Gas Fires - Repairs and Service

Herts Boilers® offers gas fire repairs and gas fire service in St Albans and west Hertfordshire. It should be noted we don't install or replace gas fires, and we don't have the compentency to carry out a chimney sweep.

Gas FireCompared with modern gas boilers, the construction and operation of gas fires are still fairly simple. Gas fires are more for decorative and atmospheric effects than space heating now. Wet central heating systems with modern condensing boilers are up to 90% efficiecy at heating, but most gas fires are still at around 50% efficiency. Normally, a gas fire is rated at just under 7kW input, so it provides an around 3kW heating output for a living room, equals to two big radiators. 

Gas fire repairs

Gas fires can go wrong, and normally it is a pilot light problem which isn't holding on. This is usually caused by a blocked pilot injector, a restricted air port, or a burnt-out thermocouple.

Fire repairsWe don't charge a call out fee for gas fire diagnosis. We will let you know the repair quote after our diagnosis. Before calling us for a gas fire repair, it is advisable to check your gas fire's make and model on the data plate. Then, check if its parts are still available.

There is a good supplier for gas fire spares - Gas Appliance Spares. If you wish, you can check it to see if your gas fire still has supply of spare parts. But this is not necessary in all cases, as some gas fire repairs don't require replacement of parts.

We have a very good record of first time fixes on gas fires.

We will give a one-year warranty on all of our gas fire repairs if a new part is fitted.

Gas fire service

A gas fire service is crucial for its safe operation. It is usually an open-flued gas fire, which has had a large build up of cobwebs over the years. This in turn causes a restriction in the flue, and spillage occurs in some cases.

When your fire is serviced, the main burner is cleaned to improve the flame picture, so is the pilot injector and air port, additionally all the flue checks are carried out. If there is an issue on the flue, there may be a need to call a registered chimney sweep company in to clean it. Although this is yet another cost at a difficult time in the year, it beats the alternative phone call you could be making.

Back boilerBack boilers and gas fires

Back boilers and front gas fires are fairly simple but they are prone to become restricted in air supply and flue way so a regular service is necessary. We charge £120 for a combined back boiler and gas fire service.

Gas fires we don't work on:

  1. Gas fires with front glass covers.
  2. Gas fires with remote controllers.

Success rate on gas fire ignition

Most of gas fires are a manual ignition type. They are not designed to be ignited with a 100% success rate, particularly when it is still an old and original pilot assembly and you use it very first time after a long summer.

So it is acceptable to give a few of igniting attempts before the pilot ignites in the end, and we don't normally come back as a recall for no 100% ignition rate after we serviced or repaired a gas fire, unless it is a new pilot assembly.