Oil-fired boiler service costs

[Theo]

Looking through the paperwork for our 'new' oil boiler (installed 2000), I'm slightly surprised by how much it's costing to service. For instance, this was 2014:

Oil standard boiler service upto 44kW 81.00 Monday to Saturday additional labour 13.50

15mm glass rope (per mtr) PC194 3.12 Delavan 0.55 x 80 W Nozzle 005580W 13.00 Ecoflam Blast tube 72mm minor 1 61.29 EOGB (HRM type) filter element 15 micron 9.50 Flexible 890mm 1/4" F STR x 1/4" F ang biogreen mec oil line (D) EOGB (x2) 14.50 Thermecon Boiler / burner seal - small thick 13.63

Total ex VAT 224.04

20% VAT 44.81 Total inc VAT 268.85

It's a reputable company, so I don't think they're up to anything. But just curious as to whether this level of 'sundries' is usual for oil boilers? Having been on gas before where a service was a quick clean up of the innards followed by some checks, I'm surprised about all the extra bits. Other years are roughly similar, not always as much, but there's always something and not much commonality between years (unlike 'oil and filter' on a car).

Is this normal, or is this a sign of an 'old banger' boiler which needs increasing attention to keep on the road?

Thanks Theo

[Cynic]

Most oil boilers can be serviced in an hour. A new nozzle is recommended each year. Oil hoses used to be notoriously brittle under the braided outer and leaked after a couple of years. "Long-life" hoses became available which should be good for five years or in many cases far more. Consumables such as fibreglass rope, fire cement and high temperature adhesive weren't items I charged extra for. "Washable" strainer were common rather than cartridge filters. I operated an annual service rota for my customers and normally could arrange a series of close together calls which allowed me to keep prices reasonable. By way of comparison a service to a domestic oil boiler in 2003/4 including nozzle was £65 in Yorkshire. I often had calls for a service which on attendance were seen to be prompted by breakdowns. These obviously cost more depending on what parts were required. I normally carried a wide range of spares as van stock to avoid having to trail off to suppliers although some of my competitors deliberately carried no stock and charged for time and travel which penalised the client.

[Michael Chare]

As a DIY person, I have never had to change a blast tube, in 35 years, though I have changed boilers. The other parts are not that unreasonable.

[Cynic]

I only had two blast tube replacement jobs ever. One was in an industrial boiler where a lip ring had burned away due to build up of carbon which had not been removed at service. The other was physical damage by a clumsy amateur.

[Theo]

Interesting :)

What does a regular annual service look like? Filter? Nozzle? Or are those things changed on an as-needed basis? Or a time-based schedule (a bit like x,000 miles on a car)

Theo

[Tufnell Park]

Filter and nozzle are routinely changed on the annual service of our oil fired boiler. Sometimes the photo cell is also replaced.

[Cynic]

There should be a comprehensive description of servicing an oil boiler with pressure jet burner tucked away in the wiki.