Boiler Repair Costs: How Much You’ll Pay and When to Replace Your Boiler

Not sure what to do with your faulty boiler? In this guide to boiler repair costs, we’ll discuss when to repair your boiler and when to get a new one, and show you average costs for replacing various boiler parts.

We’ll also give you some handy tips on how to protect your boiler and prolong its lifespan.

If your boiler is busted and you need an urgent replacement, you can get a no-obligation quote by filling out this 90-second, anonymous survey from Heatable. Otherwise, read on to find out more!

Boiler Repair Costs Guide

Below, we’ve created a table that highlights the cost of boiler repairs you can expect see when replacing various boiler parts, including labour. Beware though, these numbers are just an estimate — depending on the model, brand, and type of boiler and central heating system, the replacement parts will vary in price. What’s more, heating engineers in various parts of the country will charge different prices.

If you think your boiler’s reached the end of its service life and changing parts will just prolong the mutual agony, you can also use this calculator to get a fixed boiler replacement quote from Heatable. The online installation company has great connections with the top boiler manufacturers — including Worcester Bosch and Viessmann — and ridiculously low overheads, so they’re able to quote you cheap.

Boiler Repair Labour Costs — This Is What Gas Safe Engineers Charge Per Hourly

The prices in the table above are estimates for fixed-price boiler repairs. If you don’t know the problem with your boiler, it’s likely you’ll need a Gas Safe engineer to come and diagnose the problem before fitting replacement parts. The hourly rate and overall costs for a Gas Safe engineer will depend on a few things:

#1 — Time of Day

For example, is your call outside of normal working hours and considered an emergency? This is going to increase the hourly rate considerably.

#2 — Geographic Location in the UK

Hourly rates for boiler engineers in London can be almost double that of other parts of the UK.

#3 — Type of Company You Choose

Large national firms can charge 30-50% more than a local gas engineer.

All said, expect to pay £50-60 per hour for a gas boiler diagnostic. Don’t forget that you’ll also have to pay the fixed-price repair costs and call-out charge on top of this.

A quick note — if you opt for a local boiler engineer, research the company trading name and verify their reputation before getting them to perform repairs.

How Much Does It Cost to Replace vs. Recondition Boiler Parts?

Some boiler parts can be reconditioned, cleaned or fixed; they don’t always have to be replaced.

A leaky pump is a typical example of a common boiler problem. In many cases, simply swapping the seals will fix the leak.

However, it’s worth consulting your heating engineer.

If one component in a boiler part has failed, it’s likely others will follow.

And, the time for labour is usually better spent replacing the entire boiler part, in this case, the pump.

Boiler Replacement: When to Consider a New Boiler For Your Home

There’s a few things to consider before repairing a boiler, and one is whether a replacement boiler is going to be more cost and energy-efficient for your home (and energy bills) in the long run.

Deciding whether to replace rather than repair a boiler will be determined by:

• Age of the boiler, outstanding warranty, and your boiler cover (if any)
• The condition of expensive boiler parts
• Cost to repair your boiler
• Boiler replacement cost
• Boiler protection devices that are currently fitted

Want to get a fixed price on screen (no personal details needed… and it takes 90 seconds) before you continue reading? Jump over to this clickable form.

#1 – Age of the Boiler

If your boiler is 5+ years old and out of warranty, and isn’t covered by an insurance plan, it’s worth considering a replacement rather than a maintenance repair.

Boiler manufacturers place certain levels of warranty on their products for a reason; beyond the warranty they start to fail and become expensive for the consumer to run.

Likewise, most boiler insurance care plans should include repairs. If you haven’t got boiler cover, then again, a new device may be a better investment than repairs. That’s because investing in boiler repairs for a unit that is on its way out is just a short-term, ‘bandaid’-type fix that won’t give your boiler back its better years. 

#2 – The Condition of Expensive Boiler Parts

The next thing to consider is the condition of other expensive boiler parts. If any of these components are seriously damaged, your boiler repair costs will skyrocket, and a full-on boiler replacement may be worth it. For example, a heat exchanger on a boiler may cost £500 or more, while an expansion vessel replacement may cost you over £300 — hardly a worthwhile investment for an old boiler that’s out of warranty.

However, if the pricier components look like they are in good condition, repairing the faulty part is worthwhile.

The most expensive and important boiler parts to consider checking for wear and damage include:

• Pump
• Fan
• Heat Exchanger
• PCB
• Burner
• Diverter Valve

#3 – Boiler Repair Costs

Next, you’ll want to consider the actual boiler repair costs.

Small repairs in the £100-200 range are worth the investment.

But spending £300-500 on an old boiler, with no warranty and the chance of other components failing is a waste. If you’re in this situation, it’s time to consider a replacement.

A typical example of a part that sway many to replace their boiler rather than repair it, is a faulty or broken PCB.

A replacement PCB could cost £350-500 to install, depending on the type of boiler you have.

That’s a lot of money to be investing in an old boiler that is already proving that it’s on its last legs, and we’d be jumping straight over to here and getting a fixed price on screen.

#4 – The Cost to Replace Your Boiler

If we take a 2-3-bedroom property or home, looking for a reasonably sized combi boiler, you could expect to pay £1800-£2,500, depending on size. You can use this online boiler quote calculator to determine the exact price.

In this case, something like the Worcester 30i, or the Worcester Greenstar 4000 30kW with a 10-year warranty would be perfect.

Consider also, newer boilers are around 90% efficient; old boilers are not.

So, newer boiler units can offer savings of around £200 per year.

Over the course of the next 7-years, you’d actually save the majority of your investment on utility bills alone, and be covered by warranty over that period.

#5 – Boiler Protection: How Much a Warranty Will Cover

This is something a lot of people don’t consider about boilers and boiler maintenance.

There are a few ways, as a consumer, to protect your boiler:

• Adding central heating inhibitor to break up rust and dirt in the pipes
• Fitting a boiler filter to catch this dirt and rust
• Installing a scale reducer to catch limescale

If none of the above are currently fitted, your boiler has been exposed.

Most manufacturer’s warranties will be void if central heating inhibitor isn’t added — that’s how important it is.

And, limescale can find its way to the heat exchanger, create hotspots, and cause it to crack.

Finally, rust and dirt (known as central heating sludge) can block not just radiators, but also parts in the boiler like the heat exchanger and pump.

Essentially, if none of the above boiler protection precautions are in place, even without a visual inspection, there’s a good chance your boiler is better off being replaced. Once it has been replaced, fit the above devices to help protect your new boiler.

Another way to protect your boiler is to get it serviced annually.

Wondering how much is annual boiler service these days? Check out our thorough guide to boiler service costs.

To Repair or to Replace a Boiler?

If your boiler is relatively new, covered by warranty or insurance, or the boiler repair costs won’t set you back more than £200, then it makes far more sense financially to try repairing your boiler first. But, of course, remember that diagnosing the problem won’t be free, either — unless it’s something self-evident, you’ll have to hire a Gas Safe engineer at the cost of roughly £50-60 per hour.

RELATED READING: Check out our boiler fault-finding resource, an “advice centre” you can use to find articles covering various boiler faults.

If your boiler is old, out of warranty, not covered by insurance, and the cost of repairing your boiler surpasses £300, then fixing it will simply postpone the inevitable.

Your patched-up boiler will rumble on for a few more months and give up the ghost. So, if you’re dealing with one boiler breakdown after another, don’t waste your money on repairs and get a new boiler instead.

Should you decide on a replacement, we highly encourage you to get as many quotes as possible before installing. You can try your local installers, national companies like British Gas, and online installers like Heatable. If you want to get started quickly, we suggest you try Heatable first — it’ll take you less than 2 minutes to get a no-obligation quote for the cost of new boiler models (with installation), and all you have to do is fill out an anonymous questionnaire.

You’ll find the prices to be very reasonable, and best of all, Heatable can start installing your boiler the very next day, as long as you request service by 3pm. And even if you don’t end up using Heatable, at least their quote will serve as a handy benchmark as you get pricing from other installers. 

Final Thoughts

Is there anything we’ve missed? Have you had an experience with repairing a boiler recently? If you have a question or would like to share anything with our readers, please leave a comment below.

Next