Call Steve01825 705011

OFTEC registered · Uckfield, East Sussex

Oil heating that
stays on.

Servicing, breakdowns and controls for oil-fired homes across Sussex. Steve Fretten is OFTEC registered and a qualified electrician, so the boiler and the wiring are both his problem rather than yours.

Call 01825 705011Book a service
Steve Fretten standing beside the sign-written Oilfire Heating van on a customer's driveway
  • OFTEC registered
  • 10+ years on oil
  • Qualified electrician
  • Fully insured

Qualified both sides

One visit, not two.

An oil heating fault can sit anywhere between the tank in the garden and the thermostat on the wall. Most oil engineers aren't electricians, and most electricians won't go near a burner, so the awkward faults that sit on the boundary between the two turn into two appointments and two bills. Steve holds both tickets.

Tank & supplyFilters, lines, leaks
Burner & boilerNozzles, pumps, combustion
Wiring & controlsValves, pumps, stats
Smart controlsHive, tado, Honeywell
Where most callouts stop
Oilfire Heating covers all of it

What Steve does

Oil heating, start to finish.

Domestic oil-fired heating across Sussex, from the annual service that keeps a boiler honest to the 6am callout when it won't light.

  • Annual boiler servicing

    A full strip and clean of the burner, new nozzle and fuel filter, flue gas analysis, and a safety check that runs from the tank right through to the flue.

    • Burner stripped & cleaned
    • Nozzle and filter replaced
    • Combustion tested & recorded

  • Breakdowns & fault finding

    Boiler locked out, no hot water, radiators cold. Diagnosis on the burner and the wiring both, so the fault gets found rather than guessed at.

    • Lockouts & repeat resets
    • No heat / no hot water
    • Pump, valve & stat faults

  • AGA servicing & repair

    Oil-fired AGAs are their own discipline and most heating engineers pass on them. Servicing, repairs and burner work on AGA and Certikin.

    • Oil-fired AGA servicing
    • Burner & control repairs
    • Certikin equipment

  • Heating & smart controls

    Upgrades to programmers, thermostats and zone valves, including Hive and tado. Steve is a qualified electrician, so the wiring gets done on the same visit.

    • Smart thermostat installs
    • Programmer & zone upgrades
    • Small electrical works

Boilers, burners and controls worked on regularly,including but not limited to:

  • AGA
  • Grant
  • Worcester Bosch
  • Warmflow
  • Firebird
  • HRM
  • Navien
  • Certikin
  • Honeywell
  • Hive
  • tado

The engineer

You get Steve.

Oilfire Heating is Steve Fretten. Not a call centre, and not a rota of subcontractors. He has been looking after oil-fired heating around Uckfield and the villages for more than ten years, and he is a qualified electrician on top of his OFTEC registration.

That combination matters more than it sounds. Oil heating in this part of the world tends to live in old houses: a boiler in an outbuilding, an AGA in the kitchen, a tank down the garden, and wiring that has been added to by four different people over thirty years. Being able to work on all of it means faults get traced properly instead of parts being swapped until something changes.

Fully insured, straight about what a job needs, and clear on price before the work starts.

10+
Years on oil heating
OFTEC
Registered engineer
2
Trades, one visit
Steve Fretten beside an open Grant Vortex Blue oil boiler with the Riello burner exposed
Grant Vortex Blue with the casing off, mid-service.

Where Steve works

All across Sussex.

Steve covers the whole of Sussex, east and west, plus the surrounding areas over the county line. Oil heating tends to sit where the gas main never reached, so most of the week is spent out in the countryside. If you think you might be too far out, it is still worth a call.

Closest to home, around Uckfield

  • Uckfield
  • Crowborough
  • Buxted
  • Framfield
  • Maresfield
  • Heathfield
  • Nutley
  • Newick
  • Chailey
  • Ringmer
  • Lewes
  • Hailsham
  • Forest Row
  • Mayfield
  • Wadhurst
  • Haywards Heath

Rated 5.0 on Google

What customers say.

A few of the reviews Steve has picked up locally. Every one of them is five stars, and there are plenty more on his Google listing.

  • Excellent service from Steve today. He carried out a service on my oil boiler in my new house. It needed a few replacement service parts and he explained everything clearly. Very thorough and every confidence in his work. Very competitive pricing. Definitely recommended.
    JohnBuxted
  • Very impressed with Steve from Oilfire Heating who came to our rescue promptly when our hot water valve failed. He was able to fit the new part and gave excellent service. Thank you Steve.
    AnneFramfield
  • Steve is always happy to help, polite and reliable. Always explains the issue and will demonstrate how to fix things in the future if possible and when to contact him if needed. Definitely recommend.
    JessicaMaresfield
  • I can't recommend Steve enough. We booked him in to look at our boiler which was leaking oil. He identified the problem immediately, had all the spare parts he needed to fix it in his van and had the issue sorted within an hour. He is extremely knowledgeable and also very honest and reliable. He explains everything he is doing and his rates are reasonable too. 10/10.
    SallyBlackboys
  • Steve came over at short notice after our Grant boiler stopped working. He clearly explained what the issue was and how it was repaired. He arrived on time, worked efficiently, and left everything tidy. The boiler is now running perfectly, better than it ever has in fact. Friendly, knowledgeable and reliable. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend him and would definitely use him again. Thanks again Steve!
    GemmaFletching

Straight answers

Questions worth asking.

The things people ring up about before they book.

How often does an oil boiler need servicing?

Once a year. Oil burns dirtier than gas, so soot builds up in the heat exchanger and the nozzle wears. An unserviced boiler burns more oil to make the same heat, and it is far likelier to fail in a cold snap. Most people book theirs for late summer or early autumn, before the heating goes back on.

What actually happens during a service?

The burner comes out and is stripped and cleaned, the nozzle and fuel filter are replaced, the heat exchanger and flue ways are brushed through, and the oil line and tank get checked over. Then the combustion is tested with a flue gas analyser and the readings recorded, so there is proof the boiler is running safely and efficiently.

My boiler has locked out. Should I keep pressing reset?

Press it once. If it locks out again, stop and call. A lockout means the burner tried to fire and the safety system stopped it, and repeatedly resetting pumps unburnt oil into a hot combustion chamber. It also usually points at something simple: a blocked filter, water in the tank, a tired photocell. All of those cost far less to put right than the damage repeated resets cause.

Do you work on AGAs?

Yes. Oil-fired AGAs are serviced and repaired, including burner and control work. A lot of heating engineers will not take them on, so if you have been turned away elsewhere it is worth a call.

Can you fit a smart thermostat?

Yes. Hive, tado and Honeywell among others. Because Steve is a qualified electrician as well as OFTEC registered, the heating side and the wiring side are both covered in one visit rather than needing a separate sparks.

Are you registered and insured?

OFTEC registered and fully insured, with 10 years and more working on oil heating across Sussex.

Get booked in

Tell Steve what it's doing.

For a breakdown, ringing is quickest, because the phone gets answered by the person who'll be turning up. For a service or a quote, the form is fine.

Based in
Uckfield, East Sussex

Hours

  • Monday to Friday8am to 5pm
  • SaturdayBy arrangement
  • SundayClosed