Central heating repairs in Barnstaple
I'm George Lane, a Gas Safe engineer based in North Devon. I find and fix cold radiators, noisy pipes, failed pumps and pressure that won't hold in Barnstaple, and I do every job myself.
- £220 including VAT for all the labour to get it working again, however long it takes
- Parts priced before they're fitted. Decide not to go ahead, and you only pay £105
- Travel to Barnstaple included
Prefer to write? Send an enquiry.
George Lane, Gas Safe No. 515374. Fully insured, 25+ years on boilers. I do every job myself, from the first visit to the finished work.
If you smell gas, leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency number, 0800 111 999, before anything else. Once the supply has been made safe, I can come and deal with the appliance.
What my customers say
5.0 from 103 Google reviews for Thames Boilers, my previous business in Kent
Tarka Boilers is new to North Devon, so it has no reviews of its own yet. Every review here is from a customer of Thames Boilers, the heating business I ran in Kent before I moved here.
Read all 124 reviewsI've been using the services of George at Thames Boilers to service my Boiler and Central Heating for many years now. Always reliable, friendly and efficient.
Paul C.Google review, October 2025Customer of Thames Boilers, Kent Always a pleasure doing business with Thames Boilers. Very friendly and alway provides the best and fastest service. Great job at replacing and upgrading our heaters and performing our boiler services.
Spyridon M.Google review, September 2024Customer of Thames Boilers, Kent We had a problem with our boiler and our heating system not working right as some radiators where cold and some hot and bleeding the radiators didn't do anything. George was very helpful, fruendly, proffesional, explained how things work and left only after all was working well.
Zlata A.Google review, November 2017Customer of Thames Boilers, Kent Really impressed with the work carried out by Thames Boilers, George replaced the pump and carried out a service, along with collecting keys from a different location as I could not be at the property for him to gain access. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an honest, professional and efficient company
Chris H.Google review, January 2020Customer of Thames Boilers, Kent George did a great job servicing our 30 year old boiler and replacing a faulty 3-port valve. Turned up at agreed time and was very polite and kept me informed of what he was doing. Would recommend.
Checkatrade reviewerCheckatrade review, July 2018Customer of Thames Boilers, Kent
- Gas Safe No. 515374Check it on the Gas Safe Register
- 25+ yearson boilers and heating
- G3 qualifiedfor unvented hot-water cylinders
- Fully insuredGeorge Lane trading as Tarka Boilers
I work on Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Baxi, Ideal, Glow-worm, Potterton and Viessmann. Mains-gas boilers only: I don't work on oil or LPG, and I don't fit new boilers.
Prices for central heating repairs in Barnstaple
Every price includes VAT and travel.
Fixed-price central heating repair, labour
£220including VATAll the labour to get your central heating working again, however long it takes, including travel and any return visit to fit a part. Parts are priced before they're fitted.
Central heating repair, diagnosis only
£105including VATIf you decide not to go ahead, or it can't sensibly be repaired, you only pay this for the visit, travel and finding the fault.
Travel to Barnstaple is included in every price.
Every price includes VAT. Repairs are £220 for all the labour, however long it takes, and parts are priced before they're fitted. Decide not to go ahead, and you only pay £105 for the visit.
Central heating repairs in Barnstaple
If the boiler fires but the house stays cold, the fault is usually in the system around it: the pump, a valve, the radiators or the controls. I'm George Lane of Tarka Boilers, a Gas Safe engineer (No. 515374) based in North Devon, and I repair central heating on mains-gas systems across Barnstaple.
Fixed-price heating repair: £220 including VAT for all the labour to get your heating working again, however long it takes. Parts are priced before they're fitted. Decide not to go ahead, and you only pay £105 for the visit. Replacing a radiator, a power flush or a new magnetic filter is priced separately and agreed before I start. Book online or call 01271 444410.
How booking works
You book
Book online and your time is confirmed straight away. I work Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and I'm not an emergency service. If it isn't a job for me, I'll say so and point you to someone who can help, rather than going quiet on you.
You'll know when I'm coming
You choose a start time when you book, not a morning or an afternoon. It is an estimate, because the job before yours can finish early or run on. When I set off to you, you get a text with a link that shows where I am, so you can see when I'll be at the door.
Barnstaple properties and their heating systems
A lot of Barnstaple's older housing, round the town centre, Newport and Pilton, has heating that has been added to over the decades: an extension on a different pipe run, a radiator moved, a combi fitted onto pipework meant for a cylinder. Those systems are harder to balance, and I spend time finding out how yours is actually piped before I change anything.
On estates such as Roundswell and Whiddon Valley the pipework is newer and simpler, and the faults are more often a single component: a pump, a thermostatic radiator valve pin, a zone valve.
Old and awkward is normal work here, not a reason to be turned away. Back boilers, open-vented systems, system and regular boilers, microbore pipework, boilers sited where somebody put them forty years ago and nobody has fancied since. The one honest catch is parts: if a component isn't made any more, I'll tell you that before you spend anything.
Which part of the system has failed?
Radiators cold at the bottom. Sludge has settled in them. Bleeding won't shift it. The radiator needs flushing off the wall, or the system needs cleaning.
Radiators cold at the top. Air. Bleeding usually sorts it, but if it keeps coming back, something is letting air in, and that's what I look for.
Upstairs warm, downstairs cold, or the other way round. On a system with a hot water cylinder this is often a motorised zone valve that has stuck, or its actuator head has failed.
Boiler running, nothing getting warm. A seized or failing pump. On older systems I check whether sludge killed it, because a new pump in dirty water won't last.
Pressure falling. A leak somewhere on the system, a pressure relief valve that lets by, or a flat expansion vessel.
Why sludge matters on a Barnstaple system
Black water from a bled radiator is magnetite, which is corrosion from inside the system. It blocks radiators, wears out pumps and coats the boiler's heat exchanger. BS 7593 requires all central heating systems to be treated with a corrosion inhibitor. If I find it, I show you and explain what cleaning it would involve and what it would cost, before I do anything.
FAQs: central heating repairs in Barnstaple
Can you fix one cold radiator?
Yes. I find out why it's cold first. If the cure is bleeding it or freeing a stuck valve pin, that's usually done there and then, and it's the same fixed price.
Do you replace radiators and valves?
Yes. Radiators, thermostatic radiator valves, zone valves and pumps are priced for your system and agreed before I start.
My heating works but the hot water doesn't. Is that a heating repair?
It depends on the system. On a combi it's a boiler fault. With a cylinder it can be a zone valve or the cylinder thermostat. When I come out, I'll find out which.
Do you balance radiators?
Yes, as part of a repair where the system is uneven. On older Barnstaple systems that have been extended, balancing properly is often what makes the difference.
Central heating repairs near Barnstaple
Other services in Barnstaple
See all services in Barnstaple- Boiler repairsMains-gas boiler faults found and fixed for one fixed labour price, however long it takes, with parts priced before they're fitted.
- Boiler servicingYearly gas boiler services: a standard service, or a full service with a new burner gasket and a full clean.
- Landlord gas safety checksLandlord gas safety checks and certificates for rented homes, with a reminder when the next is due.
- Smart thermostat installationHive, Tado and Nest thermostats fitted and set up by a Gas Safe engineer, priced before I start.
- Unvented cylinder service and repairYearly servicing and repairs for unvented hot-water cylinders, by a G3-qualified engineer.
Central heating repairs in Barnstaple?
Every price includes VAT. Repairs are £220 for all the labour, however long it takes, and parts are priced before they're fitted. Decide not to go ahead, and you only pay £105 for the visit. Travel to Barnstaple is included in every price.
Prefer to write? Send an enquiry.