Is your boiler prepared for the colder months? January 26, 2022 We completely understand that your boiler is probably not something your thinking about before it gets cold. In fact, it's probably not something you think about at all unless it breaks down and means you no longer have any heating or hot water. But by following a few simple steps we've outlined in this blog post, you can help ensure that your boiler works well throughout the winter months when you need it most and doesn't break down on you. While there are some things you'll need a Gas Safe registered engineer to help you with, there are also steps that you can easily carry out by yourself. Let's get started... Is my boiler winter ready? Have your boiler serviced The first and most important step to making sure that your boiler is ready for winter is to have it serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer such as ourselves. During an annual boiler service, an engineer will thoroughly check and inspect the boiler following the manufacturer's specifications. If done properly, they'll also clean and remove any dust or debris that might affect the boiler's performance. By having this boiler service carried out, the engineer can identify any issues that may cause a problem or breakdown and then deal with it before it results in a broken boiler that needs repairing. We highly recommend that you have your boiler serviced in the warmer summer months. Firstly, this is because our availability is much better during this time. Also, it means we can address any potential problems before your boiler is put under strain. If you are based in Redditch or the surrounding areas, book your boiler service with Lakins Heating & Plumbing. Check your boiler's pressure One of the most common reasons for a boiler to stop working properly is its pressure is too low or too high. Thankfully, you can easily check your boiler's pressure without the help of a heating engineer and prepare for when it gets really cold. If you need to check your boiler's pressure, take a look for the pressure gauge (this will be easy to find on most modern boiler models). In most cases, there will be a green zone on this gauge (usually between 1 and 1.5) which is the ideal pressure for your boiler. If the boiler pressure is too high, then you will need to lower this which can be achieved by bleeding your radiators (please see the next step). And if your boiler pressure is too low, you may need to repressurise your boiler using the filling loop. However, if your boiler pressure keeps jumping around or if the above actions don't help with achieving an ideal pressure, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable team of heating engineers today. Bleed your home's radiators If you've noticed that your radiators don't warm up as effectively as they have done previously, this may be due to a buildup of air that's trapped in your radiators, which in turn prevents heat from properly circulating. A symptom of this is when you put your hand to your radiators and notice cold spots or that they don't heat up fully. Bleeding your radiators is a simple task that you can do yourself without the assistance of a heating engineer such as ourselves; all you need is a radiator key. After you've bled your radiators, you should notice an improvement in how your radiators heat up pretty much straight away, which can be a big help in the winter. Look after your pipes When temperatures drop, one of the most common things we get called out to is frozen condensate pipes. In fact, when the Beast from the East hit in 2018, we received numerous calls with this very problem and had our work cut out for us. When the condensate pipe becomes blocked with ice, it causes the boiler to shut down and the central heating system to stop working. To prevent this from happening, you can either have your pipes properly insulated or an alternative method includes running your central heating system more frequently when it's particularly cold. You don't necessarily need to turn your thermostat to full blast, you just need to have your heat set to low heat at times you would otherwise have your central heating turned off. This helps prevent the temperature of the pipes from dropping too low where they're at a real risk of freezing, ensuring that your boiler doesn't stop working. Need advice or your boiler serviced? Lakins Heating & Plumbing are here to help customers throughout Redditch, Bromsgrove, Studley and Alvechurch with their heating needs. So whether you need to ask us a question on how best to prepare your boiler for winter, or if you need to book your annual boiler service, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Please feel free to give our friendly heating engineer a call on 07976 271 681 or leave us a message using our website's contact form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
