Five heating checks to do before the cold weather arrives
The first cold morning is the worst time to find out your heating is not right. These five checks take less than an hour and can save you a chilly week.
2 min read
Every autumn the same thing happens. The first properly cold morning arrives, everyone puts the heating on, and the phones start ringing. A few simple checks now, while it is still mild, can save you from finding a problem when you most need the heat.
1. Run the heating now
Put the heating on for an hour or so on a mild day, with every radiator turned up. It gets the pump and valves moving after a summer of doing nothing, and it shows up problems while there is time to sort them.
2. Feel every radiator
Once the system has warmed up, go round the house and feel each radiator, top and bottom. Cold at the top usually means air, and bleeding it should sort it. Cold at the bottom, or cold in patches, can mean sludge. We have written about what cold radiators mean if you want to know more.
3. Check the boiler pressure
If you have a combi or system boiler, there is a pressure gauge on the front or underneath. Your boiler manual will tell you the right range, and on many boilers it is around 1 to 1.5 bar when cold. Low pressure can stop the boiler firing. If it keeps dropping after you top it up, there may be a leak somewhere, which is worth getting looked at.
4. Try the radiator valves
Thermostatic radiator valves can stick after a summer left in one position. Turn each one from low to high and back a few times. If a valve will not move, or the radiator stays cold whatever setting it is on, the pin inside may have stuck.
5. Look after pipes that could freeze
Pipes in lofts, garages, outside walls and under floors are the ones that freeze. Check that any lagging is still in place and wrap any bare pipes. Know where your stopcock is, and make sure it turns. If a pipe ever does burst, that is the first thing you need to find.
And if something is not right
Some of these jobs are quick to fix yourself. Others, like a leak, a sticking valve that needs replacing or a system full of sludge, are jobs for a plumber. Better to find them in October than on a frosty morning in January.
If your heating could simply do with more, look at our central heating upgrades.