As the days get shorter and temperatures drop, you will likely have found yourself turning your heating on a lot more. As your boiler receives more use, you will want to ensure that it is running smoothly throughout the winter months – the last thing you need is a boiler breakdown at the coldest time of year! In order for your central heating system to continue providing heat and hot water to you and your family without any disruptions, there a few things you can do to keep it running smoothly. Let us explain the steps you can take to ensure a fully functioning boiler this winter.
Regular cleaning
If your boiler goes multiple years without a clean, it will gather mould, dirt, or dust, much like anything else in your home that is untouched. This could affect the functionality and efficiency of your system, so it is worth taking steps to resolve this. You can use a cloth to wipe the dust from the surface of the boiler, but for any more advanced cleaning on the inside, you will want to leave this to a professional due to the complexity of the process and the risk of damage if left to unskilled hands.
Bleed radiators
Efficient radiators are important to the performance of your central heating system, allowing your boiler to run smoothly and not work too hard. This is why it is important to ensure they are functioning correctly. Trapped air can stop warm water circulating around your radiator effectively, leading to cold spots. You can bleed your radiators quickly and easily without needing to contact a plumber or heating engineer. All that you need to do is use a radiator key to turn the valve at the top allowing air to escape, but you should also be prepared to catch any water that comes out. Once you have retightened the valve, you can turn your heating back on and check your boiler pressure gauge to ensure the pressure levels are back to normal. If not, you will then need to repressurise the boiler to a suitable level.
Power flushing
Another way to take care of your radiators which can have a direct positive impact on your boiler is power flushing. This process cleans out all the dirt and sludge build-up from within your radiators and pipework to ensure it heats up more effectively. This will allow your boiler to heat your home more efficiently, having a positive effect on your energy bills.
Safety checks
It is important to ensure your boiler is operating safely and isn’t putting you or your family at risk this winter. If you have a gas boiler in your home, you will want to be extra careful and install a carbon monoxide detector to ensure that there is no risk of a gas leak occurring. You can arrange for a Gas Safe engineer to take a look at your system on an annual basis to check that there are no issues with your system.
Servicing
When preparing your boiler for winter, it won’t be enough to just check your system over yourself. Arranging an annual boiler service with a trusted heating engineer will allow a professional to carry out all the necessary checks to your system. Annual servicing can have numerous benefits such as improving efficiency and reducing the risk of boiler breakdowns at the coldest time of year.
Following these steps can help ensure the overall health of your boiler through the cold winter months, but if you want to get your system looked at, you can rely on our experts at Platinum Plumbers. If you would like to have your boiler serviced or require our expertise for anything else such as boiler repairs or maintenance, get in contact with us today. To get booked in as soon as possible, call now on 020 8855 0361 or email .
