When your heating begins to play up, you need someone trustworthy on your books you can turn to. Being left without hot water or any heating, especially during the winter, is one of the most inconvenient problems. Find a trusted heating engineer near you to help ease the worry when things go wrong.
Whether your radiator has cold spots, or your boiler has been playing up, you require a safe and registered heating engineer to perform checks. Choosing a trusted professional can sometimes be tricky, so this blog will provide top tips to help you find an expert to keep in your phone book for when the time comes.
What Do Heating Engineers Near Me Do?
Heating engineers are specially trained to work on heating systems. This can mean repairing, replacing or conducting annual checks on the likes of radiators, thermostats, pipework, central heating systems and hot water cylinders.
The roles of heating engineers and plumbers can sometimes get confused. Plumbers, however, deal with appliances that work with water such as dishwashers, toilets and sinks. Plumbers can’t work on heating systems, even if they have a Gas Safe registration. This is why it’s important to always make sure to book a heating engineer if your heating has stopped working, not a plumber.
What Does Gas Safe Registered Mean?
When looking for a heating engineer you can trust, one of the most important steps is making sure they’re gas safe registered. The Gas Safe Register is the official list of qualified and legal engineers who can work on gas appliances. Without this verification, the engineer is not legally allowed to work on heating solutions, such as fixing your gas boilers, ovens, cookers etc. Making sure your engineer is Gas Safe Registered is the first step you should take when deciding who to hire.
How To Find a Trustworthy Local Heating Engineer
Wanting a local heating engineer near me? Follow these tips to make sure you avoid scammers and find a heating engineer you can use time and time again.
Ask People You Trust
It’s likely that friends and family members will have had to call a heating engineer in the past. Ask for their recommendations, you can trust their opinion and know that they won’t have any reason to lie. You can also find out things like pricing, how quickly they completed the work and other important information you might not usually be able to find out about an engineer.
Ask Tradesmen
If you know of people in the industry, see if they know of anyone that they would recommend. It is also likely that they will know someone local to you, which is always handy.
Compare Prices
Once you have whittled your list down to a few local experts, contact them directly to get a quote. This way you can compare their rates and make a financial choice. This will also prevent any surprises at the end of the service when the price doesn’t fit your budget.
Testimonials
One of the best ways to find out if you can trust a tradesman is to read reviews. Whether this is on Google, their Facebook page or Trustpilot, it can give you an idea of how previous customers have felt about their work.
Ask For Accreditation
Always ask for accreditation or proof of license to make sure your heating engineer is who they say they are. They will be able to present their Gas Safe Register card to verify they can legally work on your heating system.
Check Service Warranty
Make sure to check your boiler’s service warranty before hiring a boiler engineer to make sure you are covered.
Discuss The Details
An engineer you can trust will understand the details including what materials you need, in case you want to buy any parts yourself. Have these discussions with your engineer to verify that they know what they’re talking about.
Don’t Pay Upfront
You should rarely have to pay for a job like this up front. There could be a small upfront payment, but if you are asked to pay completely upfront then this is a red flag. If this happens, find another engineer.
Ask Away
To give yourself peace of mind, don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you like when hiring heating engineers near me. You want to feel safe that your appliances are in the right hands, so before hiring one feel free to ask questions to see how trustworthy they seem.
Get Your Heating Back on Track
Finding an engineer you can trust can save you a lot of time and money in the future. When you have someone you can trust, you’ll be able to get your issues sorted quickly and efficiently. Hopefully these tips come in handy when trying to find your next heating engineer!
