Gas Boiler Maintenance Tips To Improve Efficiency
Your boiler ensures you have a warm home when it’s cold, have hot showers in the morning, and can clean your dishes properly. It’s often not until you have an issue with it that you realise how much it puts you out in your day-to-day life. No-one wants to be without hot water, and when you might have to wait several days for someone to come out and fix it, it can feel like the longest few days in the world. If you want to avoid these problems, it's worth your time looking into one of our home plans that offer gas boiler maintenance.
Boilers are renowned for breaking down more in winter because that’s when they are used the most and put under more pressure. It’s easy to think that if they haven’t been used much that they should be in good condition by the time winter comes around, but just like anything else you need to keep it running regularly so that it maintains its efficiency.
There are many things you can do to ensure your gas boiler maintenance is kept to a minimum, and if you know the likely problems that can arise in the first place then you’ll be in a better position to avoid a breakdown call out.
How long does a boiler last?
The average lifespan of a boiler is around 15 years, but that’s if you take the time to look after it and ensure that it has a routine gas boiler maintenance check annually.
Some will last longer than this, some will last less. It’s normal to think that you can just leave it to get on with its job, but if you don’t give it regular maintenance then it’s likely to come into more problems and cost you more money than you’d like.
Gas boiler maintenance tips
Keep your water pressure up
Low water pressure is one of the most common problems with boilers and is something that can be remedied at home with a little guidance. You might think your boiler is broken if it’s not heating up properly and that you need to call out an engineer, but you might just need to release a little more pressure through the pipes to increase the pressure again. Your gauge – whether digital or manual - should always be between 1 and 1.5.
Bleed your radiators
This is a very worthwhile exercise to do before you get to autumn and winter when you’ll be using your radiators for the first time (potentially) after the summer months. Bleeding your radiators allows any excess or trapped air to be released, stopping them from heating up unevenly – such as the bottom being hot and the top being cold.(see post here)
Some other common radiator problems are that the valve could have been painted over, blocking any pressure and requiring you to use some WD40, or your radiator may not be heating up at all and one or more of the valves could be closed. By checking issues such as these, you may find smaller faults before requiring more thorough gas boiler maintenance.
Keep your boiler ventilated
Boilers are often in cupboards where there is ample storage around it. A boiler needs sufficient ventilation to work properly, so you must ensure that any surrounding space is kept clear. The boiler will warm up naturally and if it is blocked by items then it can’t breathe properly.
Have an annual boiler service
Arrange for a registered engineer to come out to your home once a year, at least, to check over your boiler. They will give your boiler a thorough check, which will not only rectify any problems that may already be going on but will also identify any potential problems that are likely to be based on the condition of your boiler.
September is a good time to have this done, as it will ensure that your boiler is in top condition ahead of the colder, winter months.
How can we help with your gas boiler maintenance?
The suggestions above are great ways to keep a check on the efficiency of your boiler and will allow you to avoid any major problems that might cause your boiler to break down. But sometimes, a problem can arise that you aren’t able to deal with. Instead of having to call out an engineer and pay a large one-off fee for it to be fixed, it can be beneficial to sign up to a monthly plan that means you’ll always have a trusted engineer at hand to fix a problem with your gas boiler.
YourRepair offers complete peace of mind to homeowners and landlords throughout the whole of the UK with their range of affordable plans. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you’ll never need to worry about how long you might need to wait for an engineer to come out and fix the problem.
We offer standard plans that simply cover your boiler, but we have several other plans that can cover other aspects of your home, such as central heating, plumbing, electrics, and drains. If you have a large property or an older property that’s more prone to issues, this is a worthwhile service that will take the worry away from you.
Take a look at our plans and see how we can help you keep your gas boiler maintenance to a minimum.