Category: Advice

Advice

Landlord heating responsibilities

Post author By Lucy
Post date November 21, 2022
No Comments on Landlord heating responsibilities

Landlord heating responsibilities…

Warm tenants are happy tenants. But if you’re a landlord; there’s more than your tenant’s happiness to consider when it comes to heating your rental property.

Unfortunately, faulty boilers and heating systems can cause serious problems for landlords.

At worst, dangerous gas appliances pose an immediate threat to life in terms of risk of fires; explosions; and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Every year there are around 60 deaths from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in England and Wales. Less dangerous, but nevertheless costly problems include damage to property caused by escaped water.

But as well as these safety and financial implications, there are legal ones too.

As a landlord, you have a legal responsibility to provide and maintain the heating and hot water for your tenants. And to ensure your property is safe, and energy efficient.

In this blog, we take a closer look at landlord heating responsibilities; so that you can be sure that you understand what your obligations are.

What does the law say?

The key legal obligations on landlords when it comes to heating are that:

1. Landlords must provide access to heating and hot water – The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985;

Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985; as a landlord you are responsible for keeping the following in repair and proper working order – supply of:

water;
gas;
electricity;
sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and toilets);
heating;
hot water.

Unless your tenant has damaged the facilities; it’s your responsibility to ensure that the property has heating and hot water at all times.

It’s a hazard to have no heating and hot water, especially in winter. And if no alternative source is provided.

A 2016 report by The Energy Saving Trust found that 48% of renters are finding home heating a struggle. And frankly, that’s not good enough.

Minimum acceptable standards are that bedrooms should be able to maintain at least 18°C; and 21°C in living rooms when the temperature outside is minus 1°C.

Local Authorities can force you to upgrade your property under the Housing Act 2004.

2. Landlords are responsible for repairs, and must keep the heating in proper working order

As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to maintain and repair the heating in your rental property; under Section 11 (c) of the Housing Act 1985.

Some landlords try to avoid this responsibility by including clauses in their tenancy agreements. But such clauses will be void.

Your tenant is responsible for reporting any issues with the heating and hot water supply to you. And it’s your duty to respond within a reasonable time (see below).

3. Landlords must react to any heating problems that may occur within a few days after the tenants’ notification

Obviously, you can’t be liable to carry out any repairs until you’ve been told about the issue by your tenant.

But once they have notified you of an issue, you need to carry out the repair within a ‘reasonable time’.

There is no definition of what constitutes a ‘reasonable time’. Instead, several factors will be taken into account, for example:

the extent of the disrepair;
what time of year it is;
the age (and health) of residents living in the property;
availability of replacement parts;
Whether any alternative heat sources have been provided.

You’ll need to react faster to problems with the heating or hot water supply; when this affects families with small children.

Failure to respond to notice of disrepair means that you will be breaching your tenancy agreement on two fronts; keeping the property in repair AND free from hazards (see below).

4. Landlords must keep the property free from hazards

Maintaining central heating and hot water is an important part of keeping your property free from hazards.

The Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) introduced by the Housing Act 2004 came into effect on April 6th 2006.

The HHSRS provides guidance about hazards under section 9 of the Housing Act 2004.

The underlying principle of the HHSRS is that any residential premises should provide a safe and healthy environment for any potential occupier or visitor.

To satisfy this principle, your rental property should be designed; constructed; and maintained; with non-hazardous materials and should be free from both unnecessary and avoidable hazards.

The HHSRS introduced 29 categories of housing hazard. In terms of heating, you should be aware of the following particular hazards:

Physiological hazards:
- damp and mould growth;
- excess cold or heat;
- asbestos;
- carbon monoxide and fuel combustion products;
- uncombusted fuel gas;

Infection hazards
- hygiene, Sanitation and Water Supply
- sanitation and drainage
- Water supply

Accident hazards
- Fires, Burns and Scalds
- Electrical hazards
- Fire
- Flames
- Explosions
- Position and operability of amenities

5. Landlords must arrange an annual gas safety check of all gas appliances in the property

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998; as amended by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018; you are under a statutory duty for the safety of your tenants in relation to gas safety.

By law you must:

Repair and maintain gas pipework, flues and appliances in safe condition;
Ensure an annual gas safety check on each appliance and flue;
Keep a record of each safety check.

Annual Gas Safety checks are vital because if any of your gas appliances have been improperly fitted; repaired; or maintained; or any of their vents; flues; or chimneys have become blocked; they can pose a risk to your tenant’s life.

Dangerous gas appliances pose risk of gas leaks; fires and explosions; and carbon monoxide poisoning.

If any of your gas appliances aren’t burning their fuel as they should; they can produce a highly poisonous gas called carbon monoxide (CO). This gas is responsible for around 60 deaths per year in England and Wales.

Thankfully all these dangers can be easily avoided with a gas safety check once a year; by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Only Gas Safe registered engineers can legally fit, fix, and service gas appliances. This requirement ensures that engineers who are working on gas hold valid and current qualifications.

Rest assured, all our engineers at The Heating People are Gas Safe registered.

What happens during a Gas Safety check for landlords?

During a gas safety check, our engineers will check that your appliances are:

Properly set and adjusted so the gas burns correctly;
Are suitable for the room it’s located in;
Is physically stable, securely fitted and properly connected to the gas pipework.

We will also check that:

There’s an adequate and permanent air supply that’s suitable for the appliance installed;
All safety devices are functioning properly;
Any flues, chimneys and air vents are operating correctly.

This can be extended to a full gas installation safety check, in which we will:

Check the installation is in good condition by visually inspecting the pipework as far as reasonably practicable;
Test the gas pipework to make sure there are no leaks.

When we have finished the safety checks, we provide you with a Landlord Gas Safety Record.

You’ll then be able to give a copy of this record to your tenants; so that they know that their appliances meet the appropriate safety standards.

The law on gas safety is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). And there are severe penalties for non-compliance that can be imposed and deaths can result in manslaughter charges for landlords and agents.

Noncompliance is a criminal offence and courts can impose unlimited fines and custodial sentences.

6. Landlords should bleed the radiators at the start of the tenancy agreement. Once occupied, bleeding radiators becomes the tenants’ responsibility

In general, bleeding radiators is classed as day-to-day maintenance.

It’s good practice for you to make sure that the radiators are bled at the start of the tenancy. Tenants are responsible for bleeding them thereafter.

7. Landlords must ensure that their property meets the current minimum energy efficiency requirements

The Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations set a minimum energy efficiency level for domestic private rented properties.

Landlords must ensure that their Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) have a minimum rating of E.

An EPC rates your property’s energy efficiency from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).

It’s valid for ten years, but if you don’t have one when you need one; you’ll face a fixed penalty notice of £200.

Modern boilers have an energy efficiency rating of at least 92% under the Boiler Plus regulations. But if you have an old heating system, it’s probably time to look at a replacement.

The government has recently published an energy efficiency proposal for the private rental sector. The energy performance standard of privately-rented properties will be raised to an EPC level C by 1 April 2025 for new tenancies and by 1 April 2028 for all tenancies.

Ypu might like to read our related blogs: 6 Top tips for buying a new boiler ; and How to choose an energy efficient boiler.

General tips for landlords

Once you’ve checked that you’re complying with all the relevant legislation; there are some general maintenance tips that you can follow.

These will help to avoid heating problems in your rental properties:

Tip: make sure external pipes are well insulated

If you have an external condensate pipe or an outside tap at your property; make sure it has a foam sleeve around it to prevent any issues when the temperatures drop.

A frozen condensate pipe will cause your boiler to shut down, meaning no heating and hot water for your tenants!

Tip: Look at your windows and doors

If you have old windows and doors on your property, it might be time to consider investing in an upgrade. Draughty windows and doors will make your property less energy efficient; and makes it harder to keep the property warm and dry.

Tip: Have your chimneys swept

If your property has a fireplace or log burner; you need to have your chimney swept at least once per year. This will ensure that carbon deposits are removed, minimising the risk of a chimney fire.

Check extractor fans

The last thing that you want is mould and damp forming in your kitchens and bathrooms. Check that extractor fans are working properly to avoid warm air causing damp; mould; and mildew problems.

Encourage your tenants to use the heating

By encouraging your tenants to use the central heating (and leaving it on low if they go away for a few days) you’ll help to avoid damp forming, and pipes bursting. It also means that any issues can be reported to you promptly.

Test smoke alarms and CO detectors

It’s important that you test smoke alarms and CO alarms at least once per year. There must be a working smoke alarm on each floor of the property.

A CO detector is required by law in any room with a solid fuel appliance.

Tip: Check your insurance

Ensure that you have a good insurance policy that is designed for landlords. This gives you the peace of mind that if a problem (such as a burst pipe) should arise, you’re covered.

Final thoughts…

We hope you’ve found this blog helpful.

If you want us to help you meet your responsibilities as a landlord; call one of our friendly team who will be happy to help.

Useful Links:

The Housing Act 2004

The Housing Act 1988

Government advice on renting and repairs

Shelter: Landlord and tenant responsibilities for repairs

Government advice: How to rent a safe home

Boiler Plus factsheet

Advice

No hot water? What to do next

Post author By Lucy
Post date November 17, 2022
No Comments on No hot water? What to do next

If your heating is on, but you’ve got no hot water, it’s easy to get into a panic.

We take having hot water for granted and it can seem like a nightmare when it suddenly goes off. And that’s understandable – nobody wants a cold bath or shower, especially in the middle of winter!

But although it’s a frustrating and inconvenient problem, it’s not uncommon. And there’s often a simple fix.

So, before calling an engineer, it’s worth making sure that your water woes aren’t down to something as simple as a family member accidentally turning down your thermostat!

To help you get back up and running as soon as possible, we’ve created this handy checklist.

By following the simple checks below, you might be able to get your hot water back without having to call for help.

Checks to make when you have no hot water

If your hot water isn’t working, there are a few simple checks that you can make to isolate the problem and put it right:

1. No hot water: Check your boiler for a fault code

Forgive us for pointing out the obvious, but the first thing to do when your hot water goes off, is to check that your boiler’s working.

Modern combi boilers have displays that show error messages or fault codes when the boiler runs into a problem.

All combi boilers display different fault codes depending on the model. So, you’ll need to check the manual that came with your boiler to find out what the code is telling you and what you need to do to address it.

Some common fault codes which might be displayed if you have no hot water include:

A low pressure fault;
No gas, or insufficient gas pressure;
No ignition;
Condensate pipe is blocked (frozen)

If your boiler isn’t displaying a code, or the display panel isn’t showing anything at all, that leads us on to our second check…

2. No hot water: Check you still have gas, electricity, and water supply

Some hot water problems are not actually caused by a fault with your boiler. It could be that there is a problem with the supply of your electricity, gas and water.

So it’s a good idea to eliminate any potential problems with your utilities first. This is very simple to do.

To check your electricity supply, you can start by looking at your boiler’s control panel. If it isn’t displaying anything, check whether other appliances in your home are getting any power. Check your fuse box to make sure that a switch hasn’t tripped and cut power to your system.

To check your gas supply, try using another gas appliance, such as the hob on your cooker. If this still works, it isn’t a problem with your gas supply.

To check your water supply, just turn on a tap to check that you’re still getting water.

Once you’ve eliminated problems with your electricity, gas and water supply, you can move on to other checks.

3. No hot water: Check your boiler’s timer

If your boiler’s hot water is controlled by a timer, this may be the cause of your problem.

You might be fooled into thinking you have no hot water at all, when, your timer’s just set to come on at an unexpected time.

Something as simple as the clocks changing, a power cut, or an accidental knock might have altered your timer’s settings without you knowing. So, check that the clock and timer are set to the right time.

Adjusting your timer may be a very simple fix to the dreaded no-hot-water problem.

4. No hot water: Check your thermostat

Similarly, to checking your timer, you should also check your boiler’s thermostat.

The thermostat is a control used to regulate the temperature in your heating system. If this isn’t working, or has been set incorrectly, it could be the cause of your hot water problem.

You might have an analogue mechanical thermostat that operates with a dial, mounted on a wall in your main living area or hall. Or, you may have a more modern digital thermostat that you can also control from your smartphone.

But whichever sort of thermostat you have, you should check that it hasn’t accidentally been switched to ‘Off’.

You can test whether your thermostat is working by setting the temperature to a higher value than normal. Hopefully, you’ll hear the boiler firing up, and you’ve resolved the issue.

But if your thermostat fails to respond, you’ll need to get help from a heating engineer.

5. No hot water: Check the thermostat on your cylinder (if you have one!)

If you have a heat-only or system boiler, you will have a hot water cylinder for storing your hot water.

Your cylinder may have a thermostat attached. If there isn’t a thermostat on your cylinder, don’t worry – this just means that the temperature of the water is controlled by your boiler thermostat.

Check your cylinder for a thermostat. If it has one, check that it’s set to the correct temperature and timings. If not, adjusting it might resolve your problem.

6. No hot water: Check whether your boiler needs resetting

Ah – the classic: have you tried switching it off and on again?!

The power cycle doesn’t just work for computers though, it can work for boilers too!

Your boiler is a complex and hard-working appliance that’s working 24/7, and occasionally it will benefit from a reset.

Some boilers have a reset switch that you can operate yourself but be careful to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If your reset button is inside the boiler’s casing, you’ll need to leave this to a Gas Safe engineer.

Hopefully, resetting your boiler will give it the boost it needs to get your hot water up and running again.

7. No hot water: Check your pilot light

Another reason why you might not be getting any hot water is if there’s no pilot light on the boiler or the boiler pilot light keeps going out.

The pilot light ignites the gas, which heats the water in your boiler. So, if it’s gone out, you’ll need to reset it following your manufacturer’s instructions.

If it keeps blowing out, it’ll need to be checked by an engineer.

8. No hot water: Check your boiler’s pressure

If you have a sealed system or combi boiler in your home, low water pressure might be to blame for your lack of hot water.

Modern boilers require constant water pressure in order to work properly. Low boiler pressure can cause your system to cut out, preventing your central heating from working.

The good news is that it’s easy to identify low pressure, and you can sometimes address it yourself.

As a rule of thumb, your boiler’s ideal water pressure is between 1.0 and 1.5 bars. To check this, you need to look at the pressure gauge which is located on the front of your boiler.

A digital pressure gauge will flash to alert you if your boiler has a pressure problem.

But if you have a hydraulic pressure gauge, you want the indicator needle to be in the green zone, between 1 and 1.5 bar.

When the pressure is below 0.5 bar, water has been lost from the system and needs to be replaced.

All boilers are different, so you should check your manual to see if you can re-pressurise your boiler yourself, using the filling loop.

If in doubt, you should contact a Gas Safe heating engineer for assistance.

9. No hot water: Check your pipes aren’t frozen

If your hot water has suddenly gone off when it’s freezing outside, there’s a good chance that your boiler’s condensate pipe has frozen.

The condensate pipe runs from the back of your boiler to an outside wall of your house. It’s responsible for taking waste from your boiler out into a drain.

If your condensate pipe freezes, your boiler will automatically shut off for safety reasons, leaving you without heating or hot water.

Thankfully, a frozen condensate pipe isn’t a big problem. You can easily thaw it out and get your hot water flowing again.

To melt the ice, you need to pour, warm (not boiling!) water down the length of the condensate pipe. Once the pipe is thawed, you should rest your boiler.

Wait a few minutes and check your water. If you have fully thawed your frozen condensate pipe, everything should be working as normal.

10. No hot water: Check for leaks

A leak somewhere in your heating system can cause the pressure to drop, which can stop your hot water from working.

And just because you’re not wading through water, doesn’t mean you don’t have a leak! Some leaks can be very small, resulting in a more gradual drop in pressure.

Have a look around your home for telltale signs of a water leak. You should look for damp patches in the following places:

On ceilings;
Around your boiler;
Close to pipes;
Beneath your radiators.

If you find a leak, you’ll need to contact a Gas Safe engineer for assistance.

11. No hot water: Check your diverter valve

If your radiators are getting warm, but you have no hot water, there’s a chance that there’s a problem with your boiler’s diverter valve.

A key component in a combi boiler is the diverter valve. It allows your boiler to switch between hot water for your taps and your central heating. If it fails, then one of those systems is going to lose out.

If your diverter valve has developed a fault, it could be stuck in the central heating position, resulting in your lack of hot water.

Unfortunately, a problem with the diverter valve is not something you can deal with yourself. You’ll need to call a Gas Safe registered engineer to fix it or replace the part altogether.

Will I need a new boiler?

If you’ve experienced a sudden problem with your hot water, it’s very unlikely you’ll need a new boiler. As you can see from above, there is often a cheap and quick fix to the dreaded no-hot-water situation.

But if your problems with hot water have been more gradual and subtle, it might be worth considering a boiler replacement.

If you never seem to have enough hot water for baths and showers, then it could be that you have the wrong size or type of boiler for your needs.

It’s definitely worth getting a heating engineer to look at your system and advise you on whether you would benefit from a new boiler.

You might like our related blogs: 6 Top tips for buying a new boiler and How to choose an energy efficient boiler.

Conclusion

We hope that this guide has been useful in helping you to troubleshoot some of the simpler causes of having no hot water.

As with all things, prevention is better than cure. The best way to avoid the unwelcome surprise of a cold shower, is to have your heating system regularly maintained by a Gas Safe engineer.

Having your boiler serviced annually will keep your boiler running smoothly and efficiently and will catch any minor issues before they develop into more expensive ones.

A survey in 2021 by Which? found that only around three in ten boilers that are serviced annually have needed a repair in their first six years. This doubles to around six in ten boilers if the boiler is only serviced every two to five years.

So, get booked in for that service!

Useful Links:

Viessmann: Guide to no hot water

Advice

10 Tips for keeping your home warm this winter

Post author By Lucy
Post date November 14, 2022
No Comments on 10 Tips for keeping your home warm this winter

10 Tips for keeping your home warm this winter

It’s getting nippy out, and as forecasters predict that temperatures will be dropping below freezing in parts of the country; many people will be experiencing the winter blues.

A survey by The Energy Saving Trust (EST) found that 40% of people are avoiding switching on their heating; due to fears about energy bills. Whilst 33% reported that they can’t make their home as warm as they’d like.

To help you, we’ve put together this list of 10 tips for keeping your home warm this winter; whilst keeping your energy bills low.

1. Tips for keeping your home warm: Get your boiler serviced

You wouldn’t dream of driving your car without a valid MOT; and you should think of your annual boiler service in the same way.

Not only does your service ensure that your boiler remains Gas Safe, but it’s also vital in avoiding breakdowns.

Issues are most likely to arise in cold weather if your boiler hasn’t been looked after properly. In fact, a survey conducted by the Gas Safe Register; found that the number one cause of boiler breakdowns in winter is having missed a boiler service.

Despite this, the survey also found that a worrying 24% of homeowners admitted to never having had their boiler serviced; or not having it serviced as often as they should.

This is scary, because unsafe gas appliances pose risk of fires, gas leaks, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning!

So, if you want to keep your family safe; and avoid a breakdown when you need your heating most; it’s a good idea to schedule a boiler service before the cold weather hits.

Remember that only Gas Safe registered engineers can legally fit, fix, and service gas appliances.

Rest assured, that here at The Heating People, all of our engineers are Gas Safe registered for working on gas.

2. Tips for keeping your home warm: Draught-proof your home

The last thing you want when you’re paying to heat your home; is for all the lovely warm air to be escaping, and the frosty air to be coming in.

But that’s precisely what happens if you don’t draught-proof your home.

Draught-proofing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to save energy in your home. By saving your warm air; you’ll not only feel snug and warm, but you’ll need to use less energy to heat your home.

According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), draught-proofing around windows and doors could save you around £20 a year.

And if you have an open chimney; draught-proofing your chimney when you’re not using it could save around £15 a year.

Whilst you can get a professional draught-proofing course for your whole house; there are some DIY quick fixes you can use to minimise your draughts:

Use heavy curtains on windows.
Buy draught-proofing strips to stick around the window frame and fill the gap between the window and the frame.
Use a letterbox flap or brush.
Place draught excluders at the bottom of your doors.
Buy a chimney draught excluder to use when your fireplace is not in use.
Use strip insulation around loft hatches.

3. Tips for keeping your home warm: Top up your loft and wall insulation

As well as losing heat through gaps around your windows and doors; heat also escapes through your roof and walls through conduction and convection.

According to the EST, a typical house with no insulation will lose 33% of heat through walls; and 25% through the roof. And although the majority of homes have some insulation, many don’t have enough.

Loft and wall insulation works by reducing the amount of heat lost from the fabric of your building; reducing the amount of energy you need to heat your home, and saving you money on your energy bills. The thicker your insulation is, the more effective it will be at stopping the heat from leaving your house.

So what savings can you expect to see? The recommended depth of loft insulation is 270mm.

Topping up your loft insulation from 120mm to 270mm could cost around £240. But the EST says this will save around £12 a year on energy bills.

If you have uninsulated cavity walls; adding cavity wall insulation could save you up to £150 a year off your energy bills.

If you have solid wall insulation; you can save around £260 a year off your energy bills (based on a typical 3-bedroom semi-detached house).

4. Tips for keeping your home warm: Insulate your pipes

Insulating your water pipes is called ‘lagging’ and by sealing in heat; it saves energy and prevents pipes from freezing and bursting in the winter.

A frozen condensate pipe is one of the most common problems modern heating systems face in the winter months.

The water inside the pipe freezes and the boiler’s inbuilt sensors will therefore prevent the boiler from lighting. This means that you’ll have no heating or hot water, right when you need it most!

To minimise the risk of both freezing and heat loss, you should insulate your pipes. This can be simple to do yourself. You can buy foam insulation tubes online or from a DIY store and slip them over your pipes.

In a typical 3-bed semi-detached house; materials will cost around £20. And you will save around £3 a year on your energy bills; as well as reducing the possibility of expensive repair bills from burst pipes.

5. Tips for keeping your home warm: Top up your hot water cylinder insulation

If you have a hot water tank, check its insulation. Most hot water cylinders have some insulation; but if your tank has a jacket under 25mm thick, it could benefit from top-up insulation.

Your hot water cylinder stores hot water for your taps and showers. If the tank is poorly insulated, it will lose heat much quicker.

Topping up the insulation means that you’ll use less energy to re-heat the water; which will save you money on your fuel bills.

A hot water cylinder jacket costs around £16. And according to EST topping up your hot water cylinder insulation from 25mm to 80mm could save around £20 a year.

6. Tips for keeping your home warm: Check your radiators

When the cold weather hits, you’ll want to be sure that your radiators are performing to their full potential. There are several things that you can check to ensure that they’re working in an energy efficient way:

➢ Check for cold spots

A common problem with radiators is that air can get trapped inside them; meaning that they don’t heat up properly. And your boiler will be working much harder to warm up your home.

To test for this, you just need to use your hand to check the temperature of your radiators; from the top to the bottom of each.

Since air rises, it is quite common for the top of a radiator to be cold; and the bottom to be hot.

You might also notice cold patches, or they might just feel cooler than usual. If you spot any of these issues, your radiator needs bleeding to release the trapped air.

This is a relatively straightforward task that you can do yourself, using a radiator key.

➢ Check your radiators are unobstructed

Do you dry clothes by hanging them on your radiators? If so, stop! If you want your radiators to be able to heat your rooms effectively, they need to be unobstructed!

This is because they heat your rooms through convection – despite the misleading name: ‘radiator’!

Radiators actually produce around 80% of their heat through convection, and only 20% through radiation.

They work by heating the cold air above them, and the convection currents transfer the heat around the room.

With this in mind, it’s clear that you don’t want to be obstructing the movement of heat out; of the radiator and into the room.

Radiators are traditionally placed under windows, so you need to be careful not to block the heat with heavy curtains.

Heavy curtains are great for keeping out draughts; but just make sure that they fit your windows correctly, and don’t hang over your radiators.

And, whilst radiator covers might look pretty; covering your radiator up will just interfere with its ability to do its job.

So, instead of drying your socks on your radiators, invest in a clothes airer instead.

➢ Think about fitting thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)

You’ve probably got a room (or rooms!) in your house that don’t get used as much as the others. If so, you’re wasting money on heating these rooms to the same temperature as the rooms you use all the time.

But there is an answer to this… TRVs!

TRVs or ‘thermostatic radiator valves’ are handy little heating controls that fit on the side of your radiator.

They allow you to control how much heat your radiator emits, and therefore the temperature of your room.

This is great because it means that you can enjoy different heats across different rooms; which is perfect if you don’t see eye to eye with your family members when it comes to warmth!

Not only that, but you can also switch off a radiator completely with a TRV. So, if you’ve got a room that barely gets used; such as a spare bedroom; you can save money by not heating it as often as your other rooms.

TRVs let you keep your home at a comfortable temperature without wasting fuel or heat.

As with most things, prices vary depending on the style of radiator valve you want to buy; and how many you need.

As a guide, with The Heating People; it costs £85 to drain down your current heating system, add chemical corrosion inhibitor, and then £25 per valve installed.

7. Tips for keeping your home warm: Consider a power flush

If your radiators still have cold spots or feel cooler than usual; and bleeding them hasn’t worked, your heating system might need a power flush.

To keep us warm, our heating systems need to be clean. Over time, the water in your pipes, boiler and radiators deposits unwanted by-products like rust.

This rust (plus other dirt and debris) becomes an unpleasant, muddy substance, known as ‘sludge’.

This sludge plays havoc with the efficiency of your heating system, causing corrosion and blockages. This means that your heating system can’t perform like it used to.

Not only can this affect the performance of your radiators. It can also damage individual parts of your heating system; leading to breakdowns. And can eventually lead to the need for a full boiler replacement in the most severe cases.

A power flush is a cleansing process which cleans your entire central heating system; removing the sludge, which would otherwise cause damage and reduce efficiency.

8. Tips for keeping your home warm: Check your room thermostats

Your room thermostat regulates and maintains your desired temperature throughout your home.

If it goes on the blink, it can cause your room to be too hot or too cold. If it blows, it can’t send a signal to the valve which allows the radiators to warm up; and you’ll feel the chill.

To test whether your thermostat is working, with the heating set to ‘on’ at the timer; turn the boiler thermostat to minimum and see if the boiler switches off.

If not, turn off the boiler’s time clock and check again. If the boiler fails to respond to the thermostat, it may not be working.

9. Tips for keeping your home warm: Upgrade your heating controls

Heating controls allow you to keep your home warm and cosy when you need it to be; whilst simultaneously keeping your energy bills as low as possible.

If you were to just turn your heating up to full blast in the winter, hoping for the best; this would trigger a huge (and unnecessary) energy bill.

There are lots of different types of heating controls to choose from.

But at its simplest, when you set your thermostat to the temperature you want; your boiler will come on when the room temperature falls below this. And will switch off when the desired temperature is reached.

More sophisticated compensation smart controls will adjust the output of the boiler up and down in small increments; to meet the room temperature exactly. These save energy and reduce fuel bills.

According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST); if you live in a typical three-bedroom house without any controls; and then you were to install and correctly use a programmer room thermostat; and thermostatic radiator valves, you could save £75 a year, whilst still being perfectly comfortable.

10. Tips for keeping your home warm: Invest in a new boiler

Unfortunately, boilers don’t last forever. If you’ve noticed your boiler is struggling to do what it used to do; or is breaking down regularly; or is not working at all; you might be wondering whether you should try to repair what you have; or whether the time has come for a replacement.

Here a just a few signs that it might be time to consider a replacement:

Your boiler is knocking on a bit, and is needing more frequent repairs;
Replacement parts are hard to find because of the age of your boiler;
Your energy bills have crept up without explanation;
You’ve noticed that your heating system isn’t working as it used to;
Your boiler or radiators are making funny noises.

Final thoughts…

We hope you’ve found these tips helpful.

You might like our related blog: 6 top tips for buying a new boiler.

For tailored advice on improving your central heating system; contact one of our experts at The Heating People, who will be happy to help.

Useful Links:

Energy Saving Trust article on saving energy at home

Survey conducted by the Gas Safe Register

EST guide to draught-proofing

The Greenage article on draught proofing

Advice

Common combi fault codes

Common combi fault codes…

We can all have ‘off-days’, even your boiler.

Hopefully through regular boiler maintenance and servicing, these days will be few and far between – but if your boiler is displaying a fault code, it’s trying to tell you that something’s amiss.

The good news is, the problem might not be serious, and you might not need a Gas Safe engineer to get it working again.

For this reason, we’ve put together a list of some of the most common errors your boiler will display, and what you should do about it.

What is a fault code?

When a boiler suddenly stops working, it will usually display a boiler fault code that will help to identify the cause of the problem and indicate what action should be taken.

All combi boilers display error codes differently, so depending on your model, the error code itself will vary.

If you’re lucky enough to own a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 8000 Style, you won’t need this guide because those boilers are so smart they spell out what the problem is on their fancy touch screens.

But if you have a boiler that tells you through codes, this is for you!

What can cause a boiler fault code?

Although it’s frustrating when your boiler encounters a problem, it’s important to remember that it’s a complex machine that’s working hard for you around the clock, every day of the year.

So, it’s unsurprising that whilst modern boilers are extremely reliable, they will inevitably encounter a glitch from time to time.

A glitch doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s something wrong with the boiler itself, it could indicate problems with its fuel supply or a frozen or burst pipe.

How do I find out what my fault code means?

Although there are many different fault codes that your boiler can display (in different combinations), there’s no need to panic when a code starts flashing.

The first step to take, is to check your boiler’s manual.

Your manual should contain a chart of fault codes for your boiler, with a description of what the code is signaling, and what action needs to be taken to address it.

If you can’t find your manual, you can look at some of the common fault codes we’ve compiled later in this blog; or you can use Google to search for an online manual for your boiler.

What are some common boiler problems that trigger fault codes?

Although different makes of boilers will display different fault codes, it is worth looking at what some of the common causes of these error codes are:

Common combi fault codes: Low pressure fault

Modern boilers require constant water pressure to function properly.

If your boiler is losing pressure, it will cause problems, such as the dreaded, no hot water, situation.

The good news is that low pressure is usually easy to spot, and, in some cases, you can address it yourself. Your boiler’s pressure gauge will alert you to the fact that it’s losing pressure.

If you find that your gauge is below one bar of pressure, adjusting this to 1.5 should solve your problem in the short term.

There are lots of possible reasons for your low-pressure fault.

If you notice your pressure gauge drops overnight, this could be caused by a leak in your system; a problem with the pressure relief valve; air in your radiators; or a problem with the expansion vessel.

If you experience frequent or sudden problems with your boiler pressure, you should contact a heating engineer for help.

Common combi fault codes: No gas, or insufficient gas pressure

Problems can arise, triggering a fault code, if your boiler is not receiving gas or if the gas pressure is too low.

This is a problem sometimes encountered by people using gas meters because gas meters have a regulator fitted to them, which can freeze in cold weather.

Common combi fault codes: No ignition

Another common fault occurs when there’s no pilot light on the boiler or the boiler pilot light keeps going out.

The pilot light is crucial because it ignites the gas, which heats the water in your central heating system.

So, if the pilot light has gone out, you’ll need to reset it following your manufacturer’s instructions.

Common combi fault codes: Condensate pipe is blocked

If your boiler has stopped working when it’s freezing outside, there’s a good chance that your boiler’s condensate pipe has frozen. This pipe is responsible for taking waste from your boiler out into a drain.

If it gets blocked with ice, your boiler will automatically shut down as a safety measure until it’s resolved. The good news is, it’s usually straightforward to resolve.

The first thing to do is locate your condensate pipe. It should be a white plastic pipe that comes out of the wall directly behind your boiler. Check that it runs from the boiler to an exterior drain.

You should then boil your kettle and let the water cool. It’s important that you don’t try to thaw the pipe with boiling water. Instead, let the water cool for approximately 15 minutes. Pour the warm water down the length of the pipe until the ice has thawed.

Once you’ve thawed the pipe, you’ll need to reset your boiler.

Common combi fault codes: Boiler is overheating

Your boiler overheating is a potentially dangerous problem, often caused by safety features failing – such as the pump, or a blockage in the system. Because of this, modern boilers are designed to lockout and display a fault code if the system detects signs of overheating to prevent serious damage.

Common combi fault codes: Component failure

Although modern boilers are resilient appliances, like any machine that uses advanced technology and complicated processes, component parts can degrade and break down over time.

If a component part of your boiler corrodes or becomes faulty, this could trigger a fault code and other warning signs, such as strange noises or changes in how your heating and hot water is functioning.

Depending on what component part has failed, it might be possible to simply repair or replace the part, rather than replacing the whole boiler.

If you’re experiencing regular breakdowns, contact The Heating People to find out whether it’s time to consider a boiler replacement.

Common combi fault codes for manufacturers

Different brands and models of boiler have different fault codes, which mean different things. But just in case you haven’t got your manual to hand, we’ve compiled some fault codes for but combi boilers from Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, and ATAG:

Worcester Bosch CDi Compact / Greenstar 25/30 Si Combi / Greenstar 27/30 i System

Fault Code	Problem
T1	Ignition test – checking the igniter spark
T2	Fan test – checking the basic fan
T3	Pump test – checking the basic pump
T4	Three way valve test
T6	Ionisation oscillator test
9A 362	error – incorrect HCM fitted
9U 233	Heat Control Module (HCM) error – problem with code plug
B7 257	Internal error – possible control board problem
C6 215	Fan problem – fan running too fast
C7 214	Fan problem – fan not running
D1 240	Return sensor error – sensor may be wet or damaged
E2 222	Flow sensor short circuit error
E5 218	Flow temperature too high
E9 219	Safety sensor fault – temperature too high, sensor short circuit or open circuit
EA 227	No flame detected or flame signal loss during operation
F0 237	Internal error
F7 228	Flame error – false flame or flame detected before burner started
FA 306	False flame fault – flame detect
FD 231	Mains power fault – electrical power interruption
FA 364	Gas valve EV2 leak test failed – gas valve leak
FB 365	Gas valve EV1 leak test failed
A1 281	Pump stuck or running with air in the system
C1 264	Airflow stopped during operation
C4 273	Airflow present during last 24 hour
D1 240	Return sensor short circuit
D4 271	Temperature difference between flow and safety sensor exceeds limit
E9 224	Max thermostat activated – flue gas thermostat overheat
EA 227	No ionisation detected after ignition
EF 349	Central heating boil detected – boiler operating at minimum burner load with temperature difference greater than 18°C between Flow & Return.
NO CODE 212	Safety or flow temperature rising too fast

ATAG

Alt attribute: ATAG logo

Fault code	Problem
10	Outside sensor error
20	Flow sensor error
40	Return sensor error
61	Bus communication error
78	Water pressure out of range
105	Venting program active when power turned on/interrupted (run for 7 mins)
110	Exceeded safety temperature
111	Exceeded maximum pressure
119	X2 link position 4 and 5 missing
129	Fan doesn’t start
133	No flame after 5 ignition attempts
151	Fan error or control unit defective (speed control is not achieved)
154	Return greater than flow – flow temperature increases too fast
101	Overheat error
102	Pressure sensor fault
104	Flow check failed
108	Pressure needs filling to <0.5 bar
1P4	Pressure needs filling to 0.5 – 0.8 bar
109	Pressure> Pmax error
110	Send probe damaged
112	Return probe error – could be damaged
114	Outdoor sensor error – could be damaged
141	Central heating flow switch is open
201	Domestic hot water (DHW) probe damaged
203	Tank probe damaged
303	Printed circuit board (PCB) error
304	Too many resets have occurred
501	No flame detected
612	Fan fault – fan isn’t starting up

ATAG IC and IS combi boiler error codes

Fault code	Problem
50	Domestic hot water (DHW) sensor error
117	Pressure greater than 3 bar or pump pressure increase is too high
118	Pressure less than 1 bar or pump pressure increase too low (no pump detection)

Vaillant

Fault code	Problem
F.00	Interruption: Flow sensor: NTC plug not plugged in or has come loose, multiple plug on the PCB not plugged in correctly, interruption in cable harness, NTC defective
F.01	Interruption: Return sensor: NTC plug not plugged in or has come loose, multiple plug on the PCB not plugged in correctly, interruption in cable harness, NTC defective
F.02	Interruption: DHW outlet sensor: Only in conjunction with F.91NTC defective, NTC cable defective, defective plug connection on NTC, defective plug connection on the actoSTOR electronics
F.03	Interruption: Cylinder sensor: Only in conjunction with F.91NTC defective, NTC cable defective, defective plug connection on NTC, defective plug connection on the actoSTOR electronics
F.10	Short circuit: Flow sensor: NTC defective, short circuit in cable harness, cable/casing
F.11	Short circuit: Return sensor: NTC defective, short circuit in cable harness, cable/casing
F.12	Short circuit: DHW outlet sensor: Only in conjunction with F.91NTC defective, short circuit in cable harness, cable/casing
F.13	Short circuit: Cylinder sensor: Combination product: Warm start sensor/cylinder sensor short circuitCombination product with actoSTOR: Short circuit cylinder sensor (NTC) only in combination with F.91NTC defective, short circuit in cable harness, cable/casing
F.20	Safety switch-off: Temperature limiter: Incorrect earth connection between cable harness and product, flow or return NTC defective (loose connection), black discharge via ignition cable, ignition plug or ignition electrode
F.22	Safety switch-off: Low water pressure: No or insufficient water in the product, water pressure sensor defective,
F.23	Safety switch-off: Temp.spread too large: Pump blocked, insufficient pump output, air in product, flow and return NTC connected the wrong way round
F.24	Safety switch-off: Temp. incr. too fast: Pump blocked, insufficient pump output, air in product, system pressure too low, non-return valve blocked/incorrectly installed
F.25	Safety switch-off: Flue temp. too high: Break in plug connection for optional flue gas safety temperature limiter (STB), break in cable harness
F.26	Fault: Fuel valve not working: Gas valve stepper motor not connected, multiple plug on the PCB not plugged in correctly, interruption in cable harness, gas valve stepper motor defective, electronics defective
F.27	Safety switch-off: Flame simulation: Moisture on the electronics, electronics (flame monitor) defective, gas solenoid valve leaking
F.28	Start-up failure: Ignit. unsuccessful: Gas meter defective or gas pressure monitor has triggered, air in gas, gas flow pressure too low, thermal isolator device (TAE) has triggered, condensate duct blocked, incorrect gas restrictor, incorrect spare part gas valve, value in D.052 does not correspond to the printed value on the current gas valve, fault on the gas valve, multiple plug on PCB incor- rectly plugged in, break in cable harness, ignition system (ignition trans- former, ignition cable, ignition plug, ignition electrode) defective, ionisa- tion current interrupted (cable, electrode), incorrect earthing of product, electronics defective
F.29	Start-up failure: Ignit. unsuccessful: Gas supply temporarily stopped, flue gas recirculation, condensate duct blocked, defective earthing of product, ignition transformer has spark failure
F.32	Fault: Fan: Plug on fan not correctly plugged in, multiple plug on PCB not correctly plugged in, break in cable harness, fan blocked, Hall sensor defective, electronics defective
F.49	Fault: eBUS: Short circuit on eBUS, eBUS overload or two power supplies with differ- ent polarities on the eBUS
F.52	Contact fault mass flow sensor/Venturi: The mass flow sensor/Venturi is not connected electrically – The plug is not plugged in correctly – The plug is not plugged in – The plug is defective – The slot is defective (loose connection) – Mass flow sensor/Venturi defective
F.53	Combustion regulation fault: The combustion regulation has detected a fault – Gas flow pressure too low – Liquid gas coding resistance used when operating with natural gas – If the fault occurs again after being cleared: – Gas valve defective – Mass flow sensor/Venturi defective, wet or blocked (if the fault occurs again after being cleared): Do not wet the sensor, do not use any lubricants on the O-ring on the Venturi.
F.54	Fault in the gas supply (in combination with F.28/F.29): There is insufficient gas supply to operate the unit – Gas isolator cock(s) closed – Gas flow pressure is too low – Gas valve defective
F.56	Safety switch-off: CO limit exceeded: Safety switch-off: CO limit exceededA component in the combustion regulation is defective– Contact fault at the gas valve (plug not plugged in correctly or not plugged in, plug defective, slot is defective (loose connection))– If the fault occurs again after being cleared: The gas valve is defective
F.57	Fault: Measuring program: Active comfort protection mode has detected a regulation fault– Ignition electrode highly corroded
F.61	Fault: Fuel valve actuation: The gas valve cannot be actuated– Cable harness supply line to the gas valve is defective (short to earth, short circuit)– Gas valve defective– PCB defective
F.62	Fault: Fuel valve switch-off delay: Delayed shutdown of gas valve detected– Secondary light (ignition and monitoring electrode indicates delayed extinguishing of the flame signal)– Gas valve defective– PCB defective
F.63	Fault: EEPROM: Electronics defectiv
F. 64	Fault: Electronics/sensor: Flow or return NTC short circuited, electronics defective
F.65	Fault: Electronics temp.: Electronics overheating due to external influences, electronics defective
F.67	Fault: Electronics/flame: Implausible flame signal, electronics defective
F.68	Fault: Flame signal unstable: Air in gas, gas flow pressure too low, incorrect air ratio, condensate duct blocked, ionisation flow interruption (cable, electrode), flue gas recirculation, condensate duct
F.70	Fault: Invalid Device Specific Number: If spare parts fitted: Display and PCB replaced at same time and DSN not reset, incorrect or missing output range coding resistance
F.71	Fault: Flow sensor: Flow temperature sensor signalling constant value:– Flow temperature sensor incorrectly positioned at supply pipe– Flow temperature sensor defective
F.72	Fault: Flow/return sensor: Flow/return NTC temperature difference too great → flow and/or returntemperature sensor defective
F.73	Fault: Water press. sensor: Interruption/short circuit of water pressure sensor, interruption/short circuit to GND in supply line to water pressure sensor or water pressure sensor defective
F.74	Fault: Water press. sensor: The line to the water pressure sensor has a short circuit to 5 V/24 V or internal fault in the water pressure sensor
F.75	Fault: Pump/ water shortage: Water pressure sensor and/or pump defective, air in the heating installa- tion, insufficient water in the product; connect external expansion vessel to the return
F.77	Fault: Flue non-ret. valve/condens. pump: No response from flue non-return flap or condensate pump defective
F.78	Interrupt.: DHW outlet sensor on ext. contr: UK link box is connected but the hot water NTC is not bridged
F.80	Fault: actoSTOR inlet sensor: Only in conjunction with F.91NTC defective, NTC cable defective, defective plug connection on NTC, defective plug connection on the actoSTOR electronicsSensor plug has short to earth to the casing, short circuit in cable har- ness, sensor defective
F.81	Fault: cylinder charging pump: Only in conjunction with F.91Cylinder is not fully charged after specified time.– Check cylinder charging sensor and cylinder sensor– Air in the actoSTOR pump– Inspect cable harness for pump– Check the impeller sensor and/or limiter in the product– Diverter valve defective– Secondary heat exchanger blocked– Pump faulty
F.83	Fault: NTC temp. gradient: When the burner starts, the temperature change registered at the flow and/or return temperature sensor is non-existent or too small.– Insufficient water in product– Flow or return temperature sensor not in correct position at pipe
F.84	Fault: NTC temp. diff. implausible: Flow and return temperature sensors returning implausible values.– Flow and return temperature sensors have been inverted– Flow and return temperature sensors have not been correctly in-stalled
F.85	Fault: NTCs fitted incorrectly: The flow and/or return temperature sensors have been installed on the same pipe/incorrect pipe
F.90	Fault: Communication: Check the cable harness from the product to the actoSTOR module (PEBus).If the product is to be operated without an actoSTOR module, setD.092 = 0.
F.91	Sensor/actuator fault on actoSTOR module
F.92	Coding resistance fault: The coding resistance on the PCB does not match the entered gas group: Check the resistance, repeat the gas family check and enter the correct gas group
F.93	Poor combustion quality: Combustion regulation has detected poor combustion quality– Incorrect gas restrictor has been installed for the gas family (anothergas family is present)– Recirculation– Mass flow sensor/Venturi defective (wet, blocked): Do not wet thesensor, do not use any lubricants on the O-ring on the Venturi.
LEDactoSTOR module	actoSTOR electronics status: LED on: Communication OKLED flashing: Communication not OK LED off: No power supply
Err	Communication fault: Communication fault between display and PCB in the electronics box

What should I do after I find out what my fault code means?

It is extremely important that you only perform actions on your boiler if your boiler manual instructs you to do so.

Any other work must be carried out by a Gas Safe Registered engineer.

If you are unsure about anything, you should call one of our experts at The Heating People.

Useful Links:

Vaillant servicing and repairs literature

Ideal boilers product literature

ATAG user instuctions for the i range

Worcester Bosch literature for Greenstar boilers

Worcester Bosch online help

Advice

Leaking boiler?

Why is my boiler leaking?

If you’ve just discovered a puddle of water beneath your boiler, you need to act quickly. Ignoring a leak could lead to serious damage, so you should contact a Gas Safe engineer without delay.

But whilst a leaking boiler isn’t a good sign; it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road for your boiler. Your leak could be due to something as simple as a faulty seal.

In this guide, we look at some of the possible causes of your leaking boiler. And discuss possible fixes, so that you have a better idea about your boiler’s prognosis!

What are the signs of a leaking boiler?

Whilst this sounds like a daft question; there are actually a few signs that your boiler is leaking, aside from the obvious puddles of water!

Your boiler might also have a leak that you can’t see. Other clues that your boiler has a leak are a slower than usual heating process, and low water pressure.

Low water pressure is easy to identify on combi and system boilers that have a pressure gauge. The pressure in your boiler should generally be between 1 and 1.5 bar.

If your gauge shows pressure below this; or dropping pressure; it could indicate that you have a leak in your system.

Is a leaking boiler dangerous?

Whilst a leaking boiler is alarming and inconvenient, it isn’t usually dangerous.

But, that certainly doesn’t mean you should ignore the problem!

Even a slight leak has the potential to do irreparable damage to your boiler, as well as damaging your home.

So, you should get your boiler looked at by a heating engineer as soon as possible.

The quicker you act, the more likely you are to be able to minimise the damage to your boiler; and avoid the need for a full boiler replacement.

Can I use my boiler if it’s leaking?

If your boiler is leaking, or it’s pressure has suddenly dropped (suggesting a leak) then you shouldn’t use your boiler. Instead, you should follow the steps below.

My boiler is leaking, what should I do?

If you’ve spotted a leak, you should follow these simple steps to minimize any further water damage:

Turn off your water supply

To prevent a puddle from growing, it’s a good idea to stop the water supply to your boiler. To do this, you can turn off your stop tap, which is often located under your kitchen sink.

Switch off the heating

Next, you should switch off your central heating.

Clear up or collect any water

Try to find where the leak is coming from; and use a container to collect any dripping water that might damage your floor. Wipe up any water that’s already been spilled.

Contact a qualified engineer

Don’t attempt a DIY job on your boiler! Only Gas Safe registered engineers are able to work on gas appliances, so you should contact your engineer to take care of the problem.

Why is my boiler leaking water?

Now that you’ve contained the leak, you might be wondering what the possible cause is. And how expensive a repair is likely to be!

There are lots of possible causes of a leaking boiler; and the location of the leak often provides a clue as to what the problem is.

Here are some of the most common causes:

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: High pressure

Whilst low pressure is a possible sign of a leaking boiler; too much boiler pressure can be a cause of the leak.

High boiler pressure is one of the most common causes of a leaking boiler.

Modern boilers require constant water pressure to function properly. If the level of pressure rises too high; the boiler’s pressure release valve (PRV) will automatically release some of the water in the system to bring the pressure back down.

Excess pressure can also cause boiler parts to malfunction which can also create a leak.

It’s easy to check your boiler’s pressure, by looking at it’s pressure gauge. This is usually located on the front of your boiler.

If you have a digital gauge, it will often flash if there’s high pressure. It might also be showing a fault code.

If you have a hydraulic pressure gauge; the valve needle should be in the green zone between 1 and 1.5 bar.

If the needle is higher than this; or in the red zone; the pressure in your system is too high. And this is a likely cause of your leak – i.e. the PRV discharging the excess water, or internal parts failing under the pressure.

Whilst it’s possible to reduce boiler pressure yourself by bleeding your radiators; if you have a leak it’s better to get an engineer to take a look.

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Corroded pipes

If you’ve noticed dripping water coming from underneath your boiler, corroded pipes could well be the culprit.

Over time, your pipes can break down, or ‘corrode’, causing small gaps where water can leak out from.

Corrosion happens as a result of your metal pipes reacting with the water; oxygen; dirt and debris within your heating system.

If the corrosion is limited to a single area; you may be able to replace the corroded part and resolve the issue. But if the corrosion is more widespread, it’s possible that a boiler replacement is on the cards.

While you wait for an engineer to look at your boiler; you should place a container bowl or underneath your boiler to catch any drips.

If you can see where the leak is coming from; you could also tie a cloth around the pipe to temporarily reduce the dripping.

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Loose joints

If water seems to be dripping from the joints on your pipes, and the pipes themselves don’t look corroded; it could be that the joints have loosened and just need tightening up.

It’s possible for pipe connections or joints to loosen over time; due to the constant expanding and contracting of water during the heating process.

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Poor installation

Another possible explanation of water dripping from pipe fittings is poor installation.

If your newly installed boiler is leaking water from the bottom; and there doesn’t appear to be another possible cause; it might be that pipe fittings and joints have not been fitted or tightened correctly.

To avoid this problem, you should only allow a Gas Safe registered engineer to work on your boiler.

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Pump seal problems

A boiler pump’s job is to pump water around your home’s heating system. And as you can imagine, it’s put under constant pressure.

Over time, the seal on the pump can deteriorate or split; causing water to leak out; often at an alarming rate!

It may be possible to replace or reseal your pump. But if the damage is too great; and you have an older boiler, a boiler replacement might be the best option.

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Temperature problems

Boilers are fitted with a temperature control valve (TCV) which monitors the temperature of the water within the boiler; and stops it from getting too high.

So, a leak from the TCV suggests that the boiler temperature is too high. And could lead to scalding water coming out of the taps. Obviously you need to deal with this as soon as possible to avoid possible injury.

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Faulty heat exchanger

If your boiler is in its golden years; a leak from the bottom of the appliance could be caused by a corroded heat exchanger.

The heat exchanger is the part of your boiler which heats the cold water for your radiators and taps; so it’s a vital part of your boiler.

Unfortunately, a faulty heat exchanger usually means curtains for your boiler, because it’s the most expensive part to replace. If your boiler is old and out of warranty; it will probably make more sense to invest in a new boiler.

If you want to avoid future problems with your heat exchanger, we recommend ATAG boilers.

All ATAG boilers feature a revolutionary iCon heat exchanger, which has unrivalled performance and efficiency levels. It’s made from high grade stainless steel and, uniquely; it maintains 98% of its original efficiency levels throughout its lifetime. And best of all? It comes with a lifetime guarantee!

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Wear and tear

Unfortunately, boilers don’t last forever and can wear out with time. If your boiler is older than 10 years, it’s probably time to consider installing a new one.

With a new boiler, you’ll benefit from increased comfort; energy efficiency; and will get a new guarantee. This gives you the peace of mind that should anything go wrong with your boiler in the future; it’ll be covered.

The Heating People can offer guarantees of up to 14 years on our boilers.

How to prevent your boiler from leaking

A leaking boiler is worrying, inconvenient and potentially costly. So, you’ll want to prevent it from happening again in the future. Here are some tips on avoiding a leaking boiler:

Prevent a leaking boiler: Get Repairs Done Quickly

Even if the leak is only slight, it’s important to deal with it quickly. A leak of any size is telling you that there’s a problem, and left untreated, it will only get worse.

What starts as a loose joint can become a much bigger (and more expensive) problem; because the escaping water will potentially damage other parts of your boiler.

To avoid a hefty repair bill; or the need to replace your boiler entirely; you should contact an engineer without delay.

Prevent a leaking boiler: Get your boiler serviced every year

As with anything, prevention is better than cure. The best way to prevent your boiler from springing a leak, is to maintain it with an annual service.

Boilers are the hardest working appliance in your home, and will wear down over time. They need regular maintenance and upkeep to enable them to run safely and smoothly for as long as possible.

Regular boiler servicing ensures that your boiler is running safely and any problems can be spotted and fixed early.

Failing to keep up with servicing will invalidate your boiler’s guarantee; which means that the cost of repairs won’t be covered.

Prevent a leaking boiler: Consider a Power flush

You could also ask your engineer for advice on whether your heating system would benefit from a power flush.

A Power flush is a cleansing process that removes dirt and debris from your heating system. This could help to reduce the risk of corrosion.

Conclusion

To summarise then…

Whatever the size and probable cause of the leak; you should always contact a Gas Safe engineer to investigate as soon as possible.

Ignoring a leak could damage the electrical components within your boiler, not to mention the potential damage to your home.

Whilst some leaks have an easy and cheap fix; other leaks might indicate the end of the road for your old boiler that has been heavily corroded and worn down over time.

If you’re trying to decide whether it’s time to replace your boiler; contact one of our friendly team to book your free survey.

Useful Links:

Vaillant: Why is my boiler leaking water

Advice

Should I leave my heating on?

Post author By Lucy
Post date October 13, 2022
No Comments on Should I leave my heating on?

Should I leave my heating on?…

As the price of wholesale gas soars; households will be looking at the best ways to save on their energy bills.

But there’s little point scouring the web for a cheaper energy deal right now because there aren’t any!

With thirty energy companies collapsing since last September; using less energy is the best way to save money at the moment.

Hopefully you already have an efficient boiler – if you don’t, it might be time to consider a boiler replacement.

But once you have an energy efficient boiler, what’s the most energy efficient way to use it?

Is it cheaper to leave your heating on low all day or turn it on only when you need it? This is a question we get asked a lot, and it’s a hotly debated one.

We’re always told to switch things off when we’re not using them; so it seems logical that the less time you keep your heating switched on; the less it will cost you.

But another school of thought says that leaving your heating on low all the time is more cost-effective. Because if you allow your house to get cold, it takes more energy to heat it back up again.

So, which is it? In this article we look at the arguments for and against leaving your heating on. And give you advice on which option is likely to be best for your home.

School of thought 1: You should turn your heating off when you’re not using it

How many times have you been told as a child (or maybe an adult!) to switch your appliances off; rather than leaving them on standby, to save energy?

Quite a few, we reckon.

And that’s certainly sage advice. Leaving an electronic device on standby for a prolonged period of time is a waste of energy. It’s much more energy efficient to power it down completely.

So, it seems logical that the same will apply to your heating. If you leave your heating on 24/7, you will end up using more energy.

Supporters of this argument: The Energy Saving Trust

According to experts at the Energy Saving Trust, you should only have the heating on when you need it. They’re clear that by doing this, you’ll save energy and therefore money on your heating bills.

The Energy Saving Trust strongly refutes the second school of thought on the matter. They say that the idea that it’s cheaper to leave your heating on low all of the time is a myth.

According to the EST, if you leave your heating on low all day; you’ll be losing energy all day, because of heat loss. So, it’s better to heat your home only when you need it.

School of thought 2: You should leave your heating on low all the time

Whilst the Energy Saving Trust’s argument sounds sensible, it’s not quite as clear-cut as that.

Some experts argue that it’s actually more energy efficient to leave your heating on at a low temperature constantly to save energy.

At first this sounds absurd – since when did leaving stuff on, actually save energy? But it starts to make sense if you think of it in another way.

Think of it as being like boiling a pan of water on a gas hob.

When you put cold water into the pan; you’ll need a high flame and a lot of gas to get the water to boil.

But once it’s boiling, you can turn the flame down low, and keep the water hot.

If you had turned the gas off completely; and let your water get cold again; you would have to turn the flame up high; and waste a lot more gas, than if you had just let it tick over at a lower temperature.

The same is true of your boiler. It takes much more energy to heat up an entire house from a very cold start; than to just maintain its temperature.

So, by keeping your heating on at a low level, you’ll save energy; because your boiler isn’t working hard to heat your house from a completely cold start once or twice a day.

Weather compensation and leaving your heating on

If you have weather compensating heating controls; you’re probably already familiar with the idea of maintaining a constant temperature rather than turning your heating on and off.

Weather compensators are one of the four additional energy saving devices recognised by the Boiler Plus regulations. They monitor both the temperature inside your home, and the temperature outside, and adjust your boiler’s operation accordingly.

A weather compensator tells your boiler to increase or decrease the temperature of your radiators; to match the heat loss caused by the weather.

This is because heat is lost more quickly on a cold day, than on a warm one.

So, instead of your boiler switching on or off depending on when your home gets too cold or too hot; weather compensation monitors and maintains your chosen temperature without having spikes of over and underheating.

This provides a more comfortable and consistent environment. And with the boiler flow temperature being kept as low as possible, around 55°C or less; the boiler can condense as it is designed to; running more efficiently, and saving you money.

Viessmann conducted research at Salford University and found that a simple weather compensation sensor typically saves the householder anything from 10-30% off their energy bills. Or a good £40-£100 or more per year.

A report by an environmental science consulting group; published similar estimated energy savings of 10-40% for electronic weather compensators in one-family houses.

So, despite it sounding a little counterintuitive, leaving your heating on low can save energy in some circumstances.

There is a ‘but’ coming…

Heat loss and leaving your heating on

Whilst leaving your heating on can work well if you’ve got decent insulation; it won’t if your home has high levels of heat loss.

To learn more about heat loss and why it’s important, you can read our related blog here. But in a nutshell, all buildings lose heat. The more they lose, the more energy it takes to heat them.

Buildings will have high levels of heat loss if they have poor to no insulation, single glazing, and poor airtightness.

So, if your home suffers from high levels of heat loss; you’ll need to use more energy to maintain the inside temperature – even at a low temperature.

This means that leaving your heating on all the time would be more expensive – it certainly wouldn’t save you money.

This leads us on to the advice from TheGreenAge. TheGreenage is the UK’s premier energy saving advice portal, covering heating, insulation and renewable technologies…

TheGreenage: it’s down to insulation

The Greenage say that whether you should leave your heating on all the time or not; depends entirely on how well insulated your home is.

They say that if your home is very well insulated; you’re better off leaving the heating on at a set temperature, because there is little heat loss occurring.

But, if your home is a Victorian property with high levels of heat loss; then you’re better off following The EST advice and just heating it up for the times when you need it.

This would probably be first thing in the morning, and in the evening before you go to bed.

This is because any heat you generate will be lost fairly quickly through the fabric of your building; so your boiler would have to work incredibly hard to maintain the temperature all day.

If you work during the day, it should make things a lot cheaper compared to leaving the boiler on.

Perhaps the reason that The EST has run with the blanket advice to switch our heating off; is because most homes in the UK suffer from high levels of heat loss.

A report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) says that our housing stock is: “one of the oldest and worst insulated in Europe, with 38% of homes built before 1946 and only 15% since the 1990s.”

Can I test which method will work for me?

If you want to put the two theories to the test, you can.

If you think you have an energy efficient home; you can compare your energy usage when you leave your heating on; compared to programming your heating to come on at certain times of the day.

Over the course of two weeks, test each method and take gas readings. But do bear in mind that if there is a change in the weather, it won’t be a fair comparison!

And the winner is…

As is so often the case in life, the answer to whether or not you should leave your heating on or not; is – it depends!

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to heating. What’s right for your home will depend on many factors, such as:

the age and type of property you live in;
the amount of insulation you have;
whether you have double or single glazing;
your heating preferences – i.e. how warm or cool you like your home to be;
how often you’re at home during the day;
What heating controls you have;
how you use your heating;
the age of your boiler;
how many people live with you.

But if the two arguments in today’s debate make anything clear it’s this: heat loss is incredibly important when it comes to heating our homes.

If you want to improve your energy efficiency, save money, and reduce your carbon footprint, insulation is vital.

And the good news is, insulating your home can be something that’s fairly cheap and straightforward to improve.

By simply putting down some draught excluders or using heavy curtains you can start to reduce your home’s heat loss. And keep that heat for as long as possible – regardless of whether you leave your heating on, or turn it off.

Useful links

The Greenage: Is it cheaper to leave your heating on all the time?

The Energy Saving Trust: Take control of your heating at home

The Cliamte Change Committee Publication: UK housing – fit for the future?

Advice

Boiler cycling on and off?

Post author By Lucy
Post date October 10, 2022
No Comments on Boiler cycling on and off?

Boiler cycling on and off?

If you’ve noticed that your boiler is turning itself off and on again every few minutes; you might be experiencing a problem called ‘boiler cycling’ or ‘boiler short-cycling.’

Whilst it’s common for a combi boiler to turn itself off every now and then; as part of it’s ‘pre-heat’ function; constant stop-starting for very short-durations isn’t normal.

If you suspect that your boiler is turning off and on too frequently; you should try and time its cycles for an hour, to get a better idea about what it’s doing.

If your boiler is turning off and on every few minutes or less, you may have a boiler cycling problem.

Boiler cycling prevents your boiler from overheating when heat can’t be dissipated quickly enough.

But it’s bad news because you’ll be paying over the odds on your inefficient system; and there’ll be unnecessary stress on your boiler, which can shorten its lifespan.

To find out everything you need to know about this pesky problem; and what to do about it, stay with us…

What is boiler cycling?

To understand what boiler cycling is, and why it happens; you need to understand a little bit about how your boiler works. And more specifically, what heat loss and boiler modulation is…

Heat Loss

At its simplest, your boiler’s job is to heat water to provide you with heating and hot water. How much power (heat) your boiler needs to output to meet your heating demands; is determined by the heat loss of your home.

Understanding heat loss is vital when it comes to understanding heating; because if it wasn’t for heat loss, we actually wouldn’t need heating!

To learn more about what heat loss is, you can read our blog on it here. But we’ll summarise here…

Why homes lose heat

Whether we like it or not, all buildings lose heat. It’s an inescapable fact of science!

The second rule of thermodynamics means that warm air always moves towards cooler air. If you think about your house; the warm air inside will want to move towards the colder air in the garden!

So, heat losses occur because the heat inside your home will be transferred through the fabric of your building. You can probably predict that this will happen more quickly if you have poor insulation; because the job of insulation is to make it more difficult for heat to escape.

But heat is also lost more quickly on a colder day, than on a warmer one. The bigger the difference in temperature between the inside and outside temperatures, the quicker heat will be lost.

To keep you warm, your boiler needs to match the heat loss of your building. This is why it’s crucial to get a heat loss calculation to choose the correct size of boiler for your needs.

Your boiler’s maximum power output should be able to match the heat loss of your home on the coldest day of the year. And ideally be able to modulate down to a lower output to match lower levels of heat loss on warmer days.

And this is where we need to understand boiler modulation…

Boiler modulation

Boiler modulation sounds very technical. But it just refers to the ability of a boiler to reduce or ‘turn down’ its output; to better match the heat demand.

If you have a 30kw boiler; you won’t always need it to be blasting out its full 30kw of power to heat your home. And you don’t want it to do that, because as you can imagine, it’s a waste of energy.

To give an example… Let’s say that you only need 15kw of heat from your 30kw boiler for the next couple of hours. If your boiler was just to output its maximum 30kw of power; the ‘excess’ heat that can’t be dissipated into your home (because it’s not needed); would cause the water returning to the boiler to become too hot. To prevent itself from overheating; your boiler would be forced to cycle, turning on for 5 minutes, and then off for 5 minutes repeatedly.

A modulating boiler could avoid this situation by simply turning down its flame by 50%; so that it was outputting 15kw of power, instead of its full 30 kw capacity. It wouldn’t need to stop-start to replicate the lower heat demand.

Ideally, your boiler will fire-up, and run continuously by modulating down as your home reaches your desired temperature.

Boiler modulation ratios

But not all boilers are created equal. How much a boiler can ‘dial down’ its output to, is stated by the manufacturer as a modulation ratio.

A boiler’s modulation ratio is its minimum output in relation to its maximum output, stated as a fraction.

To give a couple of examples:

Boiler A has a maximum output of 30kW and has a 5:1 ratio. This means that the maximum power it can output to heat your home is 30kW; and it can modulate this down to 6kW.

Boiler B has a maximum output of 30kW and an extremely impressive 17:1 ratio. This means that the maximum power it can output to your home is 30kW; and it can modulate this down to 1.7 kW, with a total of 17 different heat outputs!

Lower power output means less fuel burned; more money saved; and less boiler cycling putting unnecessary stress on your boiler.

Why is boiler cycling a problem?

A cycling boiler is a problem because it:

Wastes fuel;
Increases your carbon footprint;
Results in higher heating bills;
Increases the wear and tear on your boiler’s components;
Leads to increased faults and problems with your boiler;
Can shorten the lifespan of your boiler.

What causes boiler cycling?

Now that we have a better understanding of how boilers work. Let’s take a look at some of the possible causes of boiler cycling:

1. Boiler cycling caused by an oversized boiler

One of the main culprits of a cycling boiler is that it’s been oversized.

An oversized boiler means that its output is too high (or powerful) for your needs. When it comes to boilers, having too much power is a bad thing.

Whilst you (and some dodgy installers!) might be tempted to oversize your new boiler ‘just in case’; this would be a costly mistake.

And this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, now that we’ve seen that a boiler will cycle if it can’t modulate down low enough to meet a lower heat demand!

Suppose that your home has a 15kw heat loss, but you have an enormous 45kw boiler. The boiler would generate more power than your system can handle. It would heat up too quickly; run for a short time; and then turn off; before the cycle starts again. This is very inefficient, and would lead to excessive energy bills, as well as taking its toll on your boiler.

This is why it’s so important to have a heat loss calculation conducted to find the correct size of boiler for your needs. If an installer just wants to count your radiators, run for the hills!

Rest assured that The Heating People conduct heat loss calculations as standard as part of your free survey. We will calculate, recommend, and install the perfect boiler for your home and lifestyle.

2. Boiler cycling caused by poor system design

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again… Your boiler installer is the number one contributor to your heating system’s energy efficiency.

If you want to optimise the efficiency of your heating system, and avoid issues such as boiler cycling, you need an expert engineer who understands emitter sizing, pipe sizing, hydraulic layout and principles.

The Heating People are proud to be part of the Heat Geek Elite and will design and commission your heating system to get the very best out of it.

3. Boiler cycling caused by problems with the thermostat

Your thermostat’s job is to measure the temperature in your home and prompt your boiler to fire up when it drops below a certain temperature.

A faulty thermostat, or one placed in a cold location, may take inaccurate temperature readings, causing your boiler to cycle on and off more frequently.

4. Boiler cycling caused by a faulty water pump

If your boiler’s pump develops a fault, this could lead to boiler cycling if water isn’t being pumped away from the boiler effectively. An overheating boiler will cut out after firing up (short cycling).

How can I prevent boiler cycling?

As with all things, prevention is better than cure!

To avoid the problems associated with a cycling boiler, you should start by getting the correct size of boiler installed by an expert engineer you can trust.

Choosing a boiler with a good modulation ratio will help to maximise the energy efficiency of your heating system.

Final thoughts

If you think your boiler is cycling, you should talk to your heating engineer for advice.

And if you’ve decided that it’s time you replaced your old, struggling boiler, contact The Heating People to book your free survey.

Useful Links

Heat Geek: Find a Heat Geek

Advice

10 common boiler problems

Post author By Lucy
Post date October 6, 2022
No Comments on 10 common boiler problems

10 common boiler problems…

Your boiler is one of the most important and hard-working appliances in your home, and you probably don’t give it a second’s thought until it’s on the blink.

Whilst it’s frustrating when your boiler runs into a problem, it’s not always a big deal.

And there’s not necessarily something wrong with the boiler itself, it could indicate problems with its fuel supply or a frozen or burst pipe.

One way you might be able to tell what’s wrong with your boiler, is if it’s displaying a fault code.

All boilers display error codes differently, so depending on your model, the error code itself will vary, so you’ll need to check your boiler’s operation manual.

If you’re in any doubt about what’s going on with your boiler, you should always contact a Gas Safe engineer for advice.

Remember that most problems can be avoided with proper boiler maintenance, including an annual service.

According to Which? an average of 18% of boilers in UK homes break down every year with the majority facing substantial repair costs due to not adequately maintaining their system.

We’ve put together this quick guide of some of the most common boiler problems and what needs to be done about them. Some small problems can be handled by yourself…

1. Common boiler problem: You have no heating or hot water

The dreaded no heating or hot water scenario is probably your biggest fear when it comes to boiler problems, and you’re not alone. Nobody wants to be without heating or hot water, particularly in the winter months.

There are three possible scenarios here:

You have no heating and no hot water at all

This is the worst-case scenario because you’ve got the double whammy of a cold house and cold water.

If you’ve got a system or a heat-only boiler and you have an additional immersion heater, you’ll be able to get hot water while the issue with your boiler is being fixed.

Unfortunately, you’ll have no such luck here if yours is a combi boiler.

There are lots of possible explanations for why your heating and hot water has gone off. The simplest things to check first are:

Is your boiler displaying a fault code?
Have you got an issue with your power; water; or fuel supply?
Is the condensate pipe frozen? (more on this later)
Is the pilot light on? (more on this later)
Is the boiler pressure too low? (more on this later)
Is your timer or thermostat working?

If none the above applies, it’s time to call out an engineer because there may be a component failure, such as a broken diaphragm or valve.

Your hot water’s working, but there’s no heating

If you can have a hot bath or shower, but your heating isn’t working, you should start by checking whether all your radiators are hot.

If some of your radiators are hot, or are hot in places, you might need to bleed them or get a power flush to rid them of sludge.

We look at this later. If all your radiators are cold, your boiler might have a broken diverter valve or pump.

Your heating is working, but there’s no hot water

If your home is warm and cosy, but you’re only getting cold water out of your taps, then you have an issue with your hot water supply.

The first thing to do is check that it’s not a problem with an individual showerhead or tap, by checking all your hot taps. If you get sputtering, there could be an airlock in the pipes.

Otherwise, the most likely cause is a broken diverter valve, in which case, you’ll need to call in an engineer.

2. Common boiler problem: Your radiators aren’t getting hot or have cold spots

If you’ve got cold radiators, this could indicate a need to bleed them, or that you need a power flush.

You need to bleed your radiators

If you’ve noticed that your radiators are cold or have cold spots; or are making funny noises; this might indicate that air is trapped inside them, and needs to be released.

The good news is that releasing the trapped air, or ‘bleeding’ your radiators is a relatively straightforward task that you can do yourself.

It’s usually easy to determine whether your radiators need bleeding. You just need to use your hand to check the temperature of your radiators, from the top to the bottom of each.

Since air rises, it is quite common for the top of a radiator to be cold, and the bottom to be hot, if it needs to be bled.

To bleed your radiators, you need to use your radiator key to open the bleed valve on your radiator. You should hear a hissing sound as the air escapes.

Keep releasing air from the valve until you can no longer hear air escaping and some water begins to trickle out.

You need a power flush

Another potential cause of your cold radiators is that they are being blocked by sludge.

Sludge is a muddy substance made up of rust, dirt and debris which collects over time in your pipes and radiators.

This plays havoc with the efficiency of your heating system, causing corrosion and blockages. This issue can be solved with a power flush.

A power flush is a cleansing process which cleans your entire central heating system, removing the sludge, which would otherwise cause damage and reduce efficiency.

So, if when you bleed your radiators, the water is discoloured, or no water escapes at all, this may signal the need for a power flush.

3. Common boiler problem: Your boiler is losing pressure

If you’ve been experiencing boiler problems such as a lack of hot water, it could be that low pressure in your boiler is to blame.

The good news is that low pressure is usually easy to spot, and, in some cases, you can address it yourself.

If you find that your pressure gauge is below one bar of pressure, adjusting this to 1.5 should solve your problem in the short term.

To top up the water pressure in your boiler you’ll need to switch off your boiler and allow it to cool.

Then, you’ll need to check that both ends of the filling loop are securely attached, before opening both valves.

Once the pressure gauge reads 1.5 bar, close both valves, one after the other. You can then switch the boiler back on and, if needed, press the reset button.

There are lots of possible reasons for your low-pressure fault.

Depending on what the cause is, you may need to talk to a Gas Safe engineer so that the issue doesn’t recur.

4. Common boiler problem: Your boiler’s condensate pipe has frozen

If your boiler has stopped working when it’s freezing outside, there’s a chance that your boiler’s condensate pipe has frozen.

Other telltale signs of this issue are if you hear a gurgling sound coming from your boiler or your boiler is displaying an error code “EA”.

All boilers have a condensate pipe. Its job is to take waste from your boiler out into a drain.

If it gets blocked with ice, your boiler will automatically shut down as a safety measure until it’s resolved. Luckily, this isn’t a big problem, and you can fix it yourself quite easily.

To find your condensate pipe, you need to look for a white plastic pipe that comes out of the wall directly behind your boiler.

Check that it runs from the boiler to an exterior drain. Once you’ve found it, and checked that it is indeed frozen, get your kettle on.

Once you’ve boiled your kettle, let the water cool for about 15 minutes, before pouring it down the length of the pipe until the ice has thawed. The final step is to reset your boiler and check that it is working properly.

5. Common boiler problem: Your boiler’s pilot light keeps going out

The pilot light in a boiler is crucial because it ignites the fuel (usually gas) that heats the water inside the boiler.

It needs to stay lit all the time so that your boiler can operate whenever heat or hot water is required. If it goes out, you’ll have no heating or hot water.

The good news is that you can relight your pilot light quite easily. But if it keeps going out – after you’ve eliminated draughts – there may be a bigger problem afoot.

To relight your pilot light, you’ll need to follow the instructions in your boiler’s operation manual.

Newer boilers will have an ignitor, whereas an older boiler pilot light may require you to light a match for ignition.

If the pilot light keeps going out on a boiler that could indicate that the thermocouple is faulty or broken and requires replacing.

6. Common boiler problem: You have leaks

Leaking or dripping water is a real pain because it can cause damage to your home, as well as causing problems with the electrical components of your boiler.

If you notice water coming from your system’s pipes, this could be caused by corrosion or by weakened seals on joints.

If the leak seems to be coming from the boiler itself, this could indicate a problem with an internal component, such as a pressure valve or pump seal. These problems can occur where the pressure in the system has become too high or the seal on the pump has worn out.

Regardless of the cause, a leak should be treated as a serious issue, and you should call a Gas Safe engineer to investigate.

7. Common boiler problem: Your boiler is making kettling sounds

If you’ve noticed that your boiler is making a strange noise a bit like a kettle boiling – a sort of whistling sound – it’s probably due to a common problem called ‘boiler kettling.’

Despite the rather misleading name, your ‘boiler’ doesn’t actually boil water – or it shouldn’t!

Boiler kettling occurs when the water is heated too quickly and reaches boiling point, causing steam to be generated and air to become trapped. The trapped air makes a whistling noise, like a kettle.

Boiler kettling can be caused by limescale build-up on the heat-exchanger, which slows down the flow of water, causing it to heat up excessively.

A faulty component could also be to blame, as well as the possibility of there being a build-up of sludge in the system. This isn’t a problem that you can fix yourself, you’ll need the help of a heating engineer for this one.

8. Common boiler problem: Your boiler is making strange noises

If it’s not whistling you’re hearing, but something else, this could indicate a different problem to boiler kettling.

Most modern boilers are whisper quiet, so anything above a low hum isn’t normal. Gurgling; banging; whooshing or droning sounds usually indicate there’s a problem.

Gurgling noises are often a sign of trapped air in the system. Bleeding the radiators might help with this issue. Droning noises are sometimes caused by a faulty pump. Whooshing noises sometimes occurs when debris or dust blocks the air intake pipe or air filters.

But whatever the cause, you’ll want to have your noisy boiler looked at by a Gas Safe engineer.

9. Common boiler problem: Your boiler isn’t responding to the thermostat

Most people use a thermostat to control their boiler’s heating schedule and the temperature of their central heating.

At its simplest, a thermostat is a control used to regulate the temperature in your heating system. Once you have set a preferred temperature, your thermostat works to keep your rooms at this desired level.

It works by monitoring the ambient temperature in your room, and then turning your heating on or off to maintain your chosen temperature.

Obviously, if your boiler stops responding to your thermostat, it can cause problems. It might be that your boiler and thermostat are not communicating with one another, or it could be that there’s a faulty component.

To get to the bottom of this issue, you should start with the obvious. Check that your boiler and thermostat have power. It could be as simple as the batteries in your thermostat need changing, or the clocks have recently changed.

Once you’ve eliminated those possibilities, consult the manufacturer instructions for your thermostat. Popular brands are likely to have useful FAQs and troubleshooting advice on their websites.

If your control is quite old, it might be time for a new one if advice from the manufacturer seems to suggest it’s on its last legs.

10. Common boiler problem: Your energy bills are creeping up with no explanation

If you’ve got an older boiler, and have noticed unexplained increases in your energy bills, it might be time to consider a replacement.

As well as older boilers tending to be less efficient to start with, their efficiency can also deteriorate further with age.

And at its simplest, a less efficient boiler will cost you more money to run because they use more energy to heat your home.

The efficiency of your boiler is rated using the ErP scale, running from the most efficient, at A, and least efficient at G.

An A rated boiler has an energy efficiency of 90% or more. The Boiler Plus regulations mean that new combi boilers are at least 92% efficient.

To put this in perspective, an older G rated boiler has an efficiency of 70% or less which means for every £1 you spend on your heating bill you are wasting 30p on lost energy.

So, if you have an old boiler, and ever increasing energy bills, it might be worth discussing whether a new boiler could save you money.

To find our about the gas crisis, and how to save money on your gas bill, read our related blog here.

Tips for preventing problems with your boiler

We hope that you’ve found this trouble shooting guide helpful.

Remember that prevention is better than cure, so the best way to avoid running into problems in the first place, is to have your boiler serviced annually.

An annual service will help you to:

Avoid breakdowns;
Maximise the lifespan of your boiler;
Maintain your boiler’s efficiency to help keep your energy bills low;
Ensure it is safe; and
Maintain your boiler’s guarantee.

But unfortunately, boilers don’t last forever.

If you’ve noticed your boiler is struggling to do what it used to do; or is breaking down regularly; or is not working at all, you might be wondering whether you should try to repair what you have, or whether the time has come for a replacement.

The Heating People are here to help you find what’s right for you, and your home. Call us today to discuss your options with a boiler replacement.

Useful Links:

Which? report on the cause of boiler breakdowns

Worcester Bosch support: Broken boiler

Boiler Guide – thermostat problems.

Vaillant: Most common boiler problems

Advice

The benefits of replacing your boiler

Post author By Lucy
Post date October 3, 2022
No Comments on The benefits of replacing your boiler

The benefits of replacing your boiler…

If your boiler’s on the blink; or you’re just planning for the future; you might be wondering what benefits you can expect from a boiler upgrade.

After all, a new boiler is a big investment. And you’ll want to be sure about precisely what you stand to gain.

In this blog, we look at some of the key advantages to saying out with the old; and in with the new.

1. The benefits of replacing your boiler: A warmer, more comfortable home

If you’ve been putting up with a heating system that takes ages to kick-in; or arguing with family members over who’s used all the hot water; then you’re bound to feel the benefits that a new; modern boiler can bring to your home.

With a boiler replacement, you don’t have to simply swap like-for-like. You can change to a different type of boiler system.

If you’ve outgrown your current combi boiler; and your large family is using loads of hot water; you should consider changing to a system or heat-only boiler.

Conversely, if you’ve got a smaller family; you might be producing more energy than you need – increasing your bills and generating unnecessary emissions. In this case, you might be better off with a combi boiler.

The Heating People are here to help you to decide what options are best for you; to ensure that your house is always warm, and your baths are always hot.

2. The benefits of replacing your boiler: More control

If you’re replacing an old boiler with a much newer one; chances are, your new model will give you much more control.

Whilst most installers already saw time and temperature controls on boilers to be an essential component of a heating system; Boiler Plus made this mandatory.

Boiler Plus also requires that new combi boilers have another energy efficiency measure to be in place; one of which could be smart controls featuring automation and optimisation functions.

Smart controls

‘Smart’ stands for “Self-Monitoring Analysis & Reporting Technology” and covers a large group of controls.

Smart controls can often connect to the internet and can be controlled remotely through a tablet or smartphone. This means that you have much greater control over your heating, from wherever you are, at any time of day.

Optimisers are convenient because they work out how long it takes your house to heat up; and turn the heating on at the right time; so your house will be up to temperature just in time for when you need it.

For example, if you get up at 7.30am in the morning, you can set your programmer to 7.30am; and your thermostat to whatever you choose. And the optimiser will work out when to fire up the boiler; so the house is up to the temperature you set by 7.30am.

In colder weather, it will fire up earlier and in milder weather it will wait, saving you energy and money.

So, as well as being convenient and improving your comfort; smart controls will potentially save you money on your energy bills.

Wolseley found that homeowners had a 20% decrease in their heating costs; when using smart controls compared to the previous year with a standard thermostat.

3. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Reduced energy bills

With gas prices on the rise, chances are you’re hoping to reduce your energy bills.

Having an energy efficient boiler will reduce the amount of money you’re spending on energy. This is because an efficient boiler needs to burn less fuel than an inefficient boiler to do the same job.

Old boilers burn their fuel inefficiently. Because they don’t have the condensing technology and other energy saving devices that we have today.

And many homes still have these old inefficient boilers, which also become even more inefficient with age.

All new boilers must be ErP A-rated for efficiency. This means that they’re more than 90% efficient. But, if you’ve got an old G-rated boiler, this could be less than 70% efficient.

To put this into context, with a G-rated boiler; for every £1 you spend on your heating bill; you are wasting 30p on lost energy.

According to The Energy Saving Trust; you could save £340 a year on your gas bill; by trading in an old-non-condensing boiler for a new condensing one.

4. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Reduced carbon footprint

We’re all starting to appreciate our own social responsibility in finding cleaner and smarter ways of heating our homes. Not just to save money on energy bills, but to reduce carbon emissions.

In 2015 in Paris, the government committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, by signing the Paris Agreement.

This made the UK the first major economy in the world to legislate for a Net Zero target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

As manufacturers understand more about the technology and its impact on the environment, they make improvements to how it runs.

The gas boilers we use today are much more efficient than the boilers of just a few years ago.

We now use smart controls; weather compensation; load compensation; flue gas heat recovery systems; and a whole host of other energy saving devices alongside our boilers.

So, by installing a new, more efficient boiler, you are also helping the environment. It’s estimated that by moving to an A-rated boiler, you could save the environment 1,500kg of carbon dioxide per year.

5. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Peace of mind

If your old boiler has been temperamental and has been breaking down; you’ll love the peace of mind a new boiler will bring.

You’ll end all the stress and inconvenience of having to arrange frequent last-minute call-outs and repairs with a heating engineer.

A new boiler should work better for longer; and you might benefit from the reassurance of a manufacturer’s guarantee on your new model. This means that should anything go wrong; your repairs will be paid for.

All new boilers installed by The Heating People come with a guarantee of up to 14 years.

6. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Reduced repair costs

If you’ve been forking out on frequent repairs for your old boiler; often with expensive obsolete parts; you’ll be saving money with a new boiler.

A new boiler should run smoothly for a long time; and this will often be backed up by a manufacturer’s guarantee.

7. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Quieter boiler operation

If your old boiler was noisy, you might well notice how much you don’t notice your new one!

Due to improved design, new boilers can be significantly quieter than older ones. Many of Vaillant’s boilers have been awarded the Quiet Mark, which identifies the quietest home appliances and technology.

8. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Space saving

If you switch from a heat-only or a system boiler to a combi boiler; you’ll save space in your home, because combis don’t need external tanks or cylinders.

So, this could free up cupboard space for you, which can be particularly beneficial in smaller homes.

9. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Hot water on demand

If you switch from a heat-only boiler to a combi boiler; you’ll have hot water on demand because combi’s don’t have a water tank to heat up.

This means that you won’t have to wait for your water to get hot enough for a bath. And it’s ideal in busy homes where showers may be used back-to-back each morning.

10. Meet high demands for hot water

Conversely, if you currently have a combi boiler that is struggling because you have a large demand for hot water at the same time (say for multiple showers at once). You might benefit from replacing it with a heat-only boiler system; which can supply multiple outlets at the same time because of their hot water stores.

11. The benefits of replacing your boiler: Make your home more attractive to buyers

If you’re planning on moving home soon, a new A-rated boiler can make your property more attractive to prospective buyers.

Although you might think it’s a waste of money to invest in a new heating system that you won’t benefit from; research has found that a new boiler could add at least £8,000 to the price of your property.

Final thoughts…

We hope you’ve found this useful.

You might like our related blogs: 6 Top tips for buying a new boiler and The best combi boilers 2022.

So, if you’re interested in finding out more about what you stand to gain, why not book your free survey with The Heating People today?

Useful Links:

Fact sheet on Boiler Plus

Consultation response on Boiler Plus

Government report: ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Revolution.’

The Energy Saving Trust advice on boilers

Advice

5 Benefits of your annual service

Post author By Lucy
Post date September 29, 2022
No Comments on 5 Benefits of your annual service

5 benefits of your annual service…

Regular boiler servicing can keep you and your family safe, save you money and keep your guarantee valid.

But despite this; a survey by the Gas Safe Register found that a worrying 24% of homeowners have either never had their boiler serviced; or haven’t had it serviced once a year as recommended.

Although easily overlooked, an annual boiler service has many benefits. We’ve put together this handy guide of the top 5 reasons why you should put booking a boiler service on your to-do list.

1. Your annual service keeps you and your family safe

First and foremost, an annual service is vital in keeping you and your family safe.

Your boiler could produce poisonous carbon monoxide (CO) if it’s not working properly. This can happen if your boiler was improperly fitted; improperly repaired or maintained; or if its vents, flues or chimneys have become blocked with dirt and debris.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a highly poisonous gas that can be especially deadly because you can’t see; taste; or smell it.

According to the NHS, carbon monoxide poisoning kills 60 people in the UK every year. So don’t take the risk!

In addition to the risk of gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning; a faulty boiler can also cause fires and explosions.

So, if you have any gas appliances in your home; it’s essential to have them checked once a year by a Gas Safe engineer to ensure that they are safe.

Only Gas Safe registered engineers can legally fit, fix, and service gas appliances. This requirement ensures that engineers who are working on gas hold valid and current qualifications.

2. Your annual service maintains your guarantee

Want to keep that nice long guarantee that came with your shiny new boiler?

If so, you’ll need to have your boiler serviced annually.

All boilers supplied by The Heating People come with a manufacturer’s guarantee of up to 14 years.

This gives you the peace of mind that any faults will be repaired free of charge if they develop within that time.

But whichever manufacturer you go with; your guarantee will only remain valid if you keep up to date with regular servicing.

If you don’t have your boiler serviced, it will invalidate your guarantee. Resulting in expensive repair bills, should your boiler break down.

Regular servicing maintains your boiler cover protection

Another thing to consider here is whether you have boiler cover.

If you do, then your home insurance policy will require you to keep up to date with your boiler service. And be able to evidence this with your service records.

Your insurance will be invalid if you don’t. And your insurance company won’t pay out should you need to make a claim.

3. Your annual service results in fewer breakdowns

Nobody wants to be left without heating and hot water. But it’s often not until misfortune strikes in the form of a breakdown; that you realise how much you rely on your boiler!

Getting your boiler serviced annually helps to avoid a breakdown.

Just like with your car’s MOT, when you have your boiler serviced; all the main components are checked for wear and tear, and any required maintenance can be carried out proactively.

This means that your boiler is less likely to breakdown when you need it the most.

A survey in 2021 by Which? found that only around three in ten boilers that are serviced annually; have needed a repair in their first six years. This doubles to around six in ten boilers if the boiler is only serviced every two to five years.

Regular servicing identifies small problems early

As well as avoiding breakdowns, an annual service will identify any small problems early; before they turn into larger more expensive ones!

Identifying a potential problem before it leads to a complete breakdown; can save you from expensive repairs or the need to replace your boiler entirely.

During your service, your engineer will spot any problems before they escalate. This will save you money on repairs, and the inconvenience of being without heating and hot water.

Regular servicing extends the lifespan of your boiler

Replacing a boiler can be costly. So you’ll want to make sure that you get the most out of your investment. To keep your boiler running smoothly for the next 10-15 years, you’ll need to look after it.

Regular servicing maximises the lifespan of your boiler. It ensures that it runs as efficiently as possible, for as long as possible.

4. Your annual service maintains your boiler’s efficiency

A well-maintained and regularly serviced boiler will work more efficiently than a neglected one.

An efficient boiler will help you to save money on your heating bills; as well as being better for the environment.

During a service, your engineer will clean up any deposits that have built up in the boiler.

Ensuring that the internal combustion areas are free of dirt and debris will improve the heat transfer. This allows your boiler to light more easily and burn efficiently, which leads to lower heating bills.

Regular servicing helps your boiler run optimally, using only as much energy as is necessary to heat your home. Again, saving you money.

5. An annual service is a legal requirement for landlords

Landlords are under a legal duty to have an annual safety check on all gas appliances and flues.

It’s also a legal requirement to maintain gas appliances, flues/chimneys and pipework in a safe condition. You need to make sure that both checks and servicing are carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

In the UK all landlords must ensure the following in relation to gas safety in properties they rent out:

Pipework, appliances and flues provided for tenants are maintained in a safe condition.
Appliances and flues are checked for safety by a Gas Safe registered engineer annually.
All gas appliances are maintained by a Gas Safe registered engineer (this can be accomplished by following the manufacturers recommended maintenance for their appliances/equipment). And all gas equipment (including any appliance left by a previous tenant) is safe or otherwise removed before re-letting.
A documented record of safety checks, known as a Landlord Gas Safety Record, is made available to the tenant within 28 days of completing the check or to any new tenant before they move in.
A copy of safety check documents is kept for a specified period.

What is the difference between a gas safety check and a service?

We’ve mentioned gas safety checks. So, what’s the difference between a gas safety check and a service?

Gas safety check

A gas safety check assesses the basic safety of gas appliances in your home. Its purpose is to ensure everything is working correctly and is safe.

A safety check includes:

Checking gas appliances are burning correctly with the correct operating pressure
Ensuring harmful gases are removed from the appliance safely
Checking ventilation routes are clear and adequate
Making sure that any safety devices are working properly

Boiler service

A service consists of a full check of a gas appliance. And alongside the gas safety checks listed above your engineer from The Heating People will:

Conduct a visual inspection of your boiler and flue to ensure that your boiler still meets current standards.

Remove the boiler casingto check the functioning of the main component parts, such as the burner; heat exchanger; main injector; and spark/sensor probe.

Conduct a flue check to ensure that the flue is not obstructed in any way. And the flue components are sealed correctly to make sure that there are no unsafe emissions being released.

Conduct a gas pressure test to ensure that your boiler is operating at the right gas pressure.

Adjust the gas valve to check the burner is combusing efficiently and correctly (using a flue gas analyser).

Conduct a gas tightness test to ensure there are no leaks.

Conduct combustion analysis using aflue gas analyser to make sure the boiler is burning as the manufacturer intended it to.

Cleaning of thecondensate trap and where necessary, cleaning of: the burner; heat exchanger; electrodes; and magnetic system filter; will also be cleaned.

Check the expansion vesselto ensure that it still has water pressure to the manufacturer’s requirements. This will be topped up if required.

Provide you with a service report/checklist which includes all of the information about the safety of your boiler. Our installers will also fill in the service record in your boiler’s manual. Which is important to maintain the validity of your boiler guarantee.

Who should perform my annual service?

To keep your boiler operating safely and efficiently; it’s critical that you have it regularly serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

To check that your engineer is Gas Safe registered, you can ask to see their ID card.

You can verify their details with the Gas Safe Register . We’ve linked to their website at the end of this article.

At The Heating People, our team of Gas Safe engineers have the experience and expertise to keep your boiler running smoothly and efficiently; and minimise the risk of any problems developing in the future.

When should I get my annual service?

Although we only tend to only think about our boilers during the winter, when the weather turns colder; you rely on your boiler all year round.

To keep your boiler running smoothly, you should have it serviced once a year.

The best time to book in for a service is during the summer when your heating demand is lower. Because this helps to find and fix any faults before the cold weather hits, and your boiler is working much harder.

Will I get any documentation?

It’s useful to know what documentation you will receive when your boiler is serviced:

What is a Gas Safety Record?

A Gas Safety Record is a document that may be given to you by a gas engineer after they’ve done gas work at your property. But it’s only a legal requirement to provide one to a landlord.

What is a landlord Gas Safety Record?

It’s a legal requirement for landlords to have their gas appliances serviced every year by a Gas Safe engineer.

Because this is a legal requirement, landlords will receive a Landlord Gas Safety Record when they have their boiler serviced.

This document will include:

A description and location of each appliance or flue that was checked
The name, registration number and signature of the engineer who made the checks
The date the checks were carried out
The address of the property where the appliances or flues are installed
Your name and address (or an agent’s where applicable)
Information on any safety defects and actions needed or taken to fix them
The results of all operational safety checks carried out on the appliances
Undertake any necessary remedial work (your engineer will inform you of any additional costs)
Alert you to any issues found during the service

Final thoughts

To sum up… you wouldn’t dream of driving a car without a valid MOT, and the same is true of your boiler.

Whilst there are many reasons for having your boiler serviced annually by a Gas Safe engineer; the safety of you and your family is the most important. Don’t leave it to chance, book that service!

Useful links

Gas Safe Register

Which? article on boiler servicing

0151 792 6245

What does the law say?

1. Landlords must provide access to heating and hot water – The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985;

2. Landlords are responsible for repairs, and must keep the heating in proper working order

3. Landlords must react to any heating problems that may occur within a few days after the tenants’ notification

4. Landlords must keep the property free from hazards

5. Landlords must arrange an annual gas safety check of all gas appliances in the property

What happens during a Gas Safety check for landlords?

6. Landlords should bleed the radiators at the start of the tenancy agreement. Once occupied, bleeding radiators becomes the tenants’ responsibility

7. Landlords must ensure that their property meets the current minimum energy efficiency requirements

General tips for landlords

Tip: make sure external pipes are well insulated

Tip: Look at your windows and doors

Tip: Have your chimneys swept

Check extractor fans

Encourage your tenants to use the heating

Test smoke alarms and CO detectors

Tip: Check your insurance

Final thoughts…

Useful Links:

Checks to make when you have no hot water

1. No hot water: Check your boiler for a fault code

2. No hot water: Check you still have gas, electricity, and water supply

3. No hot water: Check your boiler’s timer

4. No hot water: Check your thermostat

5. No hot water: Check the thermostat on your cylinder (if you have one!)

6. No hot water: Check whether your boiler needs resetting

7. No hot water: Check your pilot light

8. No hot water: Check your boiler’s pressure

9. No hot water: Check your pipes aren’t frozen

10. No hot water: Check for leaks

11. No hot water: Check your diverter valve

Will I need a new boiler?

Conclusion

Useful Links:

1. Tips for keeping your home warm: Get your boiler serviced

2. Tips for keeping your home warm: Draught-proof your home

3. Tips for keeping your home warm: Top up your loft and wall insulation

4. Tips for keeping your home warm: Insulate your pipes

5. Tips for keeping your home warm: Top up your hot water cylinder insulation

6. Tips for keeping your home warm: Check your radiators

➢ Check for cold spots

➢ Check your radiators are unobstructed

➢ Think about fitting thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)

7. Tips for keeping your home warm: Consider a power flush

8. Tips for keeping your home warm: Check your room thermostats

9. Tips for keeping your home warm: Upgrade your heating controls

10. Tips for keeping your home warm: Invest in a new boiler

Final thoughts…

Useful Links:

What is a fault code?

What can cause a boiler fault code?

How do I find out what my fault code means?

What are some common boiler problems that trigger fault codes?

Common combi fault codes: Low pressure fault

Common combi fault codes: No gas, or insufficient gas pressure

Common combi fault codes: No ignition

Common combi fault codes: Condensate pipe is blocked

Common combi fault codes: Boiler is overheating

Common combi fault codes: Component failure

Common combi fault codes for manufacturers

Worcester Bosch CDi Compact / Greenstar 25/30 Si Combi / Greenstar 27/30 i System

ATAG

ATAG IC and IS combi boiler error codes

Vaillant

What should I do after I find out what my fault code means?

Useful Links:

What are the signs of a leaking boiler?

Is a leaking boiler dangerous?

Can I use my boiler if it’s leaking?

My boiler is leaking, what should I do?

Why is my boiler leaking water?

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: High pressure

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Corroded pipes

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Loose joints

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Poor installation

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Pump seal problems

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Temperature problems

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Faulty heat exchanger

Possible cause of a leaking boiler: Wear and tear