Make sure your boiler is ready for Christmas

Christmas is a time for bickering with family members and eating your own body weight in Quality Streets, the last thing you want to be doing is worrying about your boiler. It’s cold and the days are short which makes your heating system more important than ever. 

So here are some quick things you can do to make sure your heating system remains in good shape during the Christmas season. They don’t take long and could ultimately save you a lot of - which wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Radiators, checked. 

This might sound fairly obvious but you wouldn’t believe how effective this is. Your radiators provide you with a good understanding of what sort of state your boiler is in. 

All you need to do is feel your radiators for any cold spots. You could even do it every now and then when you walk past it in your home - that way if there are any problems it can be easily fixed before it escalates into something expensive. 

Keep an ear out for any unusual gurgling noises as well. This is quite a common problem and generally means there’s trapped air in your system. Try simply bleeding your radiators to remove any trapped air - that should do the trick. 

No pressure? 

I’m sure most of us have stood in the shower, for what seems like a lifetime, waiting for the hot water to heat up. Then, having to trek to the boiler only to find that the pressure is at 0. To avoid this unfortunate situation, it’s important to make sure that you regularly check your boiler’s pressure. The perfect spot for the small needle in the gauge to be is between 1.0 and 1.5 but as long as it’s in the green section - you should be fine. 

If your boiler pressure does continually keep dropping, it may potentially mean you have a leak or a faulty valve. This isn’t something you’d be able to fix yourself so you should contact a Gas Safe registered engineer to sort it for you. This could be a sign that you need to be out with old and in with the new. A brand new boiler would be a pricey purchase before Christmas, but one that’s worthwhile. Boilers are much more efficient these days, meaning less money spent on energy bills and more money spent on mince pies. 

 

Revitalise your thermostat. 

A thermostat that isn’t working properly can play havoc with your boiler. From your heating going way too high or even randomly turning off - it has a big impact on your energy bills and is frustrating to say the least. 

Maybe freshening up your thermostat might not be a bad idea. They’ve come a long way from just being a bit of plastic on the wall that’s ignored by the whole family. Google has redefined the traditional thermostat with the Google Nest Learning Thermostat. Innovative, convenient, and efficient it’s one of our most popular thermostats and for good reason, too. 

Not only does the Google Learning Thermostat’s sleek design transform the tedious and barely legible layout of the traditional thermostat, but it can also save you money on your energy bills. 

Set heating schedules and turn your heating on, off, higher, lower - directly from your mobile phone. It’s quite fancy but super simple to use at the same time.

Time for a service?

Getting your boiler serviced is a useful way of ensuring everything is working as it should during the festive season. It takes no more than thirty minutes for an engineer to check everything but it could save you a lot of money and stress. The engineer will visually inspect your system as well as gas appliances, just to make sure everything is safe and sound. Once it is, they’ll give you a Gas Safe certificate and will then be on their way. 

If you’re a BOXT customer and would like a service, we can sort that for you. All you’ve got to do is sign up to one of our service plans, the standard BOXT service plan (£7.99) or the Protect+ plan (£17.99). Both paid monthly via direct debit on a twelve month contract, they’re a great way to spread the cost of an annual service. 

When you choose the standard service plan you receive a service as well as a Gas Safe certificate. Whereas with the Protect+ plan, your whole heating system is protected. Meaning if you have issues with either your flue, radiator, controls, pipework - then we’ll repair them for you as soon as possible.

Ready for Christmas. 

If you’ve done all of the above, then your heating system should be prepared for the festive season. But if you have noticed something that isn’t quite right or maybe you’re unsure what to do then feel free to give us a call on, 0800 193 7777. We have a dedicated team of senior engineers who know a thing or two about boilers. 

Not to mention our LiveChat which is pretty handy if you haven’t got time for a call. Directly message one of our expert engineers who are happy to help you with any boiler conundrum.