Central Heating in London Greater London (196)

The cost of a central heating engineer depends on the work you’re hiring them to do in your home. The average central heating engineer cost in London-Greater-London to service a boiler can range from £50 to £180, depending on the type of boiler you have. If you opt for annual boiler and central heating cover, the cost is in the region of £180 - £300.

Central heating installation costs

If you’re looking for a central heating engineer in London-Greater-London to install a central heating system, the central heating installation costs will vary depending on the size of your property and the type of central heating system that you want to install.

Here are some of the average central heating engineer costs in London-Greater-London for installing a central heating:

• Oil central heating system – £4,500 - £5,500

• Electric central heating system – £3,230 - £4,350

• Gas heating system – £2,300 - £4,500

Central heating running costs

Before you decide on which type of central heating system you want to install in your home, it’s important to consider the running costs so that you understand what you’ll be paying in addition to the installation costs. You want to make sure that you’re happy with the central heating system running costs before you commit to the installation.

As a guide, here are the average running costs of the most common types of central heating system in the UK:

• Mains gas central heating – £609 per year or 2.4p per kWh

• Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) central heating – £1,125 per year or 7.6p per kWh

• Electric central heating – £2,053 per year or 9.9p per kWh

• Oil central heating – 6p per kWh

Central heating engineer cost near me

If you want to know what a realistic central heating engineer hourly rate in London-Greater-London is, we recommend obtaining at least three quotes from different central heating engineers near you. It’s always sensible to shop around to make sure you're paying a fair and competitive price. And, thanks to our request a quote tool, finding multiple quotes from central heating engineers in London-Greater-London is super quick and easy.

There are lots of heating engineers out there, but you want to find the right tradesperson for the job so that you know you’re hiring an engineer you can trust. We’ve put together our top tips to show you how to find a good heating engineer in London-Greater-London.

1. Use Checkatrade search

All of our members have been individually vetted by our team, and we verify all our tradespeople’s qualifications and accreditations – so that you can be confident that you’re dealing with experienced professionals. Use our search tool to find good heating engineers that your neighbours in London-Greater-London have recommended.

2. Check their reviews and ratings

Whenever you’re considering hiring a heating engineer, or any other tradesperson, we always recommend checking their reviews and ratings. That way you can gauge the quality of the service that they offer, and see what previous customers have to say about working with them.

3. Contact their customer references

Any reputable heating engineer will be happy to supply you with references of previous customers that you can contact to check they were happy with the engineer’s work. This is particularly important if you’re planning a big job, like installing a new central heating system. You want to make sure the tradesperson you hire can do the job and will be efficient, professional and friendly to deal with.

4. Ask relevant questions

One of the best ways to find a good heating engineer and learn more about how they work is to ask them questions, either in person or over the phone. Here are some useful questions you might want to ask them:

• How long have you been a heating engineer for?

• What qualifications and/or accreditations do you have?

• Are you insured, and can you provide valid insurance certificates?

• Have you done many jobs like this one?

• Can you provide me with references from previous customers?

• How long will it take to do the work?

• How much will it cost, and what are the payment terms?

If you’re specifically looking for a gas engineer, take a look at our guide on how to find a gas engineer.

If you’re ready to hire a gas engineer, it’s a smart move to double check that they’re registered before hiring them. In the UK, the main body for registered gas engineers is called the Gas Safe Register and all reputable gas engineers should be on their list.

Customers can easily check if an engineer is registered by using their check an engineer tool. All you need to do is put in the engineer's license number from their ID badge. If the gas engineer is registered, you’ll be able to see their photo and details of their relevant qualifications.

You can also check if a business is registered on the same site by using their check a business tool. You’ll need either the business’s registration number, which will be 1 to 6 digits long, or their registered business name. If they’re registered, then you’ll then be able to see details of the business on the register.

Reasons to hire a Gas Safe engineer

When it comes to gas, you want to make sure you aren’t putting yourself or your family at risk. Here are some of the reasons why you should always hire a Gas Safe engineer:

• Registered Gas Safe engineers have the appropriate level of knowledge to correctly carry out work on gas appliances

• Gas Safe registered engineer will be trained to recognise the signs of gas leaks or other issues related to gas systems and appliances

• Being registered as a Gas Safe engineer gives you peace of mind that the tradesperson knows what they’re doing and is dedicated to their work

• Hiring an accredited gas engineer to install gas appliances, such as a new boiler, will ensure that you’re respecting the terms of any warranty included

• The Gas Safe register is accurate and constantly updated to reflect any tradespeople who have violated safety guidelines or failed to provide evidence of their accreditation

• Hiring a gas engineer who isn’t included on the register is a huge risk that could put you and your loved ones in danger

Unsure about a gas engineer?

If you have doubts about the credibility of a gas engineer, take measures to ensure that they are indeed qualified and fit to do the job. You should never take chances when it comes to dealing with gas. For more information, read our guide on how to tell if your gas engineer is working legally.

In order to keep your central heating system in tip top condition and avoid unnecessary issues or repair work, it’s important to carry out regular maintenance work. Part of that maintenance involves draining your central heating system every once in a while, which can also help when changing or moving a radiator, removing sludge or repairing a leak.

Here’s our step-by-step summary of how to drain a central heating system:

1. Turn off your boiler

The first step before you can do any draining is to switch off your boiler, so that now scalding water can be pumped through the system while you’re draining the central heating system.

2. Shut off the water

The last thing you want is water leaking out everywhere, so shut off the water intake valve to stop water entering the heating system.

3. Locate the drain-off valve

Once you’ve found the drain-off valve for your central heating system, attach a hosepipe – if the hosepipe is loose you can fix it into place with a jubilee clip. The hosepipe you use needs to be long enough to reach a drain outside, so that the water runs straight into the drainage system.

Alternatively, if you don’t have access to a hosepipe, you can use a large bucket under the drain-off valve. You’ll just need to keep shutting off the drain-off valve to empty the bucket as it gets full.

4. Drain the radiators

Before opening the drain-off valve, check that your radiator valves are all open. Then, with the hosepipe or bucket in place, open the drain-off valve and the water should begin to drain out of your central heating system.

5. Open the bleed valves to speed things up

If you open the bleed valves on your radiators, you’ll hear the sound of air being sucked into the system. Just remember to put containers underneath the radiators first to avoid any unwanted spillages.

6. Finish the central heating system drainage process

When you get to the point when no more water is coming out of the drain-off valve and you’re confident that all the water has been drained from your heating system, do the following:

1. Close the bleed valves

2. Close the drain-off valve

3. Remove the hosepipe (being careful not to spill any water in the hose itself)

Job done. You have now successfully drained your central heating system.

If that all sounds like a lot of effort, or you don’t have the time to drain your heating system yourself, you can hire a plumber to do it for you. For more information on prices, check out our guide to plumber costs.

Pinhole leaks are one of the most common types of radiator leak, and thankfully they’re fairly straightforward to fix. And it’s important you do fix the leak as soon as possible, so that you avoid any further damage or risk the problem getting worse.

Here’s our quick step-by-step summary of how to fix a pinhole leak in a central heating radiator:

1. Find the location of the leak

It sounds obvious, but to fix a leak you need to know where it is. If it’s not immediately obvious, check for signs of leaking such as wet patches on the floor under the radiator

2. Turn of the water supply to the radiator

You don’t want water to keep seeping out of the pinhole leak while you’re trying to fix it, so make sure you turn off the water supply first.

3. Prepare for any escaping water

Lay down towels or place a bucket or other suitable container under the radiator to catch any water that might escape from the radiator while you’re fixing the leak.

4. Clean the radiator

Before you apply any putty to the radiator, you want to make sure the outside of the radiator is completely dry and clean of any dust, dirt or debris.

5. Cover the pinhole leak

Use an epoxy putty to cover the pinhole leak and leave it to dry out completely. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure you leave the putty to dry for the appropriate amount of time.

6. Refill your radiator

With the epoxy putty in place and dry, the pinhole leak should now be fixed so you can refill your radiator and turn the water supply back on.

To find out more, take a look at our guide on how to fix a pinhole leak in a radiator.

Hire a plumber to fix the pinhole leak

If you’re not comfortable draining a radiator and fixing the leak yourself, a good local plumber will be able to do the job for you. Speak to plumbers in your area to get an accurate quote for the job and find out their availability to fix the leak – ideally, as soon as possible.