Train as gas engineer

Spannerhead

Spannerhead

Spannerhead

Associate
Joined
13 Feb 2023
Posts
493
Location
Scummy southend
Hi there you lovely lot.

Asking you lot for advise. I’m currently work for NatWest Bank as client manager. Been doing this for job for years but it’s one of jobs that you do with gritted teeth . Really starting to dislike this job as it is a high stress job and I have to work with the most narcissistic/ selfish people on the planet. .

Considering a career change ( mainly because I’m 37 and I am probably having a midlife crises )

I was thinking of getting out of banking and getting into a trade . Liked the idea of being a gas engineer/installer as my uncle was one . ( unfortunately I can’t ask him this question as the inconsiderate sod died on me years ago )

Does anyone here who work as a gas engineer think that this is a good idea to get into this sort of work later in life, how did you get into the job and how do find the job in general?

(loved the fact you can actually use this sort of work to get a job in Australia/canada/New Zealand )

Thank you
 
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My brother trained as a gas engineer in his mid twenties. He trained with a private company called Able Skills. He started by doing a city and guilds level 2 plumbing course and followed that with a gas engineer course that gets you gas safe certification if you pass the assessment.

The training was quite expensive at about £5k but it was the quickest way to do it.

He gets plenty of work as it’s a trade with a bit of a shortage. He’s self employed but has companies who he subs off. Hours vary, sometimes he’s done in 4-5 hours, sometimes 10. Depends on the complexity of the job.

He’s based in the SE London area. With a combination of his subbed work and private work (you can get a lot of that if you know the right people), he clears about £55-60k a year.
 
forgot to mention, it took 2 years to qualify. If you get there by 40, you could have 25 years in the game.
 
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sweet tankyou . really considering now.

I thought you have to get like a apprenticeship role of something, oh well, i will check this out
 
Spannerhead said:
sweet tankyou . really considering now.

I thought you have to get like a apprenticeship role of something, oh well, i will check this out
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The only other thing to consider is your general state of health. The job will be taxing on knees and lower back and if you get ill through injury then you don't get paid.

Not to try to put you off, but to give you something to consider in the decision.
 
montymint said:
The only other thing to consider is your general state of health. The job will be taxing on knees and lower back and if you get ill through injury then you don't get paid.

Not to try to put you off, but to give you something to consider in the decision.
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My brother was employed with a firm and he got sick pay when he fractured his wrist. Self employed is obviously different
 
The other thing to consider is that in your working lifetime, you will probably see a ban on new gas boilers. That’s not to say there will not be work in the gas sector in your working lifetime, there are 20 million gas boilers in domestic households that need maintenance and eventually decommissioning in the next 30 years.

There may be more money in renewables at the moment and a massive shortage of people who are capable of designing and installing heat pump systems. So the F-gas route is also worth considering.
 
Ive been a gas engineer for 20 odd years and its a decent living but theres a lot of uncertainty around the industry at the moment and I’m not sure if I would get into it now. Also these quick fire course are ok but you need to get experience on the job ive got a plumbing NVQ lvl 3 and what i learnt at college was largely irrelevant out in the real world.
 
montymint said:
The only other thing to consider is your general state of health. The job will be taxing on knees and lower back and if you get ill through injury then you don't get paid.

Not to try to put you off, but to give you something to consider in the decision.
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Funnily enough just talking to the guy I use to service my boiler today.

42 years old and back is ruined - climbing in and out of lofts/cupboards/small spaces etc etc. He's on pain killers most days. Has physio 4 times a month to keep him going.
 
booyaka said:
Funnily enough just talking to the guy I use to service my boiler today.

42 years old and back is ruined - climbing in and out of lofts/cupboards/small spaces etc etc. He's on pain killers most days. Has physio 4 times a month to keep him going.
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My business partner is 48 and he’s having on going back problems as well that needs physio. Not quite as bad as your guy but it’s definitely not easy on the body.
 
booyaka said:
Funnily enough just talking to the guy I use to service my boiler today.

42 years old and back is ruined - climbing in and out of lofts/cupboards/small spaces etc etc. He's on pain killers most days. Has physio 4 times a month to keep him going.
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36 year old plumber - he's great but his back is wrecked, was in slow release morphine last he came around. You could tell he was in a lot of pain, his wife is encouraging him to change job, work in college teaching the trade.
 
robfosters said:
Thats going to take years before they really take off. Gas safe is still a must really for a heating engineer.
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You won't be able to put a gas boiler in a new build in 18 months time, the demand for heat pumps will sky rocket and there isn't even enough qualified installers now.
 
Jokester said:
You won't be able to put a gas boiler in a new build in 18 months time, the demand for heat pumps will sky rocket and there isn't even enough qualified installers now.
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That is true, but there won’t be a ban on installing gas boilers on properties built before 2025 until 2035.

Heat pump costs are prohibitive too. I think hydrogen boilers are quite possibly going to be more widespread than heat pumps.
 
robfosters said:
That is true, but there won’t be a ban on installing gas boilers on properties built before 2025 until 2035.

Heat pump costs are prohibitive too. I think hydrogen boilers are quite possibly going to be more widespread than heat pumps.
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It's unlikely there'll ever be the infrastructure in place for hydrogen boilers, beyond a replacement for LPG, the current plan is to spike the domestic gas supply with upto 10% H2 as part of the transistion, but they'll always be limited by installed gas boilers ability to burn higher levels of H2.
 
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