Home Boiler installation Belfast
Boiler installation in Belfast
Get quotes for a new gas or oil boiler, or for switching from oil to gas, from registered installers who cover Belfast.
Replacing a boiler in Belfast often comes with a bigger question: stay on oil or switch to gas? About 30,000 Belfast homes still heat with oil only, and many are on streets where natural gas is now available.
Belfast at a glance
- Water hardness
- Varies by supply zone. NI Water's postcode checker gives 43 mg/l as calcium carbonate (soft) in Belfast Ballyhanwood, 67 mg/l (moderately soft) in Belfast Breda South, and about 158 mg/l (moderately hard) in Belfast Oldpark and Dunore Belfast North. The water comes from Lough Neagh, Silent Valley and Dorisland reservoirs in different blends. Source
- How homes are heated
- 70.9% of Belfast households heat with mains gas only and 20.2% (30,190 homes) with oil only. 2.4% use electricity only and 4.9% have two or more types of central heating. Source
- Oil across the city
- Oil-only heating ranged from 8.3% of households in Water Works ward and 8.5% in Central to 41.6% in Hillfoot, 35.4% in Finaghy and 33.3% in Gilnahirk. Source
- Housing mix
- 36.8% of Belfast households lived in a terraced house in 2021, 31.2% in a semi and 12.3% in a detached house. 19.6% lived in a flat, maisonette or apartment. Source
- Affordable Warmth
- The Housing Executive's Affordable Warmth Scheme helps owner-occupiers and private tenants with gross household income under £23,000, funding insulation, ventilation, heating and window upgrades in a set priority order. The separate Boiler Replacement Scheme closed to new applications in September 2023. Source
- Gas network
- Phoenix Energy runs the natural gas network in its Greater Belfast licence area. Its gas emergency number is 0800 002 001. Source
Oil to gas
Phoenix Energy runs the gas network in the Greater Belfast area and lets you check whether gas is available at your address. If it is, a conversion means a new gas meter and connection, a gas boiler fitted by a Gas Safe engineer, and the oil tank removed or decommissioned.
Ask for the conversion to be quoted as one job, including the tank removal, and check whether Phoenix has any current connection offers.
Staying on oil
If gas isn't available, a modern condensing oil boiler fitted by an OFTEC registered installer is far more efficient than older non-condensing models. External boilers save space indoors but need a weatherproof location.
Water and protection
Belfast's water ranges from soft to moderately hard depending on the supply zone. Ask the installer to check your zone on NI Water's postcode checker and fit scale protection on a combi in a harder zone. A magnetic filter and a full system flush are worth having whatever the zone.
Help with the cost
The Boiler Replacement Scheme closed to new applications in September 2023. The Housing Executive's Affordable Warmth Scheme can replace a boiler at least 15 years old for households under £23,000 a year, but only for those who are over 65, have a child, or receive certain disability benefits. See our heating grants page for Belfast.
Belfast homes and what they need
Victorian and Edwardian red-brick terraces
Combis are the usual choice. The boiler often moves into the kitchen or a bedroom cupboard when the old system comes out.
Suburban semis
Larger semis with two bathrooms may need a system boiler and an unvented cylinder rather than a combi. Get both options quoted.
Apartments in the city centre and riverside
Flue routes are limited in apartments. Check the lease and get the management company's agreement before changing anything outside.
Areas covered
Engineers who cover Belfast work across areas including Ormeau, Stranmillis, Malone, Ballyhackamore, Sydenham, Andersonstown, Newtownabbey, Holywood, Dundonald and Carryduff.
Questions people in Belfast ask
Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme apply in Belfast?
No. It only covers England and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own, more limited help through the Housing Executive.
How much does a new boiler cost?
Our new boiler cost guide gives national price ranges. Oil-to-gas conversions cost more because of the tank removal and new connection.