Gas or Oil Boiler and Household Pre Winter Checks

Importance of a Gas or oil boiler and household pre winter checks are explained blow . Its now coming up to the “silly season” as we call it. People have not used there boiler for central heating for at least 4 months now . All the system has been doing is providing hot water with no apparent issues. So you think there is nothing wrong with the heating and you will be good to go when the cold weather hits.

First little bit of Cold weather

When the first bit of cold weather comes and the temperature drops. One of the first thing a homeowner does is – turn the heating on. If you have no issues then in a short space of time the heating is on and the house is now nice and cosy. But we get a large increase in calls from customers asking us to look at the heating as it isn’t working .

Just when you want the system to keep you warm it lets you down. This could be due to a number of reasons . But the most common reasons we have found is :-

1. Valves sticking as they haven’t been used all summer
2. Batteries in the wireless thermostats need changing
3. Thermostats have stopped working.
4. Pumps have seized – depending on your setup
5. Timers/Programmers have stopped working.
6. System pressure has dropped

There is much to recommend planning a schedule of maintenance and service procedures well in advance of the first cold snap.

Although not obligatory for home-owners, an annual boiler service may be a condition of a boiler warranty agreement.  Autumn is good time to get the Gas Safe, OFTEC or Hetas registered engineer out to service and check over the boiler.

To say this is a convenience is obvious , and you then want it fixed ASAP. This is where another problem arises for engineers – its not only your system that isn’t working. Numerous other systems have decided to play up also. So a lot of the time it doesn’t get fixed as quick as you like , so either you have to wait , call an emergency line – with increased costs or settle for someone who doesn’t really know what to do. All of these aren’t ideal but it’s a common theme that happens every year.

One way to prevent issues is to get the system checked by a professional before it gets cold – and if any issues are found these can be addressed while its still hot and of little inconvenience to yourself. This is where a boiler service comes in and a further full system check will help considerably. Ask about our full system heating checks which are above and beyond a normal boiler service.

Another way is to use the heating during the summer for a few minutes every couple of weeks or so. This should prevent parts sticking or seizing. If you do notice that anything isn’t working then call a professional to get it sorted, again during the warmer weather when its of little inconvenience. If you have a sealed system you can check the system pressure is around 1 bar , and if not top up using the system filling loop. These are in different places for different boilers – remember to close these valves when finished to prevent over pressurizing the boiler . Which would lead to further issues.

Check the radiators are getting warm top to bottom. Radiators which are cold at the top may just need bleeding . Radiators that are patchy ie hot and cold in different places may be blocked and the system may need some form of flushing.

Causes of “Patchy” hot/cold radiators

When your system is running in the winter , the particles of degraded radiator in the water are constantly being moved about. This , then isn’t an issue . But during the summer months when the heating is stood still these particles settle in the bottom of the radiators, pipes, valves and pumps. When the heating is turned back in they do not move and so hot water cannot get to these parts of the systems causing issues. This is where a flush may be necessary.

OTHER CHECKS BENEFICIAL TO HOMEOWNERS

Now is also a time where it would be good to open and close the stopcock. Or even locate it , its amazing how many people have lived in their homes for years and haven’t a clue hot to isolate water i.e where there main stop cock is. Often when we do locate it it has seized has it has never been used . Just by using this a couple of times a year and making sure it does stop mains water could save you a lot of heartache if you ever had a major leak or pipes burst due to freezing.

A well insulated home is key to saving us money and the environment , we always try to keep the house warm but never give a second thought to pipes. During cold spells pipes can freeze and when they start to thaw out often burst causing catastrophic damage to households. Either check yourself for lagging on these pipes or contact us to give your whole house a winte check and boiler service. Whether it be oil, gas,LPG or solid fuel.

It will also be worthwhile checking your boilers condense pipe, see it if lagged. Check its not sagging anywhere and of the correct size if running externally. If the condense pipe freezes it will as minimum stop the boiler working and could mean a new boiler .

Autumn is also a good time to check and air vents coming into the house are not blocked and free flowing. Usual causes of blockages are leaves , spiders webs and general debris that can be blown in.

Other external pipework often forgot about is from washing machines,dishwashers and sinks. These should be checked for blockages and if needed insulated. If blockages are not cleaned and freeze then the appliances when pumping waste water can pump water into the homeowners kitchen. Which will cause considerable damage.

If you have any outside taps or external water pipework then these should be drained or if not properly insulated against damage.

Check the operation of any smoke alarms and Carbon monoxide detectors as these could save your life. If they have normal batteries change these every year as standard and also id recommend changing the devices with built in batteries a year before they run out.

Emergency Contacts

If the worst should happen and you need to contact someone it may be worthwhile having a list of emergency numbers for plumbers, electricians etc and keep in a safe place. Usually pinned to a notice board or in your mobile so you can contact someone ASAP.

I would recommend also keeping a torch with new batteries, a back up electric heater . Try to keep mobile phones fully charged also in case you do need to contact anyone in emergency.

Getting into the habit of doing a pre-winter check and review of whats above in this post . Also periodically checking heating works and trying appliances, the homeowner can erase most of the possible issues before they occur.

If you are unsure of the above and want any advice on any of the above about gas and oil boiler servicing and household pre winter checks please contact us through the page or by call

Harrison on 07805 882686

Brett 07968 141929