Oil Boiler Servicing & Repairs in Suffolk and Essex
Oil boiler servicing and repairs for homes around Clare, Sudbury and Haverhill, by OFTEC trained engineers with no call-out fee. Call 01787 278511 or WhatsApp 07825 348536 with your postcode and boiler make, and we will tell you plainly what the visit involves before any work starts.
Call 01787 278511 Call 07825 348536 WhatsApp 07825 348536
A lot of the villages we cover from our base in Clare have never had mains gas. Kerosene boilers, often with a plastic or steel tank at the bottom of the garden, are normal in places like Belchamp Otten, Ashen, Poslingford, Wickhambrook, Hawkedon and Great Yeldham. An oil boiler needs a different kind of attention from a gas combi, and that is the work this page is about.
What an oil boiler service covers
Oil burns less cleanly than gas, so an oil boiler that is left for a few years tends to soot up, run less efficiently and eventually lock out. A yearly oil boiler service is the best way to avoid a cold house in January. On a typical service our engineer will:
- clean the heat exchanger and combustion chamber and remove soot and scale
- check the burner and replace the nozzle, and the filter where needed
- check the fuel line and oil filter between the tank and the boiler
- test combustion with an analyser and set the burner up so it burns cleanly
- check the flue, seals, controls and safety devices
- have a look at the tank, its base and its pipework, and tell you about anything worth watching
We will talk you through anything we found and what, if anything, needs doing next. If the boiler is a gas or LPG model rather than oil, see our main boiler servicing page or the LPG boiler and heating page instead.
Common oil boiler faults we are called about
- Lockout light on and no heating. Often a blocked nozzle or filter, a dirty photocell, or air in the oil line. Press reset once only. Repeated resets can flood the combustion chamber with oil.
- Boiler stopped after the tank ran low. Running a tank close to empty can draw sludge and water into the line and leave an airlock. A delivery alone may not get it going again.
- Smell of oil or fumes indoors, or black soot round the flue. Switch the boiler off and call us. Every oil-fired home should have a working carbon monoxide alarm.
- Noisy or rumbling burner, or the boiler firing up and cutting out. Usually a combustion or fuel supply problem that a service will show up.
- Hot water but no heating, or the other way round. This can be the boiler, but it is often a pump, valve or programmer. We cover the whole boiler repair and heating system, not just the burner.
If you can see oil leaking from the tank or pipework, turn off the valve at the tank if it is safe to reach. If oil could reach a drain, ditch or watercourse, report it to the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Booking an oil boiler service or repair
It saves time if you can tell us the boiler make and model (usually on a label behind the front panel), roughly when it was last serviced, how much oil is in the tank, and whether the boiler is inside the house or in an outdoor casing. A photo of the lockout light or the data plate by WhatsApp to 07825 348536 is ideal. Landlords with oil-heated lets can book the service alongside other checks; see our boiler care and service plans if you would like a yearly reminder.
Why homeowners near Clare use Anglian PHE for oil heating
- Local business trading since 1993, with a team of over 10 local engineers
- OFTEC trained engineers for oil boilers, plus Gas Safe registered (572792) for gas and LPG, and NAPIT registered for domestic electrics
- No call-out fee, and we explain the likely next step before we start
- Based at Top Floor, 4 Market Hill, Clare, Sudbury CO10 8NN, covering villages and towns within about 30 miles
See the full list of areas we cover, or call 01787 278511 to book oil boiler servicing today.