Common Winter Boiler Problems

We don’t really tend to give our central heating system much thought, but with the winter months just around the corner and the temperature beginning to drop you need to ensure that your boiler is working to its full potential. Having been inactive for long periods during the summer boilers are prone to suffering from breakdowns when they are forced back into life during winter, this can result in an expensive inconvenience and not to mention a cold house and no hot water.

Whilst you should expect your heating system to work anyway, you should make sure that there are no problems with it prior to repeated use. There are several common boiler problems that are easily identified which can indicate your central heating system is not operating properly. Here are some problems that you should look out for…

Leaking & Dripping – If your boiler has a leak then you want to make sure you get it looked at as soon as possible by a heating engineer. It’s hard to pinpoint a particular issue as it depends on where the water is leaking from to determine the cause.

Loud Noises Are Never Good! – Your boiler can make some pretty strange sounds when it isn’t operating properly including banging, whistling and even gurgling sounds, which all indicate different issues. A few of the common problems that result in strange noises include air in the system, low water pressure and kettling which is caused by a lime scale build up.

Frozen Condensation Pipe – If the weather dips below freezing and gets extremely cold and icy then you can end up having a blockage in your boilers condensation pipe. Even modern energy efficient central heating systems are prone to this issue so if you do come across a frozen pipe, don’t attempt to thaw it yourself as you may end up doing more damage. Make sure you call a qualified heating engineer.

Radiators Not Warming Up – Typically when your radiators aren’t warming up properly it’s due to sludge gathering in the system which prevents the flow of hot water to radiators. This could potentially be caused by corroded pipework, either requiring you to flush your system to remove the deposits or repairing or replacing a defective pump.

If you are still unsure about your central heating system and want to make sure you won’t have any issues this winter then get a qualified professional heating engineer to take a look. Plumbcare.com offers a winter boiler check service which will give you peace of mind when the temperature begins to drop.