No one wants to wait until the chills of winter to find out that their boiler has a problem with it, or worse, your boiler has stopped working altogether. To make sure your boiler doesn’t reach that critical stage, it’s important that you do all that you can to keep your boiler ticking over.

To Keep your boiler at its best all year, we’ve put together this simple guide to keep your boiler running efficiently.

Annual Boiler Service

The best thing you can do for your boiler, whether you have a combi-system or regular boiler, is to have an annual service. Damaging your boiler can prove to be fatal, with a high risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. That’s why a fully trained, qualified and Gas Safe registered engineer must carry out your annual gas boiler service.

During your boiler’s service, the engineer will be able to identify any possible issue that may come up or maybe an issue down the line. Preventing issues from growing into major problems with an annual service not only saves you the hassle but also saves you higher costs down the line.

Keep a Clean Boiler

Often an overlooked area on the cleaning schedule, the boiler can collect a surprising amount of dust, dirt, and grease. Over time, this can all add up to making your boiler run less efficiently. To tackle this, wipe clean the housing of your boiler whenever you regularly clean; make it a part of the routine.

Only clean the outside housing of your boiler, and the visible pipes when the heating is off. Never remove any housing from the boiler to clean, leave this to the qualified Gas Safe registered professional.

Bleed the Radiators

Bleeding your radiators is a crucial step in keeping your boiler running efficiently and should be carried out annually. If you find cold spots in your radiator or it isn’t heating to full temperature, radiator bleeding is the first step to solving the issue.

Bleeding your radiators will allow trapped air to escape and hot water to circulate freely through the whole radiator. Bleeding the radiators in your home is fairly simple and takes no time. After you’ve bled your radiator, it’s important to check your boiler pressure as this can be lowered in the process. Your boiler pressure should be between 1.0 and 1.5.

Flush Boiler Water

If your central heating is still not running as it should and your radiators still have cold spots, it is worth powerflushing your boiler. Powerflushing is a method of cleansing your central heating system by sending a pressure of water through the central heating system, sweeping away debris, sludge, and anything else that may be preventing your central heating from working at optimal levels.

A powerflush should only be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, like the team here and Boost Plumbing.

Turn on your Central Heating Throughout the Year

The simplest thing you can do for your boiler is to turn your central heating on occasionally throughout the year. Even if only for 15 minutes, turning your central heating on throughout the year will keep your boiler, pipes and radiators from seizing up. It will also mean that you can spot signs of troubles before they grow into costly repairs or replacements.