For understandable and logical reasons, most people tend not to pay any heed to their gas boilers during the summer months.
Given the exceptionally warm and temperate summers Britain has had over the last few years and the propensity for heatwaves, it would be rather concerning if your gas heating was needed.
In fact, some people even debate switching off the boiler completely during the summer, which is something that a lot of engineers do not recommend given the risk of internal components seizing up and the fact you may need gas to heat your oven, bath or shower water.
Despite this, this is a routine that a lot of people swear by, often at the expense of the most important task you should do during the hot summer months, and that is booking your annual service to avoid calling an emergency gas engineer in winter.
Why Book A Service In The Summer?
For many boilers, a condition of their warranty is that they are serviced each and every year, so it is essential to call a Gas Safe engineer to ensure that one of the most important appliances in your home or workplace is safe to operate and be around.
Boiler services rarely take more than an hour, and a clean bill of health can give you incredible peace of mind as you know that your gas boiler is functioning efficiently, is not costing your more than it should and is not at risk of breaking down as the nights start to get longer and the temperatures fall.
Booking it in the summer specifically saves you a lot of headaches as summer turns to autumn and particularly when autumn turns to winter.
The first benefit is that an engineer can see the boiler working in optimal conditions where it is not expected to do much work, so it becomes easier to check its efficiency and notice faults much faster.
As well as this, you are likely to be able to get an appointment very quickly. Much like your boiler, many gas engineers are largely working in summer mode, taking care of issues and always available to help proactive homeowners and building managers service their boilers.
For building managers, it is also more convenient in the sense that far fewer people are in the office, meaning less disruption. Similarly, given that many people work from home or take annual leave in the summer anyway, you do not have to take any further time off to be present for the service.
There are also cost considerations to take into account. As engineers get busy, their charges for routine servicing will increase as their schedules get busier and they are needed more for emergency call-outs.
Booking in summer often means getting a discount, although exactly how much will depend on whether this is part of a service plan or a one-off booking.
Irrespective of the actual discounted amount, it will certainly be a lot cheaper than the callout charge if something breaks, and the potential risks to everyone in the house or office if there is a serious fault.