Top Tips for Winterising Your Boiler

Winters in the UK are notorious for being wet, dark, and cold, which means everyone wants to ensure their boiler works 100% during winter. So, what top tips can you follow to winterise your boiler?

While UK winters have become warmer and wetter over the last century, let’s just say it’s not precisely Mediterranean conditions yet. Over the previous 30 years, average temperatures during UK winters have ranged between four and seven degrees Celsius.

How Much Do Winter Conditions Affect Your Boiler?

No manufacturers who sell boilers in the UK have specified a temperature that is too cold for the machines to operate in. However, cold weather can affect your home’s boiler’s performance and efficiency.

Your boiler must work harder to maintain indoor conditions during the coldest winter months. The reason your boiler needs to work harder during winter is due to the system’s infrastructure such as:

• Radiators
• Condensate pipe
• Pipes
• Facets

The facets of your home will also become an issue in extreme sub-freezing winter conditions. These system elements need to work harder because water is potentially freezing.

When water freezes into ice, it expands and loses some density. Ice’s lower density allows it to float. However, water also expands when frozen, which is problematic for your boiler’s system.

As an example of how much water expands when frozen, a litre of water will increase in volume to 1.09 litres.

This expansion and contraction causes issues with your boiler system and contributes to leaks developing in the pipes.

Tips About Winterising Your Boiler

Preparing your boiler for winter is vital for its efficiency and reliability during the season it is most needed.

Test Your Boiler Before Winter

Winter is the busiest season for Gas Safe registered engineers. According to research conducted by Boiler Guide between 2015 and 2019, engineers are at their busiest during November and December.

With fewer engineers available during winter, it is in your best interest to conduct tests on your boiler during the summer or autumn months.

The checks you can do include:

• Checking the boiler’s power supply
• Ensuring your appliance’s thermostat works
• Look for stains or burn marks on the boiler
• Check your CO2 alarm to ensure there’s no carbon monoxide
• Make sure your boiler’s pilot light is burning blue and not yellow
• Look at your boiler’s pressure

Several common boiler problems can be identified. Here is a checklist so you can see what you can fix yourself. If you discover an issue you can’t address during your checks, always call an engineer to fix it.

Bleeding Your Radiators

Most UK citizens don’t turn on their boilers during the warmer months of the year. However, air bubbles can form during this break in regular use and get trapped inside the radiator.

These bubbles will rise inside the radiator and eventually gather at the top—this sequence of events results in cooler spots forming at the top of your radiator.

If your home’s radiators have cold spots at the top, you must bleed them to release air and ensure your boiler operates efficiently.

This is a simple process and can be performed in a few steps:

1. Find Tools: To bleed your radiator, you will need your radiator key or a flat-head screwdriver (depending on the radiator), a towel, and a small bowl.
2. Turn Off and Locate: Turn off your heating system and let it cool down before you start working. When ready, locate the radiator with the cold spot and its bleed valve, which is usually on top of the radiator.
3. Bleeding the Radiators: Open the bleed valve by turning it in an anti-clockwise motion using your radiator key or screwdriver. When it opens, you should hear a hissing noise as the air escapes the system. After a few seconds, water will slowly pop out of the valve. Keep the valve open until there is a steady flow of water from the system, and then close it.

Be careful not to over-tighten the valve when closing as this could cause an issue later.

When you’re happy with the work done, check your boiler’s pressure to see if everything is correct and the system is repressurised.

Ask For A Power Flush

If there are cold spots at the bottom of your radiator, it means there is sludge in the system. You will need the assistance of a Gas Safe registered engineer to remove the sludge from your radiator and heating system.

Sludge occurs and forms in your heating system due to the continuous evaporation inside the boiler. The evaporation creates particles like salt and minerals as well as oils and rust, which is why this buildup is called sludge and it’s known as an additive.

Check Pipe Work

If your pipes froze during the last winter season, they would have expanded. Even the best-waterproofed pipes will struggle to retain their rigidity if expanded by ice.

Take a quick look at your pipework to see if there are any visible leaks. If you can’t locate leaks, check your boiler’s pressure. If the system’s pressure has dropped, this indicates a leak.

Insulate Pipes Prone To Freezing

While we’ve discussed the UK’s relatively moderate climate, there is still a chance that the water in your system could freeze. The condensate pipe is one of the components of your boiler’s system that is especially prone to freezing.

Insulating it will help prevent the piping from freezing and make it more efficient as there will be no temperature losses.

If you have the capital, it is advisable to insulate all exposed piping.

Another option for pipes in vulnerable areas that are challenging to insulate is that you can install heating cables that will heat your pipes when the temperature drops.

If you simply cannot insulate or heat your pipes, you can keep an eye out during very cold patches and pour boiling water over vulnerable areas.

Check Your Thermostat

Your thermostat is the device that informs your boiler whether it needs to increase or lower the temperature. Thermostats work by sensing the room temperature and turning on and off the boiler to maintain the required heat set.

To test your thermostat, you can use a thermometer to check if the device’s readings are correct.

Also, check where you’ve placed your thermostat. If it is positioned near a window or in a draughty passageway, its readings might not be correct.

Book Your Annual Service

If you’re wondering how often you should service your boiler, the answer is once a year. By servicing your boiler once a year, you also ensure:

• Your boiler is safe
• You save money by improving efficiency
• Breakdowns are prevented
• This also keeps your boiler’s warranty valid

But the main benefit for those prepping their boiler for winter is that it gives you peace of mind that it will work when you need it most.

Operating Your Boiler Efficiently During Winter

According to findings from the Energy Follow-Up Survey conducted in 2017, 92% of households in the UK reported using a central heating system to heat their homes during the winter months.

As we mentioned, the best temperature ranges for those looking to reduce their heating bill are 18°C and 21°C in living spaces and between 15.6°C and 19.4°C for bedrooms.

By reducing the temperature, you can save money.

The last step to ensure you’re efficiently running your boiler during winter is to perform a quick price check between gas suppliers. Sometimes suppliers offer specials that you can take advantage of.

If you’re concerned that your boiler will fail during the winter, it may be time to get a new one.

After all, an old boiler is not nearly as efficient as a newer one.

Luckily, we’re here to help! You can also chat with a consultant in the chat window at the bottom right corner of the screen.