A sharp cold snap in early January has driven a surge in demand for boiler spares as freezing temperatures put heating systems and heating engineers under sustained pressure.
During the first two weeks of the month, City Plumbing recorded a 21% increase in boiler spares sales and a 25% increase in items picked from branch stock compared with the same period last year, reflecting a much busier start to the year for plumbing and heating engineers dealing with breakdowns, emergency call-outs and urgent repairs.
The increase follows a noticeably colder start to the year. In January 2025, average UK temperatures were around nine degrees above average during parts of the month. By contrast, early January 2026 has seen average temperatures fall to around seven degrees below normal, with snow and prolonged periods of sub-zero conditions as Storm Goretti hit on 8 January.
“Our figures show just how quickly breakdown demand rises when temperatures fall,” said Roz Kane, Managing Director for Spares at City Plumbing. “Engineers are under pressure to get systems back on fast, and delays caused by missing or incorrect spares quickly become the biggest frustration on a job.”
The cold snap also arrived at a time when repair work is already on the rise. City Plumbing’s Taking the Temperature report shows that 80% of installers are now seeing more demand to repair and maintain existing heating systems rather than replace them, while 85% say fast access to spares is more important than ever (see February issue of BMN).
The findings show that time pressure is a major challenge for engineers, too, with installers spending an average of 3 hours and 16 minutes a week sourcing products for boiler jobs, a figure that could easily climb during peak breakdown periods.
To support installers through the winter rush, City Plumbing combines online spares identification with fast local branch access to cut the time spent sourcing spares. Using SparesFinder, trades can search more than 20,000 spares from over 160 manufacturers, helping them identify the right component before travelling to branch.
Spares can then be reserved for same-day collection through click and collect, or ordered online before 6pm for next-day delivery. The merchant also stocks more than 250 core spares in every branch across its UK-wide network, helping engineers improve first-time fix rates and restore heating quickly when customers need it most.
“The Met Office is suggesting further cold weather could arrive later in January and into early February, so this is exactly the time when installers need confidence that the spares they need will be available when they need them,” added Kane. “By keeping branches well stocked and systems running smoothly, we’re making sure engineers can focus on fixing boilers, not chasing spares.”
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