AMELIA Rogers knew something was seriously wrong with her boiler after the tap and shower in her London rented home ran cold in March this year.
But instead of calling a plumber, the 20-year-old marketing student decided to use AI and TikTok to try and fix the situation – which turned the £200 problem into an eye-watering £1,000 issue.
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Amelia’s radiators were still heating normally, despite her having no hot running water in her entire flat.
She entered this information into an AI chatbot, which suggested that the faulty hot water flow sensor could be stopping the boiler from recognising when a tap had been switched on.
The sensor is a device that detects when water is moving through your pipes and how fast it flows.
Amelia then turned to TikTok, where she found several videos that suggested it would be a relatively simple repair.
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Amelia said: “The chatbot sounded so sure of itself that I thought I could probably fix it.
“It said the hot water sensor might be the problem and gave me some steps to follow.
“I found people fixing what looked like the same issue on TikTok, so I thought I’d give it a go.”
Meanwhile, she decided not to let her landlord or managing agent know about the problem to save time.
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She said: “I’d used TikTok for little jobs around the house before, and the videos were always easy to follow.
“The heating still worked, so I didn’t think it could be that serious. I thought trying it myself would save everyone time and money.”
She removed the boiler casing and attempted to access and clean the suspected sensor, which flags potential faults.
But the videos she had watched showed different boiler models, which meant the internal layout of her appliances was not the same.
“I then realised that it was more complicated than the videos had made it look,” she said.
“There were wires and parts everywhere. I’d already started by then, so I thought I could just put everything back afterwards.”
But to her horror, when she turned the boiler on it had stopped heating her radiators in addition to producing no hot water.
“That was when I really panicked,” she said. “Before, it was only the hot water. Afterwards, the whole boiler stopped working.”
Amelia then contacted her landlord, who arranged for a Gas Safe registered engineer to inspect the appliance.
The engineer said the original problem was a faulty hot water flow sensor, which would have cost around £200 to repair.
But when she attempted to access the sensor, Amelia had also damaged an electrical connector, which allowed hot water to reach the boiler’s printed circuit board.
This acts as the brain of the boiler and receives signals from different parts of the sensor.
As a result, the circuit board needed to be replaced, which pushed up the total bill to £1,000.
This included roughly £550 for a replacement printed circuit board and £100 for the damaged electrical components.
She also had to pay for the cost of the original fault and labour costs for the engineer.
If she had contacted her landlord straight away she wouldn’t have had to pay anything.
“The chatbot and TikTok videos made it sound really simple, but they couldn’t actually see my boiler,” she says.
“Looking back, I should have realised it wasn’t the same as having a proper engineer check it.”
She’s now urging others not to make the same mistake.
Amelia adds: “AI and TikTok might help you understand what could be wrong, but that doesn’t mean you should try to repair it.
“I turned a minor problem into a much bigger one than I started with.”
How do I know if my boiler has a fault?
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If your boiler isn’t working as normal then it could be broken.
It may stop heating water, there may be an error message or a warning light.
While it’s usually a good idea to have a professional look at your boiler not all problems need an engineer’s expertise.
To diagnose a problem check the boiler’s manual, which will explain any fault codes you can see.
It should also let you know if you can fix the problem yourself.
If you can’t find your manual then you should be able to download an online copy from your manufacturer’s website.
Peter Knowles, technical repair engineer at British Gas, said: “If your boiler shows a fault code, the two main things it’s usually safe to try yourself are resetting the boiler and topping up the boiler pressure.
“As error codes vary between manufacturers, it’s important to check your boiler’s manual to understand what the code means.”
He adds that if your boiler isn’t working then check that the power hasn’t been switched off by mistake, that your thermostat and timers are switched on, and you have working batteries that are set correctly.
During the colder months one of the most common causes of boiler faults codes is a frozen condensate pipe.
This can prevent your boiler from firing up.
Meanwhile, error codes can pop up if your gas supply has been turned off or your prepayment meter needs topping up.
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If these checks don’t fix the issue then you should contact a Gas Safe registered engineer as the problem could be more complicated.
It’s best not to remove the boiler casing as this can be dangerous and can invalidate a warranty you have on the boiler, leaving you at risk of a hefty bill, consumer group Which? warns.
How to get free boiler checks
It can be a good idea to get your boiler checked regularly to avoid a hefty bill if it stops working.
For example, British Gas provides free boiler servicing to vulnerable households that need extra support through its Warm & Working scheme.
To be eligible you need to receive the Warm Home Discount, which gives households on certain benefits £150 off their energy bills.
The energy supplier will contact eligible households to offer them the checks.
But non British Gas customers can also qualify if they meet the eligibility criteria.
They can be referred to the scheme through partner organisations or the British Gas Energy Trust.
Meanwhile, if you own your own home you may be able to qualify for a free annual safety check.
These are given to people on means-tested benefits who are over the State Pension age, are disabled or have a long-term health condition.
Speak to your supplier to see if you qualify.