OT: OVO offer

Are they just assuming that you do have mains gas? A flue gas analysis is part of every gas boiler service. Even the service that skips items will have a flue gas analysis.

I can only say that they know I do not have gas supplied by them. Beyond that, their thinking is beyond me.

I respectfully suggest it will be worth what you are paying for it.

When we had a free boiler "service" as part of our boiler cover plan, the guy vaguely waved a hoover around inside and then left a drain plug very slightly loose.

Which is why I am declining the offer.

You may be giving their marketing department more credit that it's worth. Easier just to spam all the customers with the offer, and then write in the small print whether it's available to them or not.

Case in point:

"Please note OVO Energy does not offer services for: • Liquefied petroleum gas, oil fired, solid fuel or electric boilers and heating systems"

"Thinking" - that might be where you are going wrong.

A friend would get repeated messages saying she really ought to have a smart meter installed. She actually _wanted_ such a meter. She would try to arrange an installation, only to be told they didn't do the area where she lived. Rinse & repeat for years (until she moved).

During Covid, there were numerous TV adverts for Ocado. When I went down with Covid myself, I went online to Ocado, and made up an order for over the minimum value of £40. But when I went to place the order, they informed me that they did not deliver to my Postcode. They could have asked for that information at the beginning, but they didn't. I have had no interest since in using them.

I'll bet they just measure the flue gas CO/CO2 ratio, and if it's <0.004, they just say it doesn't need servicing. (That's for gas, I don't know what the equivalent is for oil.) This was the basis of the British Gas annual service a few years back (and may still be). Most modern boilers don't actually need anything doing for years.

We use Ocado & have done for several years. This despite the many and varied ways they keep on inventing in order to wind us up.

Part of a boiler service should include cleaning out the condense trap and cleaning out any magnetic filter etc.. The service on my modern boiler takes 30 to 45 minutes.

Usually the t&c for a 10 year guarantee requires a annual service by an "approved" gas technician. My last service cost £90 incl VAT from a local 2 man company which installed my boiler.

I agree with your observation about BG servicing. A relative had a BG service contract which ended up costing around £150/year which included the annual service. This service took all of 10 minutes and basically consisted of only testing the flue gasses. When the service was changed to much cheaper local company the first service took an hour and was probably the first time the covers had been off in 10 years. Evidence of a long term leak was found within the boiler.

Talking of cleaning out the condensate trap, I found the easiest way to do that on my Keston C25 was to pour a jug of water into the flue outlet. That has the additional benefit of cleaning out the bottom of the heat exchanger too, which does collect some debris, much more than I even found in the trap (which is partly transparent in this boiler so you can see if it needs cleaning). (Pouring the water through too fast will trip the blocked condensate detection when it backs up in the trap, as I did once.)

I make no claim this is valid on any other boiler, so you do this at your own risk.

Yes, I bought a spare Keston for parts from someone in this group ~15 years ago, which had been maintained by British Gas, and written off by not fixing a long standing condensate leak. I've used one of the circuit boards (although I managed to repair the original too) and the heat exchanger out of the spare, so that was well worth doing. Also swapped over the air mixer and gas valve which enabled me to keep the system going and clean the originals for refitting at my leisure.