Boilers.
Why the fuck do boilers seem to break so often? They have a very simple task - heat up water on demand. So why has mine broken four times in as many months, yet my computer, which has a far more complicated job, has been on for a year continuously and hasn't failed (hardware, at least) once?
(Half of Stephen Fry's right buttock pissed on your dog on, Wed 7 May 2008, 12:45, 3 replies)

Your computer
doesn't have to deal with temperature ranges of several hundred degrees Celsius. That causes all sorts of material failures - embrittlement, oxidation etc - which can cause the boiler to stop working.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Wed 7 May 2008, 13:22, closed)

Yep
That's why boilers which supply stored hot water generally last for decades, because they're not subjected to so many on-off cycles. The one I've just got rid of in my house (still working, but hideously inefficient) has been there easily 25 years, and only broke down twice in the 10 years I've been there.
(JohabMorelli is spenging merrily away, Wed 7 May 2008, 14:38, closed)

boilers
is it a ravenheat?
(uugee, Wed 7 May 2008, 21:25, closed)