No heating or hot water?
Some common problems have simple causes you can check yourself in a few minutes. If none of these help, call us on 01493 721373.
Smell gas, or a carbon monoxide alarm going off?
Stop here. Call the National Gas Emergency Service free on 0800 111 999, 24 hours a day.
- Open doors and windows.
- Don’t use light switches, electrical switches or naked flames.
- Turn the gas off at the meter if it is safe to do so.
- Get everyone out of the property and wait for help.
Quick checks before you call
These are safe for anyone to try. Never take the casing off a boiler: work inside it is for a Gas Safe registered engineer (gas) or an OFTEC registered technician (oil).
1Is the boiler getting power?
If the display or lights on the boiler are off, check the switch next to it (often a fused spur on the wall) is on, and look at your fuse box for a tripped switch. If the rest of the house has no power either, it may be a power cut.
2Check the thermostat and timer
- Turn the room thermostat up a few degrees above the current room temperature.
- Make sure the timer or programmer is in an ‘on’ period, or switch it to constant or boost to test.
- Wireless thermostats and programmers run on batteries. Try fresh ones.
- After the clocks change, a timer without automatic adjustment can be an hour out.
3Check the boiler pressure (combi and system boilers)
Most combi and system boilers have a pressure gauge on the front. Many want somewhere around 1 to 1.5 bar when the heating is cold, but your boiler’s manual gives the right figure.
If it has dropped well below that, the boiler may stop to protect itself. The manual shows how to top it up using the filling loop. If the pressure keeps dropping after topping up, call us: that usually means a leak somewhere in the system.
4Oil heating: check the tank
Check the gauge or sight tube on your oil tank. If the tank has run dry, a delivery does not always get the boiler going again, as air or sediment can be drawn into the supply. Call us rather than resetting the boiler again and again.
5In a hard frost: the condensate pipe
Modern condensing boilers have a plastic pipe that carries water outside to a drain. In freezing weather it can freeze and block, and the boiler stops, often with a gurgling noise and a fault code on the display.
Pour warm, not boiling, water slowly along the outside section of the pipe to thaw it, then reset the boiler. Boiling water can crack the pipe. Mind your footing if the ground is icy.
6Press reset, once
Most boilers have a reset button. Press it once and give the boiler a few minutes. If it locks out again, do not keep resetting it. Note any fault code on the display and call us.
7Some radiators cold?
- Cold at the top, warm at the bottom: there is air in the radiator. With the heating off and the radiator cool, bleed it with a radiator key. On a combi or system boiler, check the pressure again afterwards.
- Cold at the bottom or in patches: usually sludge in the system. That is a job for us, and a powerflush often sorts it.
Still no heat? Call us
Have the make and model of your boiler, and any fault code on its display, ready when you call.
01493 721373Office: Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. Out of hours, call the same number: the answerphone gives the number of the engineer on call.