News Is Not Everything
Quite apart from a few scary predictions that the conflict between Israel, the US and Iran could lead to World War 3 (it won’t), there has been a fear that oil and gas prices might shoot up if, for example, the Straits of Hormuz are closed, which could make oil exports from the Gulf region difficult.
The good news, it appears, is that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites could represent a dialling down of tensions.
Of course, it is easy to feel like you and your household are at the mercy of events taking place in far-off lands, just as was the case when gas prices soared following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, it is always important to remember that there is still much you can do about your energy costs in your own home, which doesn’t depend on who is having a war, what the energy price cap is set at, or if there is a change of government policy.
Time For A Service
Even if you aren’t using your boiler much right now, you should not forget that a few months from now, you will be. Indeed, now the longest day has just come and gone, it might be a bit of a joke to declare that “the nights are drawing in”, but in due course, it will be true.
While summer might be a time of light and warmth, the appearance of the world’s best tennis players in South London and lots of cricket, don’t forget that three or four months from now, the days will be colder and shorter and golden leaves will be falling.
This matters not just because you will be using the boiler more, but because if you want it serviced, you will find there is more of a queue in winter as engineers have to deal with emergencies.
By contrast, in summer it will be much easier to get an appointment to have your boiler serviced at a convenient time. The short time it is out of action while any necessary work is carried out will not happen on days when you will suffer from the cold.
Most of all, taking action in the summer means you will have a boiler in good shape for when the colder months roll around again.
Even more importantly, your summer service could show that your boiler needs replacing. This is something you will need to do every 10-15 years anyway, but sometimes the need can be more urgent. This could be because there are some obvious problems arising, such as inconsistent performance, strange smells, or odd noises.
Such symptoms may be indicators that your boiler is on its last legs and needs to be replaced. That is certainly not what you want to go into the winter with, in the hope that it will cling on, as if it fails, you will be among those poor, shivering souls desperately scrambling to get an emergency engineer on call.
Why A Summer Replacement Will Be Well-Timed
For this reason, summer is unquestionably the best time of year to replace your boiler. You won’t feel cold as it takes up to three days to complete the work, it will be much easier to find an engineer available, you won’t be doing it all in a rush so you can shop around for the best boiler brand, all in addition to removing the risk of the dreaded winter breakdown.
Above all, however, there is the simple fact that a new boiler, just like one that has been serviced, will perform more efficiently, meaning it can produce the same cost for less energy input. This will translate into less energy used and, therefore, lower energy bills.
This is a simple point, but it is worth bearing in mind. While you cannot stop the days getting shorter and summer turning into winter, or control all the things going on in the world that can impact energy prices, you can take steps to ensure you have an efficient boiler that keeps your bills right down.