Leeds Central Heating | How to Prepare a Domestic Boiler for Winter

Winter is the time of year when a domestic boiler works especially hard and in order to keep your home nice and warm, there are some things that need to be done. From booking a service to pipe insulation for keeping Leeds central heating in check, here’s how to prepare your domestic boiler for winter, read on to find out more.

Install a Carbon Monoxide Alarm

If you haven’t already it’s incredibly important you fit a carbon monoxide alarm. It’s not really winter-related, it’s more of a safety concern and crucial no matter the time of year. You can purchase a detector from as little as £15 – £25 and it’s one THE best ways to keep your family safe – don’t delay buy one now!

Double Check Thermostats

If you’re keeping thermostats or timers in cooler rooms like attics or near a window, this can affect when the heating may switch on, warming other parts of the house when it’s not needed. The best thing to do is to move your controls to a more central part of the house. This will keep heating consistent and at a comfortable temperature instead of being too warm.

Insulate your Pipes

During the colder months, any stationary water in your pipework is likely to freeze. This can lead to all sorts of problems like a boiler breakdown – not ideal during winter right? To combat this insulate any pipes in advance during the summer. For pipes that have already been frozen, we’ll be doing a post soon on how to unfreeze.

Check the Radiators

When it comes to checking radiators you should switch the heating on as normal and once the house is warm you can start to inspect your radiators for cold spots. Cold spots are caused by trapped air but this can be removed by bleeding each one. They may, however, signal some other issues so ask your engineer about a power flush.

Book a Power Flush if Needed

For problem radiators, power flushing will certainly put things right. It’s essentially a cleanse of the system to remove any sludge that blocks heat pathways and causes the coldspots. This process will additionally improve the efficiency of your central heating – if this sounds good please get in touch to discuss a power flush!

Leeds Central Heating | Book a Domestic Boiler Service

An annual service is key to ensuring the health of a domestic boiler but they’re especially important if you’ve not had it done and the cold months are creeping in. A Gas Safe engineer will start by checking your boiler for wear and tear. They will also check radiators and any pipework to make sure they’re all in working order. Most of the time a service is needed to keep your manufacturer’s warranty valid but even if this has expired you should still book it in to nip any boiler problems in the bud.

Thank you for reading this week’s post to get your domestic boiler winter-ready. If you think it’s due for a service you can books yours in by calling 0113 212 8077 and speaking with the lovely Rachael. Servicing Leeds central heating, our Gas Safe team is out on the road Monday to Friday so if you need any help when winter does strike we’ll send an engineer to resolve any problems. Thank you for reading.